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Real News For Real New Mexicans.
The Chile Wire with Abe Baldonado. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to The Chile Wire. This week, we have a familiar face and a special guest, Kristy Borrego Ojinaga. Kristy was previously on The Chile Wire discussing some issues that she had with Santa Fe Public Schools, the way she got involved.
Abe Baldonado:And today, we're here to hear an update. The New Mexico Sentinel recently released an article that showed that potentially some progress had been made at Santa Fe Public Schools. Kristy is here to clear the air and fill us in on what are they so called updates, maybe some somewhat changes.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Let's say a step in the right direction.
Abe Baldonado:Good. Good. And, Kristy, thank you for getting involved. I think this is gonna just be an important update for folks to realize a mama was very mad, got involved, did something about it. And now we're starting to see some incremental steps happening to make some changes.
Abe Baldonado:And, you know, chatting with you and looking at the article, it doesn't seem like it fixes everything. But like you said, it's a start. But can you fill us in on some of the updates that Santa Fe Public Schools recently made?
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Sure. Yes. So I became aware about a week ago that Santa Fe Public Schools had made a change to, the gender support process, and it now requires parental involvement, when a gender support plan is implemented. So while this is a it's a step in the right direction, it's still not enough, not even by a long shot, and we need to keep on holding their feet to the fire and telling them, no, we we as parents need to be involved in every step, not just the one that you're willing to give us.
Abe Baldonado:Right. Well, and also still excluding parents who are not involved in that gender support plan. Exactly. Like your daughter, a classmate. Right.
Abe Baldonado:Like you, you know, your daughter's a classmate, But it still doesn't go far enough to at least make you aware or at least protect your own child
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Correct.
Abe Baldonado:From incidents, you know. And going back for folks that maybe haven't heard our previous podcast, you know, your daughter was exposed to something that most people her age aren't exposed to. And that changes the mindset of a child. As you discussed in our previous podcast, you had to have conversations with her way too early than you ever anticipated. And so Right.
Abe Baldonado:Having to navigate that. And so there are still parents like you who are not notified. So even though there is a gender support plan for a student, there's still no accountability towards parents, at least giving them a heads up that, hey, this student may be going into the restroom with your child. Or, you know, can you make arrangements to have your child go at a separate time or at a different time just to protect them. Right?
Abe Baldonado:And and assure that they feel comfortable at their school and they're not being harassed in any way.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Yes. You're absolutely right. So this this change would not have changed my situation at all. My daughter would have still come home upset and wanting to quit school. My daughter, again, my six year old daughter at the time, she still would have been subjected to lewd behavior by the other child, the biological boy in her class that was being transitioned by his parents and the school.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:It would not have prevented her from sharing a bathroom with this same little boy, without her dad and I knowing and it still would not have required for us to have been notified and brought into the situation so that we could have helped her. So, this change does nothing for the situation that we experienced as a family, and that's why I'm here to say, you know, thank you for the small change. I think it's a step in the right direction, but nowhere near the transparency parents, you know, need to to have in the faith in the Santa Fe Public School District because, ultimately, there's still a lot of things going on behind our backs, and it's not okay. And I'm going to keep pressing and I'm going to keep talking about it. I'm going to try to, you know, let parents know that it's still happening because all of it needs to change.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:I mean, not just this one little part.
Abe Baldonado:Absolutely. And, you know, Kristy, in our previous discussion, we talked about, like, this is coming from a place of compassion because we're protecting minors here. We're protecting children like yours who are still too young that their minds have not they can't fully grasp Right. What what is occurring. Right?
Abe Baldonado:And that's just that's normal. It's they're a child. Yes. You know, they're not used to this. I think one of the things that sticks out to me is that we still have no accountability.
Abe Baldonado:That there are consequences to actions. Like your daughter was being exposed to lewd behavior by this child. Right? That shouldn't be excused because they are on a gender support plan because there is still right and wrong. And Yes.
Abe Baldonado:You know, the actions of this child towards your daughter are still a problem. You know, you still have to protect your child, and it doesn't seem like this policy change addresses that to bring some accountability saying, look, we understand that your child doesn't feel safe, but there will be consequences. You know, we'll put this kid in detention. We'll, you know, suspend him. Whatever.
