Bay State Stonewall Democrats Joins Leaders Across Massachusetts Calling On Mike Minogue To Denounce And Refund Donations To Far-Right PragerU

Bay State Stonewall Democrats Joins Leaders Across Massachusetts Calling On Mike Minogue To Denounce And Refund Donations To Far-Right PragerU

Today, the Bay State Stonewall Democrats joins a broad coalition of leaders representing families and communities across Massachusetts calling on Republican candidate Mike Minogue to denounce and apologize for funding the far-right media organization PragerU, immediately refund every dollar his family foundation has donated to it, commit that his foundation will provide no further financial support to the right-wing group, and publicly declare that he would never bring PragerU materials into Massachusetts public schools.

Public tax records and reporting show that the Michael and Renee Minogue Foundation has donated thousands of dollars to PragerU, and the Minogue foundation continues to list the Prager University Foundation among its past and current recipients. When asked about the contribution, Mike Minogue said, "a very good resource."

PragerU's messages to our kids and families include:

Minimizing slavery in a series marketed towards young children stating that "being taken as a slave is better than being killed, no?"

Promoting a number of racist statements, including "all it really takes for a brown person to nearly get away with murder is telling the police that a white person said or did something racist," "I can't even blame somebody for being racist at this point," and telling immigrants that they should "Stay over there. Don't flee your country and then bring that hellhole over here."

Blaming immigrants for crime, condemning multiculturalism, and stereotyping all immigrants as violent criminals.

Calling autism a "social contagion"

Attacking the LGBTQ+ community, claiming that kids are only identifying because it is "trendy," that the community is trying to "pervert" the minds of children, and saying "gay people shouldn't be proud to be gay."

Stating that "kids graduating high school barely know how to read and write but able to list off 97 genders," condemning any teaching about global warming, history of racism and sexism in the US, and seemingly calling for an end to sexual education.

Calling feminism "the root of so many evils and ills in our society."

Saying abortions are "not moral" and attacking the validity of reproductive freedom.

Pushing vaccine misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic, calling life-saving vaccines "genetic engineering modification," and promoting a speaker that claims they developed lung cancer from vaccines and that you shouldn't trust your doctor.

Downplaying the consequences and impact of climate change.

Questioning the theory of evolution.

Claiming income inequality is a "good thing."

"Every Massachusetts family deserves a Governor who won't fund groups that attack their kids for who they are. Mike Minogue has a choice: keep taking money from an organization built on this kind of rhetoric, or actually stand up for the LGBTQ+ families he claims to represent," said Jeremy Comeau, Co-Chair of Bay State Stonewall Democrats.

"Massachusetts families are watching what their leaders are willing to fund, and Mike Minogue's answer so far is an organization that tells LGBTQ+ kids they shouldn't be proud of who they are. He can return this money and rule PragerU out of our schools, or he can keep defending it. Either way, voters deserve to know where he stands," said Holly Ryan, Co-Chair of Bay State Stonewall Democrats.

As PragerU seeks to expand its role in public education across the country, Minogue has both financially supported and publicly promoted its work – a record that leaves him unfit to serve as Governor for all Massachusetts children and families.