Gaines for Girls with Riley Gaines - How Jessica Tapia's Firing Sparked a Nationwide Movement

00:00:00.000 hey everybody welcome back to the gains for girls podcast thank you for checking us out if you are

00:00:11.340 not already make sure you like and subscribe anywhere where you get your podcasts make sure

00:00:16.180 to check us out at outkick.com we post content every single week but today's guest i'm very

00:00:23.340 excited for this conversation i tell her this in the interview but but really we talk to so many

00:00:28.980 people if you've been around you know we talk to politicians we talk to to people who have

00:00:33.880 dedicated themselves to the cause of fighting for sanity fighting for uh women and children and

00:00:39.940 parental rights people who who dedicated their lives to this but i love talking to people who

00:00:46.080 have tackled this issue uh when they didn't necessarily want to and that is exactly what

00:00:52.520 our guest today has done uh we saw just a month ago a victorious outcome for jessica tapia this is

00:01:00.480 a teacher out of out of southern california she is a christian a devout christian uh but she was fired

00:01:06.240 from her job for refusing to use preferred pronouns she was fired for refusing to hide the gender identity

00:01:14.440 of students from parents uh but she just secured and received a 360 000 settlement uh from the california's

00:01:24.080 uh jerupa unified school district uh this is phenomenal news it delivers a strong message to

00:01:31.280 other educators especially educators of faith that truth will win in the end uh again could not be more

00:01:38.960 excited for this conversation to hear from jessica uh to hear her speak about her convictions and why

00:01:45.000 she felt it necessary to take decisive action so check out the interview with jessica tapia here

00:01:51.280 okay jessica thank you so much for coming on uh it is people like you who are my favorite to talk to

00:01:59.180 uh we talk a lot you know to to politicians and and uh world-leading scientists and different things

00:02:05.660 but people who are brave enough to take a stand when it's never a position they would have

00:02:11.940 uh in a million years i'm sure imagined yourself in uh those are the kind of people whose stories need

00:02:18.180 to be highlighted and so i just wanted to give you the opportunity to share a little bit about yourself

00:02:23.140 uh and ultimately the scenario you found yourself in um before just a few weeks ago having a really

00:02:30.840 amazing outcome yeah you know what since i'm talking to the amazing riley i'll start with the

00:02:37.000 fact that um so i was fired from the high school that i attended i was an athlete there um i was a

00:02:43.020 basketball player but my friends actually convinced me to join swim my junior year and you know what my

00:02:49.780 basketball coach loved it though because he was like that for sure made you quicker on the court

00:02:54.040 um and i was so toned it was amazing but i met my husband i started uh dating um jonathan there he was

00:03:02.860 an amazing swimmer and his mom had actually invited me to her bible study so i fell in love with his

00:03:08.740 family so he my husband's my high school sweetheart and i went back to that high school to you know

00:03:14.700 hopefully have an impact on the students there today um in the same way that i was so impacted by my

00:03:20.380 teachers and my coaches and then was completely blindsided when uh one day students decided to

00:03:27.020 look me up on social media and there they found my christian conservative views that i don't talk

00:03:31.960 about in class and they took issue to them because i'm very clear that i'm not you know pushing pro

00:03:38.400 pushing lgbtq or transgenderism on children and they had specifically found a video i made in coals

00:03:45.000 where i walked in and i was just inundated with all the pride clothing but that day i learned

00:03:50.280 that they are making onesies and like three t-shirts with with this pride you know sayings

00:03:57.040 and logo and i just couldn't believe it and so i put a video out there to alert moms because

00:04:01.520 i believe in the fact that we should be voting with our dollar and voting in alignment with our values

00:04:07.700 so i put that out there and you know some 14 15 year old students found that and took it as hate and

00:04:13.780 disrespectful and submitted that along with about eight posts from my jesus highlight to my school

00:04:20.600 district and i was the next day ripped away from my class never to return didn't get to say bye to my

00:04:26.340 students or anything uh went under investigation which was strange right away because i'm thinking

00:04:32.200 what needs to be investigated i've not done anything you know in the workplace or in my job you know