Abe Baldonado:You know, whatever some sort of accountability to know that they're protecting your child and telling this other child, you can't do these sort of things to And other
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:to that point, you know, so on one hand, the wellness coordinator who we talked about, you know, she's the, she's staff at the administration's office, so not someone that's on-site at the school, but kind of sits where the superintendent and her staff does, this wellness coordinator, all these policies are kind of like surrounding her, kind she of implements all these, right? So she's the one that claimed that a little boy touching himself inappropriately in the classroom was very typical for the age. So she made that claim, right? This is very normal for little boys to do. And then she also made this claim that my daughter was safe in the bathroom with him.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Well, you can't have that both ways. Right? If this little if this behavior is so typical for little boys, then why in the world are we putting him in the bathroom with a bunch of little girls?
Abe Baldonado:Right.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:If we're expecting this behavior from little boys, so much so that we're justifying it as typical, you know, there's no consequences, they're doing nothing, you know, to prevent it. If it's so typical, then how in the world do you think it's okay to then put him in the bathroom with a bunch of little girls? Yeah. You know, and question I've continued asking is what is the point of separated bathrooms?
Abe Baldonado:Right.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:What is the point here? Saturday Public Schools, what is the point? If we're just going to allow every child that has a gender support plan, whether it's a biological male in the girl's bathroom or vice versa, what is the point? And I keep coming back to the same answer. The point is that we're separating genitals.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:That is the point. Right. Little kids should not be exposed to the opposite gender's genitals.
Abe Baldonado:Right.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:And if we're not going to separate those two things, then what is the point? Why do we still have a boys and girls bathroom? It creates the sense of safety, privacy that they do not have.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. It almost feels like indoctrination to normalize something that is not normal. Exactly. It's not a normal way. And I think it's important for our viewers to understand we're not talking about adults here.
Abe Baldonado:We're not even talking about adolescents. We're talking about six year olds. Six year olds. Six year olds. Mhmm.
Abe Baldonado:Like, this is a whole different conversation than talking about a grown adult, talking about, you know, a teenager, you know, who's, you know, hormones, everything. We're about six year olds here. To Exactly. To say that this is typical for six year olds, no, it's not. Any reasonable person can say, this isn't normal for a six year old.
Abe Baldonado:This is not an experience of six year old. We're still playing Power Rangers. We're still, you know
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Right.
Abe Baldonado:Playing with our friends and playing with our toys. You know, we're not thinking of sexual acts at that age, and we don't expect our kids to be even exposed to that. We're thinking about that. And it's the and that to me is like the critical part that people need to understand is that we're talking about six year olds here.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Right. These policies apply to k through 12, meaning five year olds truly
Abe Baldonado:Yeah.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:All the way up to twelfth grade and it's just not appropriate for kids. And maybe we could expect it in teenage, you know, the teenagers and, you know, they have a little bit more self awareness, but they also have the ability to remove themselves from situations they're not comfortable in, right? Well, how can we expect that from six year olds? You know, in my daughter's case, she felt uncomfortable and thank God that we finally were able to get it out of her, you know, what was making her feel uncomfortable, but it just confused her more than We're putting them in these situations that they don't know how to remove themselves from. And that just, it's the school has an ethical and legal duty of care to every child in their family.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:And when they mix these kids into bathrooms in situations like this, they aren't doing that. Not taking care of kids. They're not putting all of their safety and privacy,
Abe Baldonado:you know, they're not considering all kids when they put these policies in place like that. I mean, so it's just disheartening that they continue to justify it because And on the basis going back to like our previous conversation in our former podcast, but using data that isn't accurate and sources that are biased, you know, there isn't real science to it. It's you can tell that it is agenda based and it is a biased opinion of the data that they're that they told you that they're referring to. Yes. But upon your research, it's like and but yet they still gaslight you.
