Far-left Connecticut School Board Members Under Fire Over Hot Mic Homophobic Slurs

GRANBY, CT- It isn’t clear what the issue is with the Granby (CT) Public Schools, but for a community of around 11,000 people, the school system gets its share of (usually negative) attention. 

The latest controversy surrounds two members of Granby’s Board of Education, both Democrats, who were caught on a hot mic before a recent board meeting, making disparaging comments about a candidate running for governor who also allegedly happens to be gay.

Josh Elliott, a current state representative, is seeking the Democratic nomination to unseat current governor Ned Lamont. 

Information provided to Law Enforcement Today, as well as a report from WFSB-3 Hartford’s investigative reporter Sam Smink, details the comments made by Board Chair Monica Logan and Board Secretary Liz Barlow. 

In the video provided to WFSB, Barlow was speaking to Logan, saying, “...that guy Josh Elliott was speaking, and I texted a friend and I was like what’s your gaydar alert, and he sent me three flames. I was like three out of how many, and he said five.” 

The pair continued talking, discussing Elliott’s Instagram, although the words are hard to make out. A short time later, Logan is heard saying, “What are you? Coke back mountain,” an apparent reference to the gay cowboy love story Brokeback Mountain as well as implying substance abuse. Logan told Smink that she wasn’t referring to Elliott. 

Unfortunately for the two board members, their conversation was overheard, riling up some members of the community, including school parent Jessica Tsaptsinos, who received texts from some friends after the discussion went over the live stream. 

We all make mistakes and have said things we regret. So, for nearly a week, we have remained hopeful that Chair Logan and Member Barlow would take responsibility for their conduct and apologize to the residents of Granby. Unfortunately, they chose a different course of action. Instead, Chair Logan and Member Barlow first requested that the recording (done by GCTV as part of their regular coverage of Town meetings) be edited to remove their conversation. Then, in response to a media request, they issued a statement in which they “direct[ly] and unequivocal[ly]” denied that their remarks were disparaging. They further declined to express any regret or remorse for their discussion, stating that “it was a private conversation and not part of our Board meeting.

”Granby deserves better from the members of our Board of Education. Our students, parents, educators and residents deserve better. At the very least, we all deserve decision-makers that we can trust to be honest and accountable. Chair Logan and Member Barlow have woefully failed at both. At a time when they should have shown leadership, accountability and courage, they chose instead to deflect responsibility and ignore the concerns of others. The message they have sent to our community, and particularly our students, is unacceptable.

For this reason, we respectfully call on Chair Logan and Member Barlow to resign their positions on the Board of Education.

Granby Republican Town Committee

“This has really gotten the town riled up,” Tsaptsinos said.

“What’s going through my head is just that they’re whispering, talking ill about a member of the LQTIBIA+ community. Yeah, those kinds of things aren’t funny. No, no, especially when you are preaching that this town is a place where hate has no place.” 

“Hate has no place.” 

Funny, because last year, Law Enforcement Today reported on a lawsuit filed against the Granby Public Schools by the parents of a female student who was subjected to ongoing sexual harassment, as reported in The Hartford Courant. 

In that case, the victim’s parents allege that a boy and his friends engaged in an eight-month campaign of harassment against their daughter, which was ignored by the Granby Public Schools.

The situation got so bad that the parents were forced to withdraw their daughter from Granby schools and enroll her in a private school.

The parents were told by the school principal, Heather Tanis, that the school developed a safety plan for their daughter, advising that all school staff would be notified not to put her in classes with the suspect or his friends. Months later, she was surrounded in the school cafeteria and subjected to “sexualized and threatening comments.” 

Several other incidents followed, with nothing being done by the Granby Public Schools. After a particularly disturbing incident at a youth services dance, the girl was told to report the incident to the school administration. She did so, and Tanis told the mother that the school would “partner” with the Granby Police Department.

After the police got involved, Tanis told the mother that she had “spoken” to the suspect and his friends and they denied any involvement, despite officials from the Granby Youth Services Bureau having intervened at the dance. 

The lawsuit says that, “Granby police ultimately closed the case because the school [administration] had taken it upon themselves to investigate and interview the students accused of wrongdoing.” 

School Superintendent Cheri Burke claimed that school administrators “couldn’t take any action” because the family had contacted police, the lawsuit alleged. 

Ah, yes, Superintendent Burke. In 2023, Law Enforcement Today published an expose about Ms. Burke. That followed up on a previous piece about Burke when she was serving as the Assistant School Superintendent in another Connecticut town, Glastonbury.

While serving Glastonbury, Burke championed the district’s “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion” program, otherwise known as Critical Race Theory (CRT). 

When the formation of the DEI committee was announced, a Glastonbury parent, Stephen Michaels, expressed interest in joining the committee, however he was told that “all volunteer slots” had been filled. He was told he could hear about the committee’s efforts at regular board meetings. 

He soon learned that the EDI committee would have a significant influence on the school system. He asked to attend the meetings as a taxpayer but was refused with the explanation that, as an “administrative committee,” the meetings were closed to the public. LET was told that Burke’s fingerprints were all over the EDI committee. 

When Burke moved on to Granby, LET received an anonymous tip from a parent that, while attending an open house at his child’s school, he had seen a teacher wearing a pin that read, “Someone I love is LGBT.” 

The parent told us that, since teachers are not supposed to wear any political or ideological pins or share their personal views on social or political issues, he was somewhat surprised. He explained that he couldn’t imagine that a student wearing a pro-2A pin, pro-life, or a red MAGA hat would be welcomed into the building. 

Burke, the bureaucrat that she is, was asked some of the above questions, as well as what particular value this pin provides to young schoolchildren. 

