Episode 123: A "Fake" Story Turns Out To Be Real And A "Real" Story Turns Out To Be (Mostly) Fake

Katie’s true reason for dressing up as a horse all those years ago is finally revealed. An old friend of the pod returns for his revenge. A heart-wrenching story involving a 10-year-old rape victim seeking an abortion turns out to be fake, but then turns out to be real anyway. Jesse discusses a viral internet rumor involving trans kids in Leon County, Florida schools and explains how indignant he is he had to do one of his least favorite things — “work” — in order to debunk it.

Links:

Intro

Katie has a crush on Jesse confirmed:

https://www.reddit.com/r/BlockedAndReported/comments/vyb507/katie_has_a_crush_on_jesse/

Katie’s initial attempt to seduce Jesse, c. 2010:

Prof. Stuart Reges sues University of Washington with FIRE’s backing:

https://www.thefire.org/lawsuit-professor-sues-university-of-washington-after-admins-punish-him-for-inappropriate-opinion/

Last episode on Reges’ case (skip to 3:48):

The Victim That Was(n’t?)

Indiana Star story about the 10-year-old:

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/health/2022/07/01/indiana-abortion-law-roe-v-wade-overturned-travel/7779936001/

Indiana’s new abortion law:

https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2919.192

Megan Fox (no, not that one) expresses skepticism, does some digging:

The WSJ is incredulous:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/an-abortion-story-too-good-to-confirm-joe-biden-ten-year-old-girl-indiana-ohio-caitlin-bernard-11657648618

The Washington Post’s semi-skeptical column (paywalled, but only on desktop for some reason):

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/09/one-source-story-about-10-year-old-an-abortion-goes-viral/

Ladies and gentlemen, we got him:

https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2022/07/13/columbus-man-charged-rape-10-year-old-led-abortion-in-indiana/10046625002/

Rebecca Fishbein uses this to dunk on her political outgroup:

Mike Daisy, who QRT’d this tweet, was himself caught fabricating a story:

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/460/retraction

Fox grabs the political football, scores some political points for the right:

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ohio-10-year-olds-alleged-rapist-guatemalan-illegal-immigrant-ice-source

Bethany Bruner was the only one in the courtroom as the perp was arraigned:

Asheville Watchdog:

https://avlwatchdog.org/

Leon County:

Jesse’s story:

A screenshot of the Tweet that started all this (deleted):

The Tallahassee Democrat story that it linked to:

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/education/2022/06/29/leon-county-school-board-approves-lgbtq-guide-dont-say-gay-moms-for-liberty-parental-rights/7765205001/

Kaitlyn Greenridge, features director of Harper’s Bazaar, on how this may represent an irreversible step towards fascism:

Leon County School District’s LGBTQ Inclusive guide with amendments — old version before the final amendments that was linked to in the Democrat piece:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22074439-the-leon-county-school-districts-lgbtq-inclusive-guide-with-amendments

Chase Anderson, child and adolescent psychiatrist, on this policy (deleted):

NBC repeats the claim from Twitter:

https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/floridas-dont-say-gay-law-takes-effect-schools-roll-lgbtq-restrictions-rcna36143

Vanity Fair then repeats the claim from NBC from Twitter:

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/07/ron-desantis-florida-dont-say-gay-goes-into-effect

Turns out the guide was actually written by a PFLAG activist:

https://www.wtxl.com/news/local-news/leon-county-schools-board-to-finalize-lgbtq-guidance

In Leon County, even the Republicans are liberal:

https://tallahasseereports.com/2017/05/03/school-board-member-alva-striplin-becomes-a-democrat/

The lawsuit that got this policy rewritten:

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2021/11/16/leon-county-schools-sued-over-lgbtq-guide-transgender-lgbtq-guide/6342695001/

Leon County’s reaction to the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill:

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2022/03/29/leon-county-schools-lawsuit-spurred-florida-desantis-dont-say-gay-bill/7202254001/

Previously, Leon County school board got their salaries withheld by the state gov’t over their mask policy:

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2021/10/15/leon-county-school-board-loses-salaries-over-mask-policy/8473965002/

The journalist fact-checking this story:

https://www.tallahassee.com/staff/7775150002/ana-goi-lessan/

Image: DAYTON, OHIO, UNITED STATES - 2022/05/14: Protesters hold placards expressing their opinion at a pro abortion rights rally. People from many different cities gathered to support and rally for abortion rights. In light of the Supreme Court decision that could overturn Roe v. Wade that leaked roughly two weeks ago, hundreds of people in Dayton, spoke and marched for abortion access. (Photo by Whitney Saleski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.blockedandreported.org/subscribe