Abe Baldonado:They still try to gaslight you that this is the one and only way because this source says so.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Exactly. And yeah, they definitely tried to manipulate us in a lot of different ways. I mean, and I wonder, and I've thought about this a lot lately, is like what message exactly are we supposed to send to our girls? Like, what exactly is the message? You know, we talked a little bit in the last podcast that that we talk that when I was being raised, it was like, listen to your gut, you know, when you feel like you're not safe, you remove yourself.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:But we're teaching six year olds that to ignore their gut, that they need to put their sense of privacy aside for the feelings of another, that their privacy is secondary to this other child's feelings. And I just think, you know, let's walk that path for a minute. We're telling six year olds to put away this sense of this, what their gut tells them they're not safe. Let's walk that because I've been told over and over that boys will be boys. That's kind of an excuse.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Boys will be boys. So the girls just kind of need to get that, you know, forget about their gut feeling of being unsafe because boys will be boys. But if we walk that path and then we start looking at that message over years and years and years, and then maybe they're teenagers. Right? And a teenage boy then exposes himself.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Are we going to tell the same girls boys will be boys? Right. And then twelve
Abe Baldonado:years And then down the normal line that it's
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:okay for
Abe Baldonado:Or a boy to do even vice versa. Even if it is a girl doing that to a boy, it's still not normal. It's still not something, you know, there there's a way to carry yourself that you bring your children up and, you know, it's it's not normal. It's just It's wrong. Yeah.
Abe Baldonado:It's wrong. And it's like
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:And girls, you have to deal with it.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. And I think about the the long efforts that women have fought for in their rights and in their privacy. But I even think about Title IX, how much has gone into, you know, protecting women, protecting women's sports, giving them an avenue to compete against other women. And now that has slowly been stripped away by saying, hey, a male can come compete with you all and we're gonna say it's okay. And it is like amazing to me to even see women athletes supporting that.
Abe Baldonado:And I'm like, wait, wait, woah, woah. Women before you fought so hard for you to have fair and competitive play with one another and now you're just saying, yeah, we're gonna let men come in and play with us. And, you know, shout out to like Sophie Cunningham and others just saying like, yeah, no, I don't want to compete against men. Like, you know, people advocated for us to have our own fair play and competitive nature to our sports that we choose without fearing of competing against a male who, yeah, can come in and probably dominate a basketball game. Right?
Abe Baldonado:And it's just, what are we doing here, Kristy? Like, I it just I'm just amazed that we even have to have this conversation. Like, I would have never have fathomed in my childhood and to where I'm at now as an adult that this is where we'd be and we'd be having this conversation. And, you know, offline we were talking about how we grew up and, you know, there was we never saw any of this. We weren't told that these sort of actions were normalized.
Abe Baldonado:Like, we weren't brought up that way. No. And now we have government officials and public officials and others in these roles and in these spaces that we should feel that our children are safe pushing some sort of agenda that does not align with our values, our culture, and just playing out right and wrong.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Well, we know that most people just don't agree with it. Yeah. But like why aren't most people standing up and saying no?
Abe Baldonado:I think they're afraid, Kristy. I think they're afraid. Think many people are just afraid of being retaliated against, and we know that people will do that. I mean, to to take it back to our previous conversation for folks who don't know, but I mean, they came at you like you were this just hate mongering person, lacking empathy and understanding, yet you're like, no. I'm looking out for my kid here.
Abe Baldonado:Like, I'm not coming at a place of hate for this other child. I'm coming to protect my family, my daughter, and yeah, protecting this other child as well who you're potentially setting up for a long road ahead of a lot of lots of trauma.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Yeah. Yeah. A hard road. Mhmm. And and you're absolutely right.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:I you know, once we removed our daughter and I started homeschooling, I could have just walked away, but it didn't sit right with me to just walk away and leave all the other kids there and the parents that didn't know what was happening. And so while the easier road would have absolutely been like, you know, my kids are out of the public school or done, they're safe, that would have been the easier road for me. But it just didn't sit well with me. And, you know, if we want to see change, we need to be part of that change. And I knew that the only way to do that is by speaking, you know, about our story, what happened.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:And, you know, through the interview that we did last time and other times that I've spoken, I really try to, you know, bring home the point that this is about all children, but it's also about your parental rights. Yeah. They're taking them away slowly.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. Yeah. They're
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:going And parents need to know because I would think me as my daughter's mom in the situation she was put in just as much as the other child's parents should have parental rights to be involved and to know what's happening while we send them to their public schools.