00:04:37.780 students came across my personal views and beliefs that they took issue to what's the problem but um it

00:04:46.020 was a problem it was a huge problem to the school district they uh decided to just barely allow me to

00:04:53.120 come back to work but now i would have to follow a plan of assistance and directives so that is the day

00:04:59.600 that i learned that i would from there on out have to call students by their preferred pronoun or gender

00:05:04.800 withhold that information from their parents which of course i clarified are you asking me to lie to

00:05:10.860 parents and they said yes for student safety and privacy and uh then also learned that i would have

00:05:17.800 to let transgenders in my girl's locker room um so of course i clarify again are you telling me a boy

00:05:24.340 potentially a boy in my girl's locker room they said yes if he's identifying now as a female

00:05:29.760 so obviously i'm convicted over this plan of assistance and directives and i was in complete

00:05:37.540 turmoil i was so stressed out had so much anxiety because i knew a huge decision was on the line

00:05:43.240 um and essentially i had three options one would be to bow down put my head in the sand and save my

00:05:50.120 salary and do whatever i'm being asked to do uh secondly would be to just walk away resign seeing that

00:05:57.100 now i'm obviously not i guess fit to be a public school teacher anymore in their eyes um or thirdly

00:06:03.960 take a stand and speak up um but that answer didn't come to me right away i went off on stress leave for

00:06:11.460 three months um trying to discern what i should do and i was just sharing this on on the previous

00:06:18.600 interview but there was a time frame in that stress leave where i felt like i was being like haunted by

00:06:24.600 my salary because my family so greatly relied on it and i just couldn't see how you know risking

00:06:31.020 losing that how we would live what we would do from there and i really had to like break through that

00:06:36.300 stronghold um and not only that i also even had to just forgive whatever students that were that

00:06:43.260 reported me and took issue to my beliefs and forgive the school district for how they treated me and

00:06:48.940 through all of that i eventually you know was led clearly by the lord to take a stand for truth

00:06:55.380 and so i did that i emailed my school district and i said i'm ready to come back to work i just need you

00:07:02.100 to know there's a few things few directives you've given me that i cannot comply with it would be against

00:07:07.120 my faith and beliefs and so i wrote those all out of course i spoke from my faith and why i wouldn't

00:07:13.700 be able to follow the things they were asking me to do and they said it sounds like you're asking for

00:07:18.560 religious accommodation meeting so come on in and we'll see if and how we can accommodate your

00:07:24.160 religious beliefs so i have some hope at that point because i know it's their duty to do that

00:07:29.500 um but i go into this meeting and it was like something i never experienced before i was questioned

00:07:35.040 up and down left and right on my christian faith where do i go to church what do i read how often

00:07:41.340 what is it you know from my bible that says i can't you know refer to students by whatever they want

00:07:47.420 to go by that day and withhold that information from their parents and they were really really

00:07:52.960 definitely trying to get me to change up my stance when i had already clearly given them the answer

00:07:59.640 no i won't do these things and so i i held firm um even though i was shaking in my chair you know

00:08:06.620 in all of these meetings um but the lord was definitely with me there and giving me the strength

00:08:11.920 to make it through um and so at the end of that they determined that they could not accommodate

00:08:19.740 my religious beliefs that is in writing um on my termination paper and i was a 10-year teacher at

00:08:26.100 the end of my sixth year of teaching um for the very school district that i was a student at so

00:08:31.820 immediately after that there was no doubt in my mind that i was going to seek justice in this and

00:08:38.140 file a lawsuit against the school district so that's when i found the amazing advocates for

00:08:43.340 faith and freedom um they're actually right in in the town that i live in here in southern california

00:08:48.820 and uh we filed a lawsuit in may of 2023 and exactly one year later like to the t uh we came to this

00:08:58.080 settlement which we we pushed for and we worked hard for it was definitely not you know the first

00:09:03.320 offer they put on the table um and so this is this is a huge exciting victory and it really goes to show

00:09:10.900 that there is a significant price to pay for a district to discriminate against you know a teacher

00:09:17.900 who is holding true to her christian beliefs and really just standing firm in the truth it's amazing

00:09:23.880 to see how god of course he closes doors but when he does that he opens other doors and i feel like

