Gracey Van Der Mark is unhinged and dangerous.

You've been warned.

So, as some of you know, I work as an adjunct journalism professor at Chapman University. And one of my star students last semester was Meg Corsi. I asked Meg to take a gander at the state assembly district 72 election—and, in particular, Republican lunatic Gracey Van Der Mark.

Here’s Meg’s report …

By Meg Corsi

Special to The Truth OC

A child of impoverished immigrants, a woman of color, born and raised in Los Angeles, and a survivor of an abusive marriage. These are all traits that would seemingly describe a strong liberal, and yet, in this particular case you would be sorely mistaken.

Gracey Van Der Mark has the background to fit someone who’s seen enough oppression and abuse to understand what it takes to help people, yet she has proven time and again through policies and resolutions she created and voted on that she has more interest in appealing to MAGA politics.

In 2022, Van Der Mark was voted onto the Huntington City Council. While on the council, Van Der Mark spearheaded numerous policies and mandates. She established a resolution relocating library materials containing “sexual content” (City of Huntington Beach Resolution No. 2023-41, 2023), introduced a countermeasure to California’s SAFETY Act by passing an ordinance to make Huntington Beach a “parents’ right to know city” (Huntington Beach Municipal Code 1.23.020, 2024), and a ban on mask and vaccine mandates. She also voted to pass pride flag restrictions, diversity celebration repeals, and a voter ID measure.

One of her biggest and most critiqued efforts was against the Huntington Beach Public Library. She aimed to relocate certain books from the children’s section to the adult section under the notion that some of the books contained “sexual content” (City of Huntington Beach Resolution No. 2023-41, 2023). During her time as mayor pro tem, Van Der Mark gave a presentation to the council about the kinds of books in the children’s section of the library that she wanted to move.

The presentation included books such as Gender Queer, by Maia Kobabe, It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health, by Robie H. Harris, Grandpas Pride, by Harry Woodgate, and S.E.X: the all-you-need-to-know progressive sexuality guide to get you through high school and college by Heather Corinna. While all of these books do contain nudity and sex, and conversations around gender and queerness, they are presented in the name of education, and not in an erotic way.

Not that such nuance matters to Van Der Mark.

The resolution stated that “No City Library or other City facility shall allow children ready access to books and other materials that contain any content of sexual nature.” (City of Huntington Beach Resolution No. 2023-41, 2023) Some critiqued the ambiguous language, questioning what “sexual nature” meant exactly. Many trained librarians who had been educated about reading standards were extremely outspoken on the matter, as their professional opinions were not being taken into account.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1955, otherwise known as the SAFETY Act, prohibiting California public schools from disclosing a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity to parents without the student’s consent. In an effort to counteract this measure, Van Der Mark introduced and, by a 4-3 vote, approved an ordinance declaring that Huntington Beach is a “parents’ right to know city.” Under this ordinance, educators, or other entrusted adults working with children, may not withhold information relating to a child’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to parents with or without consent from the child. However, because California public schools are governed by state codes and school districts, municipal city councils have no actual legal authority over them. Because of the SAFETY Act being in place, Huntington’s resolution cannot fire, fine, or otherwise hurt educators or other entrusted adults who violate the ordinance. Instead, the ordinance serves more as an indicator to outsiders of who the Huntington Beach City Council is, and as a legal basis for suing under state law.

Finally, in 2023, Van Der Mark imposed a ban on mask and vaccine mandates in the city. This ban came at a time when the state of California, Orange County, and Huntington Beach had no active mandates for masks or vaccines, as those mandates had ended earlier in the year and there were no plans to revive them. While this mandate was city-wide, there were exceptions. Individuals who actively had COVID-19, or private businesses, had the right to set their own mask and vaccine rules. Just like the “parents’ right to know city” this resolution did not actually do much, as again, there was no mask and vaccine mandate in place when this resolution was put into action. It was mainly put in place to block potential future mandates and protest the government’s role in Huntington.

Van Der Mark is now running for the state assembly district 72. Stretching along the coast from Seal Beach to Laguna Beach and inland toward Lake Forest, District 72 is a large area that Van Der Mark may well wind up rerresenting. If elected, she would introduce, debate, and vote on bills, consult on the state budget for programs like healthcare, public safety, schools, and more. She would provide oversight to make sure laws are being enforced and implemented correctly, and assist residents with issues involving state agencies.

God help us.

Meg Corsi is a Chapman undergrad and founder/editor of Infected Magazine.