Abe Baldonado:And you make the decisions for your child, not the opposite way around. You know? Exactly. When that child turns 18 and they're a grown adult, then they can make those decisions for themselves. And that's a whole different conversation than what we're talking about here.
Abe Baldonado:But I think you're absolutely right. We see it even just with healthcare right now where we start saying 13 year olds and 14 year olds can go get abortions, we're going to keep it secret from the parents. And I'm like, that is a dangerous road to go down, you know? And especially if that child does go forward with that procedure and has complications and the parents have no idea why that child is hurt or ill or dealing with some sort of medical emergency. And yet we have publicly funded institutions saying, we will not inform you parents.
Abe Baldonado:It is none of your business. And I think every parent would say, until that child is 18, it is my business. And my parents would probably still tell you today, like, I'm their business even though I'm a grown adult. They will say, we will still tell you what to do. I will listen.
Abe Baldonado:Like, I will listen. Are you still getting your homework done? Sir. Yes, ma'am.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Well, and we know we know without a doubt that children need their parents or their guardians. Like anything that they deal with in life that is hard for them, they will do better if they have a supportive parent, guardian, whatever, to kind of come alongside them and help them along, Right? But like we talked about last time, these policies, these laws that almost promote secrecy. Like Yeah. I
Abe Baldonado:And I think they target the most vulnerable of children as well Well who don't have that support at home potentially.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Yeah. But, you know, I tell my kids all the time, if an adult is asking you to keep a secret from mommy or daddy, you run.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:That is not a good adult. Yeah. Yet we have the public schools who are saying, here, we're gonna keep this secret with you.
Abe Baldonado:And our schools, Kristy, that every parent believes that their child is safe at. When you drop them off, you believe that they're safe, that they're getting taught the skills and knowledge necessary to be proactive citizens, you know, in the workforce that they're learning those skills, not learning about being, you know, accepting or empathetic towards another or these agenda type principles rather than, okay. Hey. What skills do I need to know? Like math, reading, and science to be successful in a career that I eventually want to do.
Abe Baldonado:And I think many parents are thinking, I'm dropping my kid off. I believe that the public schools are looking out for the best interest of my child. Turns out, not anymore.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Well, not necessarily. Yeah. If a child is struggling at all, so we want to talk about their change a little bit. Okay. The gender support plan now to implement that a parent is required to be a part of that process.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:However, okay, let's say a child goes in and starts having confusion around their gender. The teacher notices, they send that child straight to the wellness coordinator because in every document it's saying bring her in immediately so So she could then they could start having meetings with your child without you knowing as a parent.
Abe Baldonado:And a stranger like validating it.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Exactly. They could totally be going against your morals, your beliefs, something you'd want to work through with your child, but they don't bring you in immediately. They bring in this wellness coordinator. Okay. And then, so those meetings are happening behind parents' backs and it isn't until that child has been put down that path that it's already agreed to a gender support plan that then
Abe Baldonado:And then validated them.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Then parents are brought in. Well, the what are the parents supposed to do at that point? Because if they push back at all, then, you know, we know that they're either gonna be told they're abusive
Abe Baldonado:Yeah.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:If they don't affirm
Abe Baldonado:it They're not they're not empathetic or understanding Exactly. That maybe
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:they shouldn't have their child, you know, all these scare tactics. Do you do you want a dead child? Because ultimately, that's what's gonna happen if you don't affirm their their, gender identity, you know, all kinds of stuff. But the the the problem is, and what Santa Fe Public Schools needs to change about this whole process is when a child is feeling confused, the parent is brought in immediately. And I will not stop this work until we get to that point.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Yeah. You know? And all the people that justify it and say, well, if the child wanted their parent there, then the parent would be there. You know, kids deserve privacy too. But I I would push back against that because I had the best parents.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:I have the best parents in the world. But when I was doing things in my teenage years, I'm not sure I would have wanted to and I was struggling. I'm not sure I would wanna bring my parent in immediately, you know, but like should they have been there nonetheless? Yes. And Yes.
