Bayside High School teacher raises over $23,000 on GoFundMe to buy children sexually explicit books; argues against parental rights by stating “the public school is not made for the good of the individual student”

Incidents


On May 19, 2022, a Bayside High School teacher created a fundraiser on the platform GoFundMe to buy books that contain sexually explicit content for children. The teacher states on his GoFundMe page that he is “an Advanced Placement English teacher, author, college instructor, and elected official in Brevard County, Florida.” He then explains that Brevard Public Schools has already removed these books from classrooms and libraries. However, he still wants children to read them because “our students cannot afford to buy these books.” He then explains:

I plan to purchase used copies (locally, whenever available) to distribute to age-appropriate students at various locations in our county over the summer. Slaughterhouse-Five, Handmaid’s Tale, The Kite Runner, etc. If Brevard has removed it, I will make it available, getting as many as I can into as many hands as I can. I will enlist the help of many local businesses as distribution points and I’d love your help to get this done.

A Bayside High School teacher created a fundraiser to provide children with sexually explicit books.

The fundraiser has received donations totaling more than $23,000 so far. Local newspapers Florida Today and Orlando Sentinel as well as the far-left organization Occupy Democrats have also promoted the fundraiser to their readers. A book shown in the image of the GoFundMe page is titled This Book Is Gay. In describing the book, Amazon explains that “this candid, funny, and uncensored exploration of sexuality and what it’s like to grow up LGBTQ also includes real stories from people across the gender and sexual spectrums, not to mention hilarious illustrations.”

The teacher promotes the book This Book Is Gay on the fundraiser page.

Florida Today reports that other books the teacher wants to buy for children are All Boys Aren’t Blue and Gender Queer. The book All Boys Aren’t Blue is known for graphically depicting a sexual encounter between two men. The book Gender Queer is known for including graphic illustrations of sexual acts. Florida Today describes the teacher as Bayside High School’s “AP English teacher” and shares a comment from him regarding his fundraiser: “I’m just a little guy trying to teach kids to think and read and write clearly so they can go to college and be good citizens. That’s it.”

The teacher intends to provide All Boys Aren’t Blue to children.
The teacher intends to provide Gender Queer to children.

The fundraiser has received large contributions, such as $1,000 from Alex Rudloff. Alex Rudloff is the co-founder of the sports organization GMTM. He previously served as a vice president at AOL and as a “chief digital strategist” at TEDx, according to his LinkedIn account. He posted on Twitter with a link to the fundraiser: “If you like freedom and don’t like book burning, & you are so inclined.”

Alex Rudloff is the top donor of the fundraiser with $1,000.
He promoted the fundraiser to his Twitter followers.
Alex Rudloff runs the sports organization GMTM.
He previously worked in major positions at AOL and TEDx.

On Twitter, the teacher appears to be an outright political activist. His Twitter bio describes him as an “international bestselling and award winning poet, essayist, screenwriter, teacher, social activist, and humorist.” He tweeted a flyer for his fundraiser that states: “Let’s Put BANNED BOOKS Back in Students’ Hands!” His flyer then asks: “Want to help get banned books into the hands of students, and join the fight for freedom from politically motivated decisions to limit what young people are taught?”

The teacher’s bio states that he is a “social activist” on Twitter.
The teacher posted a flyer on Twitter promoting his fundraiser.

Adam Tritt has already held events where he provided children with these books and plans to hold more. In another flyer that he posted, he promoted the dates June 4, June 7, and June 25 for future events. He has also created “magnets, buttons, and stickers” to promote the books he is handing out.

The teacher posted dates to hand out books in another flyer.
The teacher created magnets and stickers to promote handing out books.

In additional tweets, he promoted the books All Boys Aren’t Blue and This Book Is Gay, thanked the musician Amanda Palmer for providing help, bragged about his degrees while calling people who support gun rights a “moron,” and called the pro-parent group Moms for Liberty the inflammatory name “Moms4Fascism.” He has also retweeted blatant political posts that call Republicans “nuts,” mock former President Donald Trump, and state people of different political opinions cannot be friends.

Adam Tritt tweeted his support for All Boys Aren’t Blue and This Book Is Gay.
Adam Tritt thanked the musician Amanda Palmer for help.
Adam Tritt bragged about his degrees while calling the supporters of gun rights a “moron.”
Adam Tritt called the pro-parent organization Moms for Liberty by the inflammatory name “Moms4Fascism.”
Adam Tritt retweeted a post claiming Republicans are “nuts.”
Adam Tritt retweeted a post mocking former President Donald Trump.
Adam Tritt retweeted a post stating that people of opposing political opinions cannot be friends.

On February 8, 2022, Florida Today published an op-ed from the teacher titled “Public schools aren’t for just children or parents, but for society as a whole.” In the op-ed, he states that parents should not have input on the curriculum taught to their children. He explains that schools “aren’t for their benefit” in reference to parents. He then explains that schools are for the “collective benefit.” He states:

Why is it that curriculum isn’t up to parents? Why are school boards not elected by just parents? Because schools aren’t for their benefit. They aren’t for your benefit, either. They are for the collective benefit. Collective. The benefit of our society as a whole, not the individual. The purpose of public education is to ensure the citizens, the voters, have the ability to look critically at facts, and tell fact from fiction, fact from opinion. So voters can make smart decisions based on facts and then become smart officials, and officeholders who make decisions based on what’s best for the country and its people. So we can continue to have a real representative democracy.

He then outright states that the education students receive can determine how they vote. He explains that students need an education to help guide how they will vote as adults. He explains that the purpose of “public schools” is “to create an educated electorate able to discern the factual from the fallacious, to think critically regarding the world and information at hand, to synthesize that information and be able to communicate that clearly in their writings, decisions, and, most importantly, at the ballot box.” He further explains:

Thus, our public schools are not for the children. They are not for the parents. They are for the country and our democracy. A curriculum, based on literacy, numeracy, critical thinking, and rhetorical skill is necessary for the protection of our republic. If such a curriculum is not to the liking of a parent, there are private schools. If a parent does not like the secular nature of public education, there are religious schools. If there is a book a parent wishes a child not read, they may forbid their child to read it. But they must understand the public school is not made for the good of the individual student, and the parent is not the “customer.”

Adam Tritt states that schools are for the “collective benefit.”
Adam Tritt states that public schools “are not for the children.”

On Instagram, the teacher appears to have several provocative posts. In one post, he appeared to show support for cutting off male genitalia. In another post, he stated that “[Governor Ron] DeSantis is worse than Covid.” In a post on March 1, 2022, he showed support for students protesting and walking out of class over LGBTQ issues. He also appeared to mock the idea of praying in another post by wearing a shirt that had the phrase “thoughts and prayers” marked out and replaced with the phrase “policy change.”

Adam Tritt posted a photo on Instagram that appears to show support for cutting off male genitalia.
Adam Tritt said that “[Governor Ron] DeSantis is worse than Covid.”
Adam Tritt showed support for students protesting and walking out of class over LGBTQ issues.
Adam Tritt appeared to mock the idea of praying in an image.