Why did UWF Trustee Gates abandon his core belief

When he appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Higher Education, University of West Florida Trustee Gates Garcia said, under oath, that while he had no knowledge of former Trustee Scott Yenor’s anti-women views, he insinuated those views weren’t his.

If you read my writings, I’m a huge proponent of women,” Gates said.

What are his writings?

All I could find were five viewpoints, written between Jan. 27 and March 30, for Blaze Media, an alternative conservative media outlet created by Glenn Beck in 2010. Two of the opinion pieces do indeed focus on women.

The first viewpoint was published on Jan. 27: “Facing down cancel culture: 4 courageous women who stand firm in their beliefs.” Garcia profiles four female media personalities—Michele Tafoya, Jennifer Sey, Sage Steele and Samantha Poner who left high-profile positions to stand by their conservative beliefs. He framed them as role models of courage and integrity for his daughter.

The other viewpoint, “Make tomboys great again” (Feb. 2), argued that society has shifted from accepting “tomboy” behavior in girls to pathologizing it as potential gender dysphoria. He used his wife’s childhood experience as a tomboy to illustrate his point.

Other Viewpoints:
“Maybe there shouldn’t be an app for that” (Feb. 2): Garcia criticizes the use of AI technology like “Troodi,” an AI-powered health coach for children, arguing that such applications inappropriately replace essential human connections in child development. He suggests that society has prioritized professional achievements over parenting, and concludes that human challenges demand human solutions.

“While other sports bow to wokeism, NASCAR keeps it patriotic” (Feb. 11): Garcia praises NASCAR for allowing drivers to openly express their conservative values and religious beliefs, unlike other sports leagues that promote “wokeism” and DEI initiatives.

“Home alone for spring break — and hopelessly homesick” (March 30): Garcia reflects on being left behind while his wife and kids go on a Utah ski trip. He references research from the General Social Survey showing that married people with children report higher happiness levels and cites Brad Wilcox from the Institute for Family Studies, who notes that family responsibilities motivate men to work harder and often correlate with higher incomes. He expressed renewed appreciation for the mundane aspects of family life.

THE QUESTION

Gates said he was a “huge proponent for women because of:

His wife Kelly, who serves on the State Board of Education, and who founded GuidED, a nonprofit supported by his parent’s family foundation, and
His sister, who is “an assistant US attorney. She’s married with three children, works about 60 hours a week, harder than anybody I know.”

If he is such a huge supporter of women in the workplace, then why didn’t he tell the Senate committee that he would not have voted Yenor to be chairman had knowledge of Yenor’s statements on Jan. 23.

Trustee Chris Young didn’t hesitate. “I did vote for him. In hindsight, if I had known about the context of the comments that were made, I would stand for you and tell you that that was a bad decision. I would not have voted for him. The things that have come out about the comments that he’s made are not what I stand for. They’re not what I believe in.”

Ditto for Paul Bailey: “I was not aware of some of those comments, and the one that you specifically read, I had no knowledge about prior to voting for former Chair Yenor at the time. And honestly, in hindsight, if I had the knowledge that I have now, I would not have voted for him.

If Trustee Gates is willing to abandon a core belief tied to his wife, daughter and sister, what else will he do?

YENOR’S ON WOMEN

1. Criticism of Feminism and Independent Women:
– Yenor has described feminism as promoting “political and personal evils” that threaten strong families, labeling independent women as “medicated, meddlesome, and quarrelsome” without connections to family life.
– He stated that “no national conservatism can be built from the assumptions and aspirations of today’s modern single independent urban woman.”

2. Role of Women in Society:
– Yenor argued that society should prepare young women to become mothers rather than encouraging them to delay motherhood for careers or independence. He emphasized that the peak period for pregnancy is between the late teens and late twenties, claiming women are often misled about their fertility.
– He suggested that efforts should focus on recruiting men into fields like engineering, medicine, and law rather than encouraging women to pursue these careers. He added that if all Nobel Prize winners were men, it would be “a cause for celebration”[4].

3. Higher Education’s Impact on Families:
– Yenor criticized colleges and universities as “indoctrination camps” that complicate gender roles and delay maturity. He referred to them as “citadels of our gynecocracy,” implying they undermine traditional family structures by promoting feminist ideals.
– He advocated for alternatives to college education, such as apprenticeship programs and trade schools, to encourage earlier family formation.

4. Vision for National Conservatism:
– Yenor called for a “sexual counter-revolution” to restore traditional gender roles, emphasizing the importance of preparing young men to be fathers and young women to be mothers.
– He argued that strong families depend on strong men and proposed a rearrangement of public and private responsibilities between men and women to approximate older societal standards.

Why did UWF Trustee Gates abandon his core belief

What are his writings?

THE QUESTION

YENOR’S ON WOMEN

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