Latest news with #politicalopinions
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Swiping Right review – punchy questions about dating across the political divide
If the Guardian's Dining Across the Divide column were a show, it would look very like Swiping Right. Performed by Sophie Anna Veelenturf of the Belgian company Berlin, it considers how much political opinions should affect our social and sexual relationships. Veelenturf talks directly from experience. An eager participant in online dating, she wonders which potential partners she is filtering out – and, likewise, which of them is filtering her out – because of their stated political leanings. On an app such as Bumble, she identifies herself as being leftwing and consequently meets like-minded people. In an increasingly polarised society, one tribe has decreasing opportunity to talk to the other. Left and right do not even meet, let alone exchange views. But there are exceptions. At the ages of 17, 21 and 23, Veelenturf dated three rightwing men, who she identifies respectively as Max, Noah and Jeff. As part of her research for Swiping Right, which consists primarily of recorded conversations, she contacted these and other friends and ex-partners to see how big a part they thought political difference played in their relationships. The picture that builds up is nuanced. There are those who seek to convert their partner to what they regard as the obvious rightness of their worldview. There are others who enjoy the excitement of being with someone who thinks passionately and independently even when they disagree. Some have too little interest in politics to care; others discover you can keep a lid on differences only until those differences start affecting life choices, such as the friend's husband whose conservative values conflicted with her independence. That is before you include those free thinkers who vote right on some issues and left on others. Veelenturf is willing to be open minded, even if there are some lines she will not cross. If the show is theatrically constrained by its reliance on recordings, it raises spiky questions about the tricky business of getting along. At Zoo Southside, Edinburgh, until 24 August All our Edinburgh festival reviews
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘The View' Host Ana Navarro Implores Gloria Gaynor To Turn Down Trump's Kennedy Center Honor: 'Don't Do It, Gloria!'
The View may be on hiatus but host Ana Navarro is still sounding off about her political opinions. After the Kennedy Center Honor recipients were announced, Navarro shared a message on social media publicly imploring 'I Will Survive' singer Gloria Gaynor to turn down the lifetime achievement award due to President Trump's controversial overhaul of the Kennedy Center. 'A few years ago, I got to briefly meet @gloriagaynor at a concert in Miami. She gifted me a keychain that belted out 'I Will Survive' when you pressed it. Let's just say, during first Trump term, I pressed it til it ran out of batteries,' Navarro wrote. Navarro stated that, while she doesn't disagree with Gaynor being honored by the Kennedy Center, she hoped the singer would reconsider accepting the award from Trump, who is set to host the ceremony himself on Dec. 7. 'I wish she wouldn't accept an award from the hands of a man who has attacked the rights and history of women, people of color and LGBTQ,' Navarro wrote. 'The gay community in particular, helped turn her signature song into an anthem.' She concluded with one last jab at President Trump. 'Trump is a stain on the prestige and significance of the KCH. Don't do it, Gloria!' she said. Gaynor has not publicly addressed Navarro's comments, though she has shared congratulatory messages from others to her Instagram Story after the news was announced. Gaynor will be honored at the Kennedy Center alongside actors Sylvester Stallone and Michael Crawford, country singer George Strait and KISS. President Trump said he was 'very involved' in selecting the honorees and outrightly stated that he 'turned down plenty' of candidates because of their politics. 'They were too woke. I had a couple of wokesters,' he said, per Time. Trump took over as chairman of the Kennedy Center in 2025 after overhauling the board of trustees with his own loyalists. He vowed to steer the organization's programming in a different direction, promising it was 'not going to be woke' under his control. Several artists have since canceled appearances at the Kennedy Center in protest. The 48th Kennedy Center Honors will take place in Washington, D.C., Dec. 7. The ceremony will air on CBS and stream on Paramount+. Solve the daily Crossword
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Public school teachers in hyperwoke city are BANNED from expressing political opinions in their classrooms
The school district of a very liberal city has banned teachers from expressing their personal political opinions. As students are set to return to school on Monday, teachers in San Francisco public schools have been told that they cannot discuss their political stance in the classroom. School leaders reminded educators that they are not allowed to show their political opinions in any way - from what they say, to what they wear and how they decorate their classrooms. Back-to-school training took place this week, and principals were encouraged by district officials to make their employees aware of this ban. The guidance comes after last year's disputes over political activism at school, specifically in ethnic studies courses. Educators in city schools last year controversially encouraged students to write letters to Mumia Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther sentenced to death in 1981 for murdering a Philadelphia police officer. Other teachers asked students to participate in anti-Israel protests. Some classroom leaders hung pro-Palestinian posters in classrooms or referred to Israel as colonizers committing genocide. The laws and policies mandating that teachers do not discuss personal politics are not new, but they have been ignored in recent years - and skipped over in staff training, according to San Francisco Chronicle. Last year, district officials did give principals materials to train staff on bias and personal opinions, but it's unknown how many used them. One veteran teacher said that this is the first year she has ever received such guidance. 'Many teachers have been dangerously misled about their professional freedoms and responsibilities,' the educator said. 'K-12 teachers don't have the same academic freedoms as university instructors. Our students are minor children.' The San Francisco School District's teachers union has been explicitly pro-Palestine - even writing a pro-Palestinian resolution in February. In the resolution they stated that 'educators who utilized their democratic rights to speak out against the war were repressed or harassed by school authorities.' District officials said in response that employees have the right to engage in political activity 'on their own time, and at their own expense'. They claimed that the stance of union members has no effect on district policies. 'In the classroom, the District has a responsibility to regulate classroom activities and discussion to ensure that information is related to academic curriculum and that staff do not create undue pressure on students to agree with a staff member's political views,' according to a statement. 'When at work, our employees hold a unique position of influence over students in their care, and this influence is a privilege.' Schools in the Bay Area have seen an increase in political activism in recent years. In November, an educator was fired from Bishop O'Dowd High, a private Catholic school in Oakland, for 'insubordination'. The English teacher had reportedly refused to stop wearing a pin bearing the Palestinian flag and the words 'Free Palestine'. In February, a Bay Area school showed a video with an image of an avowed Middle East terrorist during an LGBTQ+ awareness event. The video included a woman who wore a T-shirt showing Leila Khaled, a Palestinian political activist who hijacked an airplane in 1969, carrying a rifle. Next to the image were the words 'resistance is not terrorism.' Tara Taupier, the district superintendent, apologized for the video. 'We, as a district, acknowledge that this image is troubling, particularly because of its connection to violence and terrorism against Jewish people,' she said. There have also been student walkouts encouraged by teachers and their unions, as well as posters and staff clothing reflecting beliefs about political candidates, government policies and the war in Gaza, according to SF Chronicle. San Francisco Superintendent Maria Su vowed to address the issue following community concerns raised specifically about ethnic studies courses and general pro-Palestinian activism. 'Teaching should be about teaching students how to think, not what to think,' Su said in June. Su decided to suspend the district's ethnic studies curriculum, which critics said was divisive, antisemitic and promoted progressive activism. School board President Phil Kim said: 'Students should be challenged in their coursework and schools should provide a safe and rigorous experience where they can express their thinking and listen to others.' 'Our whole job here as educators is to create the conditions for all of that to take place.'