00:09:30.260 that's exactly what he's done with you uh and to to hear you know your students finding your social

00:09:37.760 media i mean otherwise they would have had i mean there was nothing in your day-to-day interaction

00:09:43.740 with these students that would have led them to believe that you were any sort of a phobe or ism or

00:09:50.080 or i'm sure other things that they labeled you it was merely finding your post on social media

00:09:56.400 i think the only other thing i could say that would have clued them in is being unique as a pe teacher

00:10:03.420 i on mondays i called it run day we would go down to the track and i would give them you know

00:10:09.000 a running activity maybe bleachers sprints whatever it may be but it was the one time that i would let

00:10:14.320 them listen to music or a podcast of their choosing while they got their running in and so i would walk

00:10:20.280 around the track and have my phone in my pocket playing something of my choosing just loud enough for me

00:10:25.520 to hear and i told my school district this um because there was an allegation made against me

00:10:30.140 that i broadcasted sermons to my class and i i just like have to laugh at it because i've never

00:10:36.100 done it and i never would do that but i told them i'm like they might have walked by me and heard like

00:10:41.220 a worship song quietly coming from my phone but that like that's it and you don't want to hear what

00:10:46.940 they're playing over in the weight room you know what i mean so it's so interesting right how like

00:10:50.680 coaches can blast really vulgar you know rap songs in the weight room but this pe teacher

00:10:56.780 cannot quietly play a worship song nope she's reported and she's canceled well it's the double

00:11:02.660 standard we see across every realm of society unfortunately um i i you know listening to you

00:11:10.180 basically where they interrogated you on your religion and your religious beliefs you know asking

00:11:16.260 you to essentially quote say show them where in the bible it says that you have to adhere to

00:11:21.720 uh biologically correct pronouns i mean i can't imagine uh they would pursue this type of action to any

00:11:29.220 other religion um which shows you i mean whether it's it's this scenario or harrison butker recently i

00:11:36.680 mean he's a devout catholic giving a commencement speech at a catholic university to a bunch of catholic

00:11:42.800 students i was so shocked to see the the outrage the public attention that this story got for i mean

00:11:50.380 weeks uh it blew my mind but i i think that shows you know even the mention of his name uh heads will

00:11:57.580 rear back and teeth will nash and and listening to you uh that is certainly what i feel like has has

00:12:03.020 happened and so uh it's been um of course known that the gender ideology movement as a whole it has

00:12:10.880 become an infringement on our first amendment rights and the freedom of speech but but listening to

00:12:15.580 you share this from your you know religious perspective and background um do you see this

00:12:22.480 issue as a whole whether it's the medicalization side of things whether it's the uh sports side of

00:12:28.540 things i mean do you see this as a spiritual battle absolutely you know at the second i walked into that

00:12:37.180 first meeting with my school district and had these uh you know crafted allegations made about me which

00:12:43.340 were all crafted based on the students finding of my religious beliefs i felt like the holy spirit

00:12:48.720 immediately said you're entering spiritual warfare stand firm and you know that is exactly what the word

00:12:55.380 word of god calls us to do is you know armor up and stand firm so that we can stand against the

00:13:01.860 schemes of the devil of the evil one um and so this is absolutely spiritual um you know we can't

00:13:08.920 exactly tell that to everyone because you know there's people who are like i'm not religious i'm not

00:13:13.900 spiritual but you know the fact of the matter it it is and so because of that we know that we can

00:13:19.580 really the only way we can really truly fight it is in the spiritual um and so you know i was just

00:13:25.680 reflecting the other day like truly the only way i made it through this whole trial which

00:13:31.340 it's been two years pretty much in total one a little over one year since being fired but two

00:13:37.020 years since like they found my social media and it all went down um but truly the only way i've made

00:13:42.960 it through been able to take a stand been able to withstand all the hate that's come at me is because

00:13:49.660 i've battled in you know in the spiritual through prayer and worship um and and being in the word like

00:13:57.500 there's no way i would have made it through this without that

00:14:01.340 now what about um any support from from colleagues from uh people around you i imagine your family

