Petition calls for anti-LGBTQ school board member to resign. Hockema: ‘Idiots’

Plus, hesitation on West Side school board over state law barring trans athletes from girls teams. And, secret’s out: WL’s new dog park is ready for play

Thanks today for the ongoing support from sponsor Barash Law, which helped make this edition of the Based in Lafayette reporting project possible.

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With a petition picking up steam, calling on Chuck Hockema to resign from the Lafayette school board before his new four-year term starts, the Lafayette Jeff grad, class of ’59, who ran to root out what he called “woke” agendas and signs of LGBTQ advocacy and support in classrooms was blunt.

“I think they’re a bunch of idiots,” Hockema said. “I haven’t even started, yet. You can tell them I’m not going anywhere.”

That said, more than 500 people as of Wednesday evening had signed a petition asking Hockema to step down and to “tell LGBTQ+ students in Indiana that we support them and will do everything we can to protect them.”