Abe Baldonado:Back in those days, the school would have called your parents.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Absolutely. And
Abe Baldonado:your parents would have been involved if there was any issues. And it's just I always think it's dangerous for strangers to double down. And this is what I feel is that this wellness coordinator validates it and then there's no turning back. And to your point just moments ago, we're actually seeing the opposite happening. We're starting to see grown adults who were forced at young ages to do these gender transitions and they actually suffer longer term trauma because they were a child and they didn't know the difference that, you know, they may have been experiencing something, but maybe they needed to be supported or put in a different direction to speak with a therapist.
Abe Baldonado:Maybe there were some underlying traumas that they needed to work through, not necessarily that, hey, this six year old knows that they
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:want to be
Abe Baldonado:a boy or a girl. And, you know, we're going to just double down on that. And actually, we see that there's more trauma and depression for those who were forced at a young age to do that. And they're now speaking out. And no one's having that conversation.
Abe Baldonado:No one's saying, Well, hey, over here, we actually have children that were exposed to this at very young ages that are actually having the opposite effect. They're more traumatized in dealing with more mental health issues because they were put down that road and Right. They regret
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Yeah. To intervene at such a young age and put them on this path, start socially transitioning them, it only sets them up to fall through in that path, right? So where there was an intervention should have never happened at this young age. Once the intervention's made, they start socially transitioning these kids, which I should point out Santa Fe Public School still does, okay? They still socially transition kids without you knowing.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:They could start calling them by a new name. They could start using different pronouns without parents ever knowing. Okay? So they set them down this path pre puberty, which is crazy, right? Because so much changes by then.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:And then by the time they're 13, then the medical interventions start happening, right? And we know that with a lot of these detransitioners. And that's essentially setting up these kids to be dependent on medication and hospitals for the rest of their lives. I would think the goal for us is to not be on a lot of medication, right? Like eat good food, exercise
Abe Baldonado:Be healthy.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Be healthy. Stay out of hospitals, stay off medication. Instead, this pathway takes them to be dependent on medication in hospitals for the rest of their lives. The intervention should have never happened that young. Never.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:We don't let kids at six years old decide anything for themselves. I mean, we don't let them eat whatever they want. Don't let them use the stove. We make them go to bed at a certain time. Like they need pressure.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. They need this.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:They need redirection. Right? And it's just crazy to me that that we as a society, we as a school and I'm not talking just about Santa Fe Public Schools. Right? It is all over
Abe Baldonado:our state.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:They're letting everybody do it. So everybody that's watching this, go and look at these policies. They could socially transition your kids without you ever knowing, you know, and they're using funding that they're getting to buy crazy things. And I mean, if you look at the Las Cruces school district, they put a closet full of chest binders for kids and then a whole change of clothes for them. I mean, parents look at what is allowed.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Socially transitioning kids without you knowing.
Abe Baldonado:In a place that is supposed to be where your children learn skills and knowledge necessary to be proactive citizens. Not, you know, these weird cultural wars. Like, kids are there to learn how to read, how to do math, how to do science, learn about history, you know, the foundations of our government. And clearly, we're stripping that away and saying, hey, actually, we're going to promote more cultural identity stuff rather than skills and knowledge that will actually make you successful in the long run.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Exactly. And we've talked about that, right? Puberty, The Wonder Years, and Santa Fe
Abe Baldonado:literally Yeah. I mean, tells curriculum, like we're sexualizing children. I think anyone with an ounce of common sense and just reasonability would say that's not okay. No. Leave the kids alone.
Abe Baldonado:Like leave the kids
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:the kids alone. Alone.
Abe Baldonado:You shouldn't sexualize kids. Even if they're teenagers, they shouldn't be sexualized. Right? Like, stop it. Like, get these kids the education that they need to be successful in life.
Abe Baldonado:And, you know, whatever choices they want to make as grown adults, that's a different conversation.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Yeah. Well, and I've had a lot of people like tell me, well, they need to understand what's going on culturally. And I could agree to an extent, right? Do they need to understand that people are different and that we should be kind to everybody? Yes, absolutely.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Absolutely. But that's been around since the beginning of time.