00:14:12.700 was supportive but but what about others from the school did you have any any sort of public support

00:14:17.600 or even private support from people who i imagine uh were some of your your friends

00:14:23.980 yeah all of the above you know the support way outnumbers the hate that i get um i've been

00:14:31.420 blown away by the support i mean just one example my friend made me a give send go after i lost my job

00:14:37.740 because i was like we're losing our house like we're for sure losing our house but it's fine like

00:14:42.160 god's will be done um but she made this give send go and and through throughout the time that it was up

00:14:49.280 while while i was litigating and just seeing what what god was going to do with my life next

00:14:54.100 um over 270 people most of which i don't know you know donated to that and donated

00:15:00.640 thirty thousand dollars which paid for like all of our mortgages while i litigated this um and it's

00:15:07.860 just been that's just one example of many many many ways that the lord just showed up and provided

00:15:14.780 and blessed um but i did definitely get messages from teachers at the district um who who showed

00:15:22.400 their support and concern and said you know we have the same values and morals as you um really really

00:15:29.840 interesting what happened after i was fired my school district actually pushed out an lgbtq

00:15:35.340 transgender inclusivity training on the teachers and this was in like march that they did this like

00:15:43.320 two months before summer so i get a handful of teachers texting me saying jess this is because

00:15:48.580 of you like they pushed this out right after they fire you for you know refusing to comply with the

00:15:54.540 transgender directives so this is for sure because of you but our issue is is there's a quiz at the

00:16:00.660 end we have to pass with 100 and we would have to lie to do that and i was like don't lie you know

00:16:07.480 speak up let them know like i can't take this quiz because i'm not gonna lie to pass this quiz you want me to

00:16:13.300 pass and so several teachers uh requested a religious accommodation for that training and

00:16:20.380 were actually granted it you know so that's something we included in our case where it was like

00:16:25.380 why i was not accommodated um you know i spoke out i spoke for my beliefs and i sat through an

00:16:32.260 accommodation meeting but i was offered no accommodations it was it was no we cannot accommodate

00:16:38.900 your religious beliefs wow so it's like they they seemingly realized uh but too little too late

00:16:46.720 uh i saw the district released a statement uh saying that the settlement it doesn't prove any sort of

00:16:54.080 illegal action or discrimination on their behalf uh i wanted to get your thoughts on that because i would

00:17:02.740 i would uh beg to to argue that majority of people disagree with that

00:17:08.940 yeah i mean i would say that the the settlement itself proves otherwise i don't really see why a

00:17:16.880 district would pay out three hundred and sixty thousand dollars if they had done nothing wrong

00:17:21.800 and i'm sure bethany will be able to add a lot more to this um but you know the fact of the matter

00:17:26.940 is sadly these school districts they're all under you know the state the department of education so

00:17:33.880 you know they they're not going to admit to wrongdoing they are just literally robots for

00:17:40.580 the department of ed and for the government um so it's really interesting too throughout my case

00:17:48.340 um they kept saying they did to me what they did because if they would have kept me i essentially would

00:17:54.920 have been like a liability and they would have received uh lawsuits from transgender students

00:18:00.960 or families and it's it's so funny right because they they still received a lawsuit so it's like

00:18:07.620 lawsuits are probably going to come either way um but the fact of the matter is is we're seeing

00:18:12.840 transgender special rights and i call them special rights because they are being given special rights

00:18:18.520 they they didn't you know not have any regular rights you know before um so these transgender

00:18:24.780 special rights are coming head to head with our religious liberty and freedom of speech and it's

00:18:30.080 like we have to take this stand to show that one of those things supersedes the other and we all here

00:18:37.740 know you know which that is um but a lot of people seem to think otherwise so of course yeah and it's the

00:18:45.300 same thing someone like the ncaa has said is is we don't want to get sued uh but i think because of

00:18:52.180 people like yourself really setting the precedent uh myself and 15 other athletes now suing the ncaa

00:18:57.840 i i think they can now uh expect to to get counter sued right the other way right because we're sick of

00:19:05.800 being trampled on and so bethany um i'm so glad that you're on the call as well i would love to direct