Burke said that since teachers don’t have any specific dress code requirements in their contract, she couldn’t address the issue, but invited him to speak with the school principal. 

Kyle Reyes, President and CEO of Silent Partner Marketing and the owner of Law Enforcement Today, the Police Tribune, and Blue Lives Matter, wrote to Burke and posed the following:

“If a female teacher were wearing an extremely short skirt…or a male teacher had ona  t-shirt that says “FJB” but the words were spelled out…are you saying this would be acceptable because the ‘teacher contract does not specify any dress code requirements?’” 

He continued:

“Are you suggesting that as the leader of the school district, you have absolutely no say in setting a baseline standard of decorum in the schools by your employees?” 

In response, Burke replied that the “district’s ability to assure that teachers dress appropriately” is not affected by the absence of contract language. “Any type of teacher clothing that would be disruptive to the educational process is not allowed.” Pins, apparently, not so much. 

Burke then claimed the teacher’s choice of pin was protected by the First Amendment. 

“Connecticut law prohibits discrimination in our schools against students on the basis of their gender identity and expression, and a teacher’s choice to wear a pin with a message of support is consistent with school district responsibilities under state law,” Burke wrote. 

“Teachers are free to wear pins with other messages as well, provided they are not disruptive to the educational process.” 

Burke did not define the word “disruptive,” which appears to be a subjective standard. 

After a series of additional emails, Burke did what all bureaucrats do…she lawyered up and referred Reyes to the Board of Education’s attorney, Thomas Mooney of the Hartford law firm, Shipman & Goodwin. Talk about a good use of Granby taxpayer money. 

Reyes and LET were then made aware of a series of questionable texts that were available in Granby school libraries. 

Of the books Reyes requested availability for, six were not in any of the school library collections, according to Mooney's response. The five that were available in some format included in the high school and middle school were Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.

Titles available as ebooks at the high school were All Boys Aren’t Blue and Beyond Magenta. Books available in the high school collection were Blankets and Lawn Boy 

Mooney told Reyes that “age-appropriate” titles were approved by the library media specialist after consultation with professional resources and reviews. 

What was in those “age-appropriate” books? 

From Lawn Boy:

“...in fourth grade, at a church youth group meeting, out in the bushes behind the parsonage, I touched Doug Goble’s dick, and he touched mine. In fact, there were even some mouths involved.” 

“He talked about old times at the church, but never mentioned our penises or the fact that he never said ten words to me after our little foray in the bushes. He talked about a few of his new listings and his plans to expand his real estate empire into Jefferson County, but made not a single reference to holding or tugging, or sucking dicks.” 

From Beyond Magenta- Transgender Teens Speak Out (told by a male):

“I was sexually mature. What I mean about sexually mature is that I knew about sex. From six up, I used to kiss other guys in my neighborhood, make out with them, and perform oral sex on them. I liked it. I used to love oral. And I touched their you-know-whats.” 

“Then one day, when I was with my mother or grandmother–I don’t remember–I said, ‘Iwant to have my dick cut off because I want to be a girl.” 

You get the point without further graphic detail. 

This is why the apparent mocking of a LGBTQ governor’s candidate is so surprising. Clearly, the Granby Public Schools are not only accepting of the gay lifestyle but actually advocate for it and attempt to indoctrinate their students into it. 

Barlow’s past statements suggest she is laser-focused on LGBTQ issues. In a previous LET piece, we reported on Barlow, then a candidate for the Board of Education, bragging about being an advocate for mental health awareness and suicide…but only on LGBTQ kids. She seemed completely unconcerned about mental health and suicide for straight kids. 

Logan’s advice for those who have problems with certain books is to simply have their kids “pick a different book.” Because, as we all know, kids always make informed, rational decisions. 

Sources told Law Enforcement Today that Logan last year targeted a young conservative Muslim father and wanted him off the school board for the “sin” of fighting for kids. 

One woman who saw the video said she was “shocked” by what  Logan and Barlow said.

“I mean, we’re very proud of the way we treat people, the way we think about people. So why would someone who’s on the board of ed and representing our school system and all the students in the district say things like this?” said Rebecca Mikus, a former teacher. “I was shocked.” 

“I’ve lived in Granby for over 50 years. And I just do not like to see this kind of thing. It disrupts everyone. It disrupts the trust and what we believe in and our local government,” she continued. 

WFSB reached out to Barlow and Logan, with Logan responding:

“A video was recently shared on social media of Board member Liz Barlow and myself having a personal conversation prior to the start of a board meeting. Portions of the audio were unclear. Unfortunately, people have speculated, misinterpreted, and spread false information about what was said."

"To be direct and unequivocal: neither Liz nor I made any homophobic or disparaging remarks. Liz referenced a conversation she had with a close friend, who is gay, about a candidate for governor, Josh Elliot. They discussed whether he might be gay and a strong voice for the LGBTQ+ community."

"Josh Elliot is aware of this conversation. The second portion of the video, in which I was speaking, was more difficult to hear and became the subject of additional false claims. I was recounting a humorous and unusual conversation I had with my son about a video he saw involving the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary’s admission of past cocaine use."

"This conversation had nothing to do with Josh Elliot. Again, it was a private discussion that was not part of our Board meeting. Moving forward, we will certainly be mindful of the topics we discuss prior to the start of our meetings.” 

Ah, yes, the old Jedi mind trick–”These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.”  In other words, you didn’t hear what you thought you heard. 

Sources told Law Enforcement Today that both Barlow and Logan are refusing to resign over the flap. Just like typical Democrats. 

When Elliot was contacted by WFSB, he downplayed the incident, saying he is “not offended.”