Abe Baldonado:Were And those kind things to your parents
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:teach you, Exactly. Just because they're different, they have different beliefs, you're kind. Do they need to understand the, you know, how complex gender identity has become nowadays when most adults still don't grasp it or even agree with it? I mean, most adults don't agree that there's one, two or a dozen or zero genders. I mean, most people don't even agree with that.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:And yet that's what they're teaching in our schools.
Abe Baldonado:They're teaching
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:kids to question their identity.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. Kristy, where do we go from here? I don't know. Where do we go from here? Think And I guess I should ask, does does it feel in some way as an advocate and I just wanna thank you for your efforts and for using your voice because I know anytime you start something that's very public, I mean, this podcast, you're gonna get folks that push back or just don't like it because you're speaking about a issue that they feel so just 100% on that there's no reasoning with some of those folks.
Abe Baldonado:But I just want to thank you for leading the charge and being that voice because I think it's going to motivate other parents, other families to get involved and maybe take a closer look at what's happening. Or maybe they even just reach out to you. They'll let you be the voice, but they'll share their stories because I do believe that, as you said, the system is in a place where they'll threaten you as a mom or a dad or as just a family that you're not supporting your young child and that you're a terrible parent and that is in fact opposite, but there is some gaslighting. But does it feel in some way that Santa Fe Public Schools did this just to try to stop you or slow you down from your work but like with no real change?
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Yeah. No meaningful change. I would I would hope not. I mean, I hope this isn't just the bone they're throwing me like, here you go. Now, be quiet.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. And stop coming Yeah. After
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:I would hope not. I I would hope that they're starting to see that these policies are not not good Yeah. For children, especially being that they are responsible for kindergarten through twelfth grade. I would hope, but I don't I don't know what their motivation is. I know that in meetings that I've had with the district, they very much try to manipulate me into shutting up.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:I remember at one point, they told me that now that I had this privileged information about another child and the gender support plan that that he had, that under FERPA, I legally could not tell anybody about about his gender support plan or his status, his transgender status. And if I did, that I could face, you know, like legal retaliation. Yeah. Retaliation or I could be like how liable.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:And I remember looking at that staff member and saying, Fair Blood doesn't apply to me. Yeah. I'm not employed by this school.
Abe Baldonado:Right.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:So are you just not educated on the law or are you trying to manipulate me?
Abe Baldonado:Yeah.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:But I think it was the latter. I think they were trying to get me to shut up.
Abe Baldonado:Well, they were probably hoping that you didn't understand FERPA laws, FERPA laws because some parents may not understand the rights that are available under those acts and, using it as a threat. Like, maybe she doesn't know about fur We can make a threat that she's not going to know that isn't real.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Yeah. And I think that's probably a scare tactic they use with parents a lot, right? Because I can't be the only parent that have experienced this situation in some way. I can't have been the only parent that didn't feel okay with it and went into the school to voice my concerns. I know I'm not the only parent, but if they're lying to them the way they did to me and trying to threaten them or scare them, They're then I could see
Abe Baldonado:to silence them.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Yeah. And I could see why parents are like, you know, forget it. This isn't worth it. Let's
Abe Baldonado:Especially turn off where it when you think like there's threats that, hey, we could go after your home, your finances, that Your kids? Your kids. I mean, you're like Your jobs? Know what? Like, is it worth it to put my kids and my family through this?
Abe Baldonado:You know? And some parents may say, like, yeah, no, because maybe they don't know what, like, rights they're entitled to or that those are actually empty threats, that there's nothing there, you know? And me being a little snarky, I'd have been like, actually, you broke the FERPA laws, so we're going file a lawsuit against you because you shared it with me.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Really. Yeah, you know, I just, I would hope that more parents just start speaking out, speaking up and putting their foot down and saying enough, start going to school board meetings and saying these policies are not okay, they're violating our parental rights. Because, you know, I was to share some encouragement, you know, my voice alone, and maybe it wasn't just my voice alone, maybe the Santa Fe Public School Board heard from other people privately, but, you know, one voice can make a little bit of a difference. Right? We we saw that, a little bit of a difference.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Can you imagine what hundreds of our voices would say? And, again, I'm not trying to take anybody's right away rights away. Okay? I'm saying that as parents, we are responsible for the upbringing of our child and we have parental rights that should be respected, not compromised by public schools. Okay?