00:19:11.700 a question at you and so um and further looking at at the district's claim about the settlement and

00:19:17.940 different things uh they said that the settlement was in the best interest of the students uh would

00:19:24.180 you very briefly elaborate on who you are uh and and what your take is on that so my name is bethany

00:19:31.680 onashenko i am one of the attorneys at advocates for faith and freedom who just had the absolute

00:19:35.820 honor of representing jessica um obviously the school district's position that this settlement was

00:19:41.580 in the best interest of students how can that be so you know um obviously if the district believed

00:19:47.140 they did nothing wrong they wouldn't have settled this case to begin with jessica in her religious

00:19:52.420 rights are not second class to these transgender rights that they're proposing and so jessica's

00:19:57.740 settlement just sends a huge message to um the students as well as to other teachers across the

00:20:03.400 country you know that teachers of faith cannot be discriminated against for standing up to the newest

00:20:07.920 wave of cultural propaganda and so these districts can push these transgender directives and agendas

00:20:13.360 but again teachers like jessica standing up and saying no more it just sends the message again you know

00:20:18.260 that religious rights are going to be championed in the end right amazing now are are you uh jessica

00:20:25.320 are you you're still living in california correct yes until the lord says otherwise i am it's it's a

00:20:33.920 it's a hot topic right uh being i'm from tennessee i live in the nashville area and we have

00:20:40.280 a ton of you guys you californians moving uh you know they call themselves they literally call

00:20:46.420 themselves political refugees uh leaving these blue states coming to states that that are historically

00:20:53.160 conservative southern red states um how do you feel when uh people look at california i've i've put

00:21:02.480 myself in this boat many times um they look at california as this lost cause right it's something

00:21:09.080 that's too far gone we have to just abandon it abort ship um you know reroute uproot your lives

00:21:16.280 and move somewhere else what's your perspective on on this idea that california is is just it's too lost

00:21:23.140 i would say that's exactly how the devil wants us to look at california because the fact of the matter

00:21:29.600 is as we know where california goes so goes the rest of the nation um and i guess i'll kind of dive

00:21:37.300 into this i've never really done this before on a podcast but something super interesting happened

00:21:42.680 prior to all of this going down in my life um we tried to flee we tried to flee california

00:21:49.100 um and god brought our butts back the same week uh i got to northern alabama where my brother lives

00:21:56.020 that's where we were going to you know transplant ourselves because we had just gone through all the

00:22:00.860 you know covid stuff and uh got there and the fact of the matter was i did not take up that move with

00:22:07.900 the lord we didn't really we just put blinders on and we were like we're getting out and it was once

00:22:13.420 we got there that he was like okay you listening now and he was like get back home we did not know

00:22:19.500 why we were just like it was a really honestly dark time in our life uh we came back we were so

00:22:25.460 confused we were living in his parents house because we had just sold our house first house

00:22:29.940 here in california and it was just like lord what is going on um you know and it was really like

00:22:36.460 humbling and kind of depressing to come back to the place we were wanting to flee but then literally

00:22:42.780 a few months later uh my whole work ordeal goes down and you know not right away when it went down

00:22:50.860 did we have this feeling but it was like right after my firing story went viral um in january of

00:22:57.980 2023 and i think like my first big interview probably with tucker um me and my husband just

00:23:05.860 like looked at each other and we're like okay like god is doing something with this stand and with this

00:23:11.300 story and this is why he brought us back i know that gives me chills that's just it's remarkable to

00:23:19.620 hear and the way that you have i mean you embraced it because what else are you to do yeah that's

00:23:25.360 incredible bethany i want to ask you long-term implications of of jessica and her case that you

00:23:32.160 guys were were so um i mean amazing on really the outcome of it what do you think uh this looks like

00:23:40.300 for other teachers facing similar situations yeah so actually out of jessica's case we have launched a

00:23:47.900 new campaign um inspired by jessica's story and her bold stand we've actually launched the teachers

00:23:52.760 don't lie campaign um this whole this campaign is basically just all about sending the message that

00:23:57.740 teachers will not lie to students to parents to themselves and so um as a part of this campaign

00:24:03.380 we're just hoping to equip teachers with their constitutional rights teachers who are facing the

