State Superintendent Ryan Walters, who has vowed not to “back down to woke mobs” after the death of transgender sophomore Nex Benedict raised questions about the impact of anti-trans rhetoric on Oklahoma schools, once attended a fundraiser thrown by a right-wing podcaster deemed unfit to work in Owasso Public Schools. The podcaster was rejected from employment in part because of public statements he made encouraging his daughters to “kick the shit” out of transgender peers trying to use the restroom. 

Ron Causby is a vocal conservative figure in Oklahoma, running the “The Real Ron Ron” Facebook page and co-hosting the “Loud Mouths” podcast with self-described liberal parent Tim Reiland. Causby has been a fan of Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters, going so far as to claim the pair are in a “bromance.” 

Causby also hosted campaign events with Walters, including a 2022 fundraising event at Causby’s home advertising an “infamous hot tub where all Ron Ron’s live Facebook videos are made.” Walters has spearheaded the cause of preventing trans students from using bathrooms at school in Oklahoma since his 2022 election, and Causby said that position is why he “supported, endorsed, and voted for him. Protection of our daughters rights over those of confused boys.”

Causby’s anti-trans rhetoric, in part, is why he was rejected as a potential substitute teacher and bus driver at Owasso Public Schools, according to an email from the superintendent. The email enumerates reasons Causby was denied a position, including a video he posted in which he encouraged his daughters to “kick the shit” out of transgender students in the bathroom and an anti-trans speech he made before the Owasso school board. 

Causby’s co-host, Tim Reiland, was behind an effort that got upward of 3,000 graphic novels temporarily banned from Owasso Public Schools (the district says that most of those books were returned to the library after a monthslong review process). And along with Causby, Reiland also boasts having sent the email that led to the departure of Owasso teacher Tyler Wrynn, who was criticized in a post by Libs of TikTok creator Chaya Raichik and resigned. Causby has been dismissive of the bomb threats that have followed Libs of TikTok posts, calling them fake.

Walters has appointed Raichik, a former Brooklyn real estate agent, to the Oklahoma school system’s Library Media Advisory, saying that her “unique perspective is invaluable as part of my plan to make Oklahoma schools safer for kids and friendly to parents.” In an interview published on February 24, Raichik said that she accepted the appointment because Oklahoma has “a lot of wokeness in their red state.” 

Walters, who has claimed that trans and nonbinary students are a danger to their peers, has periodically appeared on Fox News, asserting “Joe Biden’s vision for America” is to have “drag queens running schools” and attacking the Tulsa Public School system for being “more focused on a woke ideology and an agenda rather than making sure kids can read and write.” 

Walters also appeared on a show run by a former Infowars host and claimed the education system “has been run by Marxists,” and he recently announced a partnership with right-wing propaganda mill PragerU that will provide videos in Oklahoma schools that teach children gender stereotypes, climate denialism, and racism. 

BlazeTV host Steve Deace, who has attacked public schools as “Satan’s youth ministry,” has boasted of having influenced some of Walter’s messaging.

Responding to the death of transgender sophomore Nex Benedict, who died following a bathroom altercation with three girls, Walters claimed media coverage amounted to a personal attack against him and other conservatives.

“Radical left-wing groups and the media have lied about the death of the student and have intentionally lied to push an agenda that was politically motivated to attack me and conservatives in the state of Oklahoma,” Walters said. 

In 2022, Oklahoma passed a law requiring all students to use a bathroom aligned with their sex at birth.

Clarification (2/29/24): Language has been updated to clarify that most graphic novels removed from Owasso Public Schools were eventually returned to the shelves and that Reiland claims he is “not anti-#LGBTQIA” despite his rhetoric about trans people.