Women Refusing to be Silent
Courage at a School Board Meeting
Consuming media these days is like drinking water from a fire hose. Besides coming fast and furious, you must assess how real it is.
What is the intention behind what we’re seeing?
But media can do the thing it’s good at. It lets you see into lives of others. We witness events that are not part of our daily experience. We build community through similar experiences.
Online, I saw a group of women fighting to save their girls from predatory men. They were fierce and unrelenting. They were once victims, now survivors, mothers, sisters and allies.
Those women and men in that room inspired me and filled me with pride. They showed up to face the power barrier that protects the accused instead of the victim.
Someone went live during the intense local school board meeting. In a small room, in a small town in Shelby County, Kentucky, eight board members and viewers online witnessed the frustration flung at the members.
They were called out for their inability to protect the girls in their schools from a series of at least four male staff members accused of grooming girls as young as 13. The latest one being the basketball coach.
The woman recording drove over two hours to attend the meeting. She has a strong following and used her voice and her platform to make us aware of the cruelty allowed at the school district.
Not a day goes by where we don’t see headlines of a new predator of young girls who is accused or apprehended for violating a child. And we see perpetrators not held accountable for their crimes. This behavior is being normalized, as intended, by the proponents of this behavior.
Where are the advocates for child safety? Advocacy is being in a position of power and using your power to stop the abuse of children. There is an army of protectors, shielding abusers from consequences. Simultaneously, there’s an army of women and advocates trying to be heard.
Far too many have lost the purpose of their positions. Or worse, use their positions to gain access and proximity to commit crimes.
The attack of women and girls mirrors the behavior of the POTUS. He is littered throughout the Epstein materials. Credible evidence and testimony of his crimes exists and yet he gets to keep his job. He gets to remain a free man. So why wouldn’t a high school coach expect the same lack of consequence.
They have made preying on little girls acceptable.
Read that sentence again.
In small towns, in big cities, and hidden away on remote islands, preying on the lives of little girls is allowable.
What courage looks like.
I saw what courage looks like when a community of women decided there was no other option than to stand up and fight.
In that small school board room, at least two victims showed up.
In a small town, where everyone you know knows details of what happened to you. They personally know the perpetrator. The community knows about the violation you wish every day didn’t happen. It’s the thing you wished didn’t haunt every moment of your day and night. It’s a shame you carry, that was never yours.
One of the victims was near the camera. Her jaw flexed and moved with emotion held in for a decade.
She showed incredible strength and vulnerability in that small room. Her husband was vibrating with suppressed rage. Often he rose out of his chair, unable to remain seated. He offered his encouragement to his wife by lightly wrapping her shoulders with his arm, sensing when she needed the support.
He offered his voice in protest towards the end of the meeting. His rage and need to fight with the people responsible for allowing his wife to be hurt couldn’t be contained. His anger was directed at people whose job it was to protect children. His wife’s life has been shaped in devastating ways. She’s been affected in ways that likely only he ever gets to see.
The meeting was held two weeks before Christmas. One woman spoke up when the members were trying to end the predator discussion because they had other things to get done.
She rose and said, “everyone in this room has things to do tonight.” They had to feed their kids, go to work, do their Christmas activities, and any number of things on their impossible list. But they were committed to getting a predator away from their children.
One woman reminded me of all the women I’ve seen in a corporate job. She was trying to negotiate an outcome in a highly volatile situation. She understood processes and procedures. Her plea included her acknowledging the rules they must follow, while trying to get them to commit to taking action. She asked for action to get the predator away from their girls. It was a good strategy, appealing to what they are mandated to do. She kept up the pressure to take sincere, measurable and transparent action.
Another woman spoke up and shot an arrow through them personally, “I grew up with a lot of you.” They are neighbors and friends. These are people they trust. She implored them to do the right thing.
Women, men, victims, and allies all showed up. I’m not sure if they got the specific outcome they wanted that night two weeks before Christmas, but maybe they got a different one.
It might be the best currency we have access to right now.
Attention and community solidarity
Keep shining the light. Keep gathering in groups to demand justice. When more of us show up together, in small rooms, and keep showing up, things change. Elected and appointed people should be pressured to work for the communities that elect and pay them.
To all the resisters out there keep
Showing up.
Speaking out.
Finding inspiration of the good in us
Reference / Further Reading
Courier Journal — Investigation into the Shelby County school board meeting and allegations involving Chris Gaither (December 11, 2025). (Paywalled source)
Authors note:
As a woman, I’m drawn to the pattern of behavior and actions that seek to not only harm girls and women, but actions that have lifetime mental health implications and erode the future equality of women.
Grooming and harming girls is not just cruel abuse but a strategic first action that reduces opportunities for women to live the lives they choose, get the education they deserve, and find economic independence. I’m a witness who strives to increase awareness and action