00:24:07.880 same lgbtq agendas across the country and so we're yeah we're ready to equip teachers with their

00:24:13.540 constitutional rights and with educational resources and just ready to defend any other

00:24:17.680 teachers who are facing similar directives like jessica was who want to take a stand and want to

00:24:22.580 sue these districts over these crazy ideologies well the way that um academia and school districts and

00:24:30.300 school boards are going i imagine you guys will be busy um we have actually received since jessica's case

00:24:37.640 we've received hundreds and hundreds of legal injuries of teachers and people in all sectors

00:24:42.740 of society facing just similar agendas so we're ready to fight these things and excited for the outcomes

00:24:47.800 that's amazing and i bet they're from all over uh as we've said i think people imagine this is only

00:24:53.260 happening in new york and michigan and california and these states that lean that way uh but i would

00:25:00.300 i would say uh you're probably even more susceptible uh to this happening in conservative states because

00:25:06.620 people think they're that you're immune to it it's not happening here but as we know uh that's that's

00:25:13.640 how satan works and through deception and in darkness so uh i thank you guys for what you're doing

00:25:21.060 jessica what are your plans moving forward for the future yeah um you know i i really believe god

00:25:29.500 has worked all of this together for my good for my family's good and i think even the good of so many

00:25:35.740 others um but i i am now home homeschooling my three children you know keeping them as far away

00:25:42.940 from public education as possible so just adjusting to uh stay at home mom live homeschooling mom which

00:25:50.900 i never in my wildest dreams thought i would be able to do because again um you know i went to college

00:25:56.740 for seven years to become a teacher and i never saw myself just walking away from that even if i had

00:26:02.100 wanted to homeschool my kids but uh you know our god is good and knows the desires of our hearts and

00:26:08.080 and he took me out and put me home but not without this huge story to go along with it um so that is

00:26:16.040 what i'm doing and then you know the campaign teachers don't lie i'm helping with that and we are just

00:26:21.720 so excited to help you know the next hopefully several teachers take a stand because um it you know

00:26:28.760 change isn't going to come just from my story but i definitely think it can maybe be the the start of

00:26:34.580 it um so we're we're excited for this campaign and really just trying to um get it across to every

00:26:41.000 teacher in the nation um make sure they know about www.teachersdontlie.com where they can go for

00:26:48.400 resources and a legal inquiry and so forth amazing uh and i disagree i think your your loan story which

00:26:56.940 as we know it's really not a loan story but it is making change it is sparking change you're

00:27:02.560 inspiring others uh and it's it's incredible and so i'm grateful for you both uh this makes me feel

00:27:10.480 hopeful i think it's easy to to kind of get wrapped up in the negative stories and all the

00:27:16.100 the uh adverse things that are affecting our society uh affecting parental rights affecting

00:27:22.280 the innocence and the safeguarding of children uh really terrible things but this story uh it makes

00:27:30.220 me feel revitalized uh and that is something i think that we all need so thank you jessica bethany for

00:27:37.580 your steadfast efforts to uh restore common sense and sanity and more importantly biblical truth

00:27:46.800 and religious liberty uh very grateful for you guys thank you riley keep doing what you do too

00:27:53.280 you're an inspiration thank you guys for tuning in to the gains for girls podcast uh if you are a

00:27:59.940 teacher or an educator or know anyone in any state that has dealt with these issues that are growing

00:28:06.720 more and more common daily make sure you check out the teachers don't lie campaign uh what they are

00:28:13.860 doing is phenomenal jessica uh she has set the precedent uh and has really you know sent a a

00:28:20.240 message loud and clear to uh not just her school district in southern california but to school

00:28:25.580 districts across the nation that we won't allow ourselves and our rights and our liberties to be

00:28:31.340 trampled on i think we could all learn something from jessica uh but anyways nonetheless we are glad that

00:28:36.800 you are here uh make sure you check us out again next week but in the meantime we will see you and be safe

00:28:41.800 we will see you and be safe

Gaines for Girls with Riley Gaines - June 12, 2024

How Jessica Tapia's Firing Sparked a Nationwide Movement

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