San Jose Official Under Fire For Alleged Ties To Anti-LGBTQ Group

San Jose Spotlight

September 1, 2023

San Jose Councilmember Bien Doan is facing swift backlash after agreeing to speak with a local anti-LGBTQ+ parent group, despite claiming ignorance of the organization’s controversial roots.

An event flier featuring Doan’s headshot circulated online by Informed Parents of Silicon Valley—an organization openly against teaching critical race theory and gender expansive education in schools—triggered shockwaves through Silicon Valley on Thursday. Elected officials took to social media to denounce Doan, with some even considering calling for his resignation. Doan said he agreed to do a meet-and-greet with parents, but not to be a speaker. He said he wouldn’t have agreed to meet at all had he known more about the organization.

“This incident has served as a wakeup call for my office to be more diligent in researching who we meet with and we will do better,” Doan said early Friday morning on social media. “I apologize to the residents of San Jose for the negative emotions this has stirred, especially to those in our LGBTQ+ community, such as my family members, who still deal with hate from outsiders based solely on who they choose to love.”

The flier said guest speakers Doan and Marc Cooper, a Franklin McKinley High School board member would discuss test scores, LGBTQ+ books available in the library and how to opt out of “inappropriate curriculum.” Cooper, a conservative, ran an election last year that focused on parental rights “to opt-out their child from curriculum that does not focus on reading, math, language and science,” according to his campaign material.

“Our schools have fallen prey to a dangerous agenda pushed by politically driven educators seeking to indoctrinate our children at the expense of your family’s values and beliefs,” the flier promoting Doan as a speaker reads.

But Doan said he did not agree to be a guest speaker and was not aware of the material being distributed ahead of time. He quickly condemned the flier and said he did not authorize the use of his picture. Doan’s office sent a cease and desist letter late last night to the year-old organization.

The letter said Doan demanded “confirmation that your organization informed him that this was only a meet and greet with D7 parents to discuss quality of life municipal issues in the District,” and that he would not attend the meeting.

The parent group apologized in a public response addressed to Doan less than an hour after the cease and desist letter was sent. The letter corroborated what Doan’s office claimed.

A copy of the letter sent by Informed Parents of Silicon Valley to Councilmember Bien Doan.

Doan said he is a firm supporter of LGBTQ+ rights and wants to focus his time in office on homeless and transgender youth who are often marginalized further within the community.

But some critics say it’s hard to believe Doan had no idea what the conservative organization is all about, despite the website displaying clear messaging around “family values.”

Jefferey Buchanan, policy director at Working Partnerships USA, said Doan’s explanation is feigned ignorance.

“This is nonsense,” Buchanan said. “(If you) looked at anything about this group, the bigotry smacks you right in the face. He and (Deputy Chief of Staff Jonathan Fleming) knew full well who these folks are.”

Did he really not know?

Doan has been associated with other conservative organizations in Silicon Valley and is one of the more conservative voices on council. The Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women, which supports Informed Parents of Silicon Valley, endorsed Doan last year.

Informed Parents of Silicon Valley has made headlines recently after the Santa Clara Unified School District announced it is considering legal action against the group because of its aggressive leafleting at schools.

Doan met with former Councilmember Larry Pegram—an ultraconservative Republican who founded the group—on Aug. 25 for 30 minutes, according to his public calendar. The description of the meeting said it was an “intro to organization and see how we may work together to benefit the residents of District 7.”

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