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:That is my fight here. Parental rights. Just as much as I should have been able to take my daughter out of that bathroom, another parent should know when their child is being socially transitioned. That is my fight here. So you can make me out to be I have all these other crazy intentions.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:I'm not trying to be mean to any child. You know? It's unfortunately it's unfortunate that my situation kind of evolved the way it did. But like I said on the last podcast, you know, I don't blame the other child and I don't have any blame for my daughter. I think they're children and the blame is absolutely on the adults.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Yeah, absolutely. On the adults that are in the position, on the principal, on the public school board district and the representatives of our state.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah, they're passing these laws.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:That are doing these things, that are allowing it at a state level that trickles down at city level, a school board level or a school district level rather. And so those are my intentions here. Parents, you you need to know what's happening with your kids so that you could come alongside them, you could advocate for them, you could help them, you could be involved, you know, regardless of what your beliefs are. I have my own personal ones, like I don't think it's appropriate to transition six year olds, you know, that is my personal held belief. However, if you're gonna do that, then the other parents that are being affected by that transition should be in the know so that we could do what we need to to keep our own children safe.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:And that's the bottom line here. People can make it out to be about everything else.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. It's easy to do that. Right? The rhetoric is just crazy out there. But the real focus is, no, we're protecting parents' rights in their children's lives and protecting them at the end of the day on all sides.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Correct. On all sides. And right now those policies, they compromise parents on both sides. Right? On both sides, they do.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:So like everyone should be in this fight with me. Every parent should be in this fight with me. Not whether you believe, you know, what your beliefs are when it comes to children who are transitioning or transgender, you know, we could both come together on both sides and say, no, our parental rights are important. You cannot violate them. And we need to stand on that and we need to push back.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:So is there hope? I think so.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. I think there's hope. I think there's I think the little change is a start. I think with more voices like yours, Kristy, and more folks getting behind you and speaking out, I think we will see that change come in where enough pressure is put on the system to realize, woah. And I think it really starts with elections.
Abe Baldonado:Know who you're electing into office and whether it's school board, your legislature, your governor, know what they stand for and really dive in deep that, hey, do they support policies that strip away my rights as a parent? That actually target my kids at a young age to teach them things that they don't need to be taught about, you know, that they can learn about as they get older and their minds develop that they can comprehend what is happening versus, yeah, they're still being molded. You know, a child's mind is like a sponge. Mhmm. And unfortunately, I think they're taking advantage of that.
Abe Baldonado:And so I think
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Yes. I agree.
Abe Baldonado:There is hope that people get motivated, they activate, they mobilize, and they go speak out and, you know, go out and vote and know who you're voting for, know what they stand for because that's really where the changes start. Because the way we got here is that we had bad legislators in Santa Fe that enacted these laws that are now trickling down and now it has created this system that is undermining our parents and our families across New Mexico. Yes. And it doesn't align with our values, our cultures. Like, they are on the wrong side of history policy here.
Abe Baldonado:Like, they are on the wrong side. And I think the future will show that, that this conversation today was like, they were onto something. Mhmm. And I think more parents are going to get motivated. And, Kristy, just curious, like, are there any resources out there that anyone out here who's listening, maybe they've experienced something in their public schools, they've been maybe fearful of being retaliated against or speaking out.
Abe Baldonado:Are there resources where they can share their story with you or any organizations that are leading the charge that they can share that information with so that way it starts they have a platform for someone to, like, advocate for them?
