California mom claims she was fired for opposing school district’s transgender ideology for 10-year-olds after pressure from ‘Progressive Democrats’ group

A California Mom says she was “cancelled” for speaking out against a new sex-ed curriculum promoting transgender ideology for 10-year-olds in her children’s school district. A “Progressive Democrats” group allegedly led the effort against her.

Janet Roberson, a Benicia, California resident and mother of three, claims she was fired from her job as a real estate agent after voicing concerns about the new curriculum at the April 20 Benicia Unified School District board meeting, Fox News reports.

“Children are being asked to identify their pronouns, and this is now part of the 10-year-old curriculum,” she said at the meeting, beginning at the 44:36 mark. “This forces a gender discussion beyond the scope of the state requirements and complicates an already overburdened classroom environment.”

“We are alarmed that gender identity is now being discussed in math classes,” she continued. “This takes time from core learning and does not benefit the students who are in our community. Teaching kids that there isn’t standard or truth and that you can believe anything that you want to believe is not scientifically accurate or medically correct. For example, the notion that a girl can decide to be a boy, or a boy can decide to be a girl, is not true and should not be taught.”

Shortly after the meeting, Roberson says the attacks on not just her character but also her livelihood began.

Now she’s fighting back and telling her harrowing story, having created the website cancelledinbenicia.com to defend her reputation and set the record straight. On the site, she details her experiences and makes a plea for free speech and true inclusiveness.

“Is Benicia a town that values free speech?” she asks. “I’m the mom of an elementary schooler, a middle schooler, and a high schooler. On April 20, I spoke at a school board meeting to express my concerns about the inappropriate new sex-ed curriculum being taught to 10- and 12-year-olds.  Then the bullies in town began a campaign to destroy me.”

On the site, she details a timeline of the events she says transpired after that fateful evening, which ultimately led to her dismissal from Compass Real Estate. Compass is a national company and one of the largest realty agencies in the Bay Area.

On April 27-28, she says letters were published in local newspapers The Benicia Herald and The Times Herald, identifying her as a Compass agent and calling her “racist, homophobic [and] transphobic,” among other things.

Also on April 28, she says the treasurer of The Progressive Democrats of Benicia, Nathalie Christian, emailed Compass’ headquarters “demanding they respond to her by May 1 or she would publish defamatory items about me and the company.”

Then, on May 1, she says Compass fired her, telling her “it had nothing to do with [her] production and business success, but simply that they ‘decided to part ways.’” Roberson notes that in an email the same day Christian told Benicia Resist, a faction of The Progressive Democrats of Benicia, that Compass had confirmed Roberson’s firing.  

A Compass spokesperson, who attempted to distance the company from Roberson, told Fox News she was terminated at the request of another agent. 

“[S]he was an independent contractor who worked on an agent team, and the decision to disassociate her license was made at the request of her team leader in late April 2023,” the spokesperson said.   

Still, Roberson isn’t apologizing for speaking her mind. Instead, she implores others to follow suit and advocates for respecting the opinions of others, especially those with which you may disagree. 

“Should I have not spoken up as a mom?” Roberson asks on her site. “If we cannot speak our minds as Americans, we have failed our country. … 

“Who are we if we don’t have opinions as Americans?  As Americans we are duty bound to have opinions and to stand up for them.  We should be leaders who stand up for what is right. 

“Additionally, we should fiercely protect the right of everyone to have their own opinion.  Had another parent stood up at that school board meeting and advocated for teaching the new sex-ed curriculum, I would never contact their place of employment to demand they be fired!  I may disagree with their opinion, but I respect their right to have a different opinion.  That is one of the greatest and most important freedoms we have as Americans.” 

On Tuesday, Roberson’s story caught the attention of Jonathan Zachreson, co-founder of StudentsFirstCA and Elon Musk, who threw their weight behind her on X, formerly known as Twitter. 

“This well-mannered mom spoke at the board meeting, expressing concern the new sex-ed curriculum was teaching 10-year-olds they could choose their own gender,” Zachreson wrote. “Within days, a group formally affiliated with [Democrats] contacted her work, demanded and successfully got her fired.” 

“Compass, did you really fire this person for this reason?” Musk posted to Compass and his 153 million followers.