Posted on February 17, 2023
HARTFORD — House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora on Friday blasted an upcoming University of Connecticut law school symposium he says reflects the General Assembly’s insidious attacks on parental authority.
The March 31 symposium, entitled “Are Parental Rights Always in the Best Interest of Children?“, will be held by the school’s Connecticut Public Interest Law Journal and will “explore the complex issues surrounding the role of parental rights in advancing progressive goals while at the same time examine how parental rights are being used to undermine racial, gender, and LGBTQ equality.”
Candelora (R-86) branded the all-day educational event as little more than a training camp for progressives who are fighting to insert more government bureaucracy between parents and their children.
“I have no doubt that a lot of Connecticut families will find it troubling to see our state’s flagship university promoting ideology that contemplates somebody being a better judge of a child’s best interest than that child’s parents,” said Candelora, whose district includes North Branford as well as parts of Durham, East Haven and Guilford. “This is, unfortunately, the pervasive attitude among antagonistic Democrat lawmakers who continue their efforts to drive wedges between parents and their children, and this apparent nexus in messaging between our higher education system and the legislature is alarming.”
Legislative Democrats have attracted fire from parents statewide for repealing the religious exemption from childhood vaccinations required to attend school as well as promoting curriculum models steeped in progressive dogma and for supporting Covid policies which have undermined childhood education.
Candelora has championed parental concerns in the halls of government, including adding parent representatives to the State Board of Education and requiring state educational officials to prepare an impact statement when the Department of Public Health implements emergency mandates that affect school children.
During this legislative session alone, Candelora and Republicans have taken aim at the Democrats’ latest proposals that would allow children as young as 12 to receive vaccinations without parental consent and others that would put clamps on interactions between parents and educators.
“I applaud parents who have grown more interested in influencing the policy-making process, and going forward we’ll need their support and enthusiasm if we’re to fight off the insulting intrusion of government into their homes,” Candelora said.