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Yes. Yes. And that is so important. You have a story to share. You have to share it.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:I I understand the fear. Trust me, I do. It took a long time for us to go public with our story, but
Abe Baldonado:I remember when we first talked. Yeah. You know, there is a lot of uneasy feelings and
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:And, and rightly you know, I tried to work through it before going public. I spent six months trying to work with the Santa Fe Public School District to for to see some kind of change Yeah. To figure this out. It wasn't like I just, like, had this experience on a Friday and then Monday I was blabbing it, you know, on social media or whatever. Like I tried to work all the way up the hierarchy, all the way to the superintendent herself, met with her, sat down with her team, to the school board, to finding attorneys to help me.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:And, you know, finally I realized that it was gonna take me going public with my story to make the awareness so that hopefully if someone hears my voice, they would be willing to share their own, right? Because I know I'm not the only one with this story. So families out there that you have if if you've dealt with something similar, like, story is so powerful. It's it's powerful so that you more people know that you're not alone in this And, yes, there's resources. If you could if you get in touch with me, I could connect you with Independent Women.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:They are the publication that wrote the article about my family, very supportive of children and families and parental rights, very supportive of women and, you know, the spaces that should be private to us. And they will help magnify your story and get it out there so that more people and like I said, you know, my voice alone is easy to ignore. It's easy to call me a liar. But when there are more and more of us that are speaking out saying no, it is happening. Can't Yeah.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:You can't ignore us. And so that's why I will continue to come, you know, thank you for having me on the podcast again because I need more people to come out and speak up. And if you want to do a story anonymously because you feel like that's safer, we could do that too. But like I said in the last podcast, it was important for me to come out with my name on it, with my face on it so that you all could see that I'm a real person. I'm just a mom from Santa Fe concerned about all children and all parent parents rights,
Abe Baldonado:you know? And someone who grew up in the public schools.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:I'm a New Mexican. Exactly. I I am a product of the public schools. I graduated from Santa Fe High School. You know, it was every intention of mine and my husband's because he graduated from public school also to have our children within the public schools all the way through high school.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:We never thought we would do anything different. And now we're sitting here with, you know, juggling our jobs and homeschooling and what is the next, you know, however many years look like for our children because I would not put them back in at this point. And at least we have that option, right? At least I do. Understand understand there's there's a a lot there's a lot of families that don't.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:They don't have like, you know, parents are getting by. They're working two, three jobs. They can't homeschool their kids. Private schools are expensive. A lot of cases, these charter schools aren't any better.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Yeah. They have all the same policies. So the only way we're going to change is if we all come together and we speak up. Like I said
Abe Baldonado:change the system. Change the policies. Change the policy makers. Again, it starts with the individual and I think you got to look at the individuals who are pushing these policies.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Right. But you know what? They're there to represent you. So they're already in office. Fine.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:We can't reelect the school board at this point. Fine. But you can put pressure on them.
Abe Baldonado:Yeah. You can start letting them know. Exactly. I don't agree with this.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Yeah. You know, and if enough of us, you know, speak up, I would hope that they would listen. That's what they're there to do. Right? Represent us.
Abe Baldonado:Well, they should. Right? That's their job.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:I think they work for you. Exactly.
Abe Baldonado:That's what we've always done on Chile Wire. You elect someone, they work for you. It's not the other way around.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Exactly. Exactly. Maybe you got to hold them accountable.
Abe Baldonado:Absolutely. Well, Kristy, we commend you. Thank you for sharing your update with us on The Chile Wire. Thank you for initially coming on The Chile Wire and taking that leap of faith to go more public on camera and on our podcast, but we appreciate it. And here at The Chile Wire, you know, that's why we started is we want to give voices to New Mexicans.
Abe Baldonado:We want to talk about these issues. You know, sometimes we'll agree with them, sometimes we'll disagree with them, but it's important for us to have these conversations and have dialogue in a meaningful way, not a hateful way, not a divisive way, just actually understanding what these policies do and who they impact because every policy has a consequence. Oftentimes we don't see it until years later and then it happens and, you know, we have to have constructive conversations on, okay, well, how do we change this? How do we do this? And thank you for being a voice for many parents like yourself across New Mexico.
Abe Baldonado:And I hope more people get motivated. And if there are any people out there who have a similar story, you're welcome to come on the Chile Wire too. So Kristy will tell you, we're very friendly here. We're very But we just wanted to hear your story, we want more New Mexicans to hear your story as well. And so Thank you.
Abe Baldonado:Kristy, thank you very much. God bless you and your family, and we look forward to even better updates as you continue to advocate for change.
Kristy Borrego Ojinaga:Yes. Thank you, babe. Thank you for My pleasure.
Abe Baldonado:Well, y'all, that's it for this week's Chile Wire. We'll see you next time.