Pennridge is near and dear to my heart. My partner and I are both graduates, our children go there, my nieces and nephews go there. We love this school. But I also know the reality of what happens there, including how School Board Member Bradley Merkl-Gump has let us down.
That’s why there is a better choice than him for state senator.
Contrary to Darren Laustsen’s recent opinion piece in the Bucks County Beacon painting Bradley Merkl-Gump as the antidote to far-right culture war politics, Bradley has consistently failed to fight for and make the changes needed to protect all students, especially the most vulnerable.
It is true that Pennridge’s previous far-right school board majority and their reactionary agenda caused real harm. Families watched extremist policies target vulnerable students, teachers were “put on notice”, and the district became a national example of how public schools could be weaponized by a “hate group” like Moms for Liberty. Many parents, teachers, and community members fought hard to change that.
I know, because I was one of them.
I co-founded RIDGE Network along with three other community leaders and uncovered the destructive actions and policies of Moms for Liberty and Vermillion that Bradley ran on to get elected. I voted for Bradley and trusted him to make the real change needed to end discrimination in Pennridge. Three years later, we are still waiting for that change to materialize. Presenting Bradley as the architect of a completed rescue ignores what many families are still experiencing right now.
The truth is that under his leadership on the Pennridge School Board, discriminatory policies impacting LGBTQIA+ students have remained active. Acts of racism are the norm, without sufficient response from the school, often labelling the use of the n-word as bullying instead or racism. Our students continue to live with policies that define students by sex assigned at birth in ways that directly discriminate against transgender and gender-expansive youth, including athletics policies and bathroom guidelines that force queer students into impossible choices between exclusion, outing themselves, or isolation. For families living this reality, the story did not simply end when Bradley took office. I recently spoke with LGBTQIA+ students at the school who shared that ‘it feels the same.’ Darren’s article states that, “The drama is over. The headlines have stopped.”
Maybe he missed the AP article that ran in the Bucks County Beacon and in papers across the country in March 2026, “Families turn to states for civil rights support as Trump dismantles the Education Department,” which details the current racial bullying at the Pennridge School District. The truth is that in Bradley’s tenure, Pennridge has been the subject of formal complaints for fostering a hostile environment based on race and gender, including LGBTQIA+ discrimination. In fact, Bradley is named in this complaint for continuing to foster a climate of discrimination. This is not abstract politics. These are real students, real families, and real harm. When your own child is among those directly impacted, campaign narratives about restored normalcy ring very differently. It becomes painfully clear that political victory and student safety are not always the same thing.
Is the drama over? That depends entirely on who is being asked.
For families of Black and brown, queer and trans students still navigating discriminatory systems, the harm is not historical, it is ongoing.
There is no reason for us to believe that Bradley will be any different in the Senate. He’s already touting endorsement by State Senator Nick Miller notorious for being one of the five Democrats to switch sides and vote to keep transwomen from playing in high school sports.
Voters should be cautious of any narrative that suggests that Bradley works to protect vulnerable students. I refuse to vote for this man whom I once helped. Instead, I am voting for Mark Pinsley.
Mark is a man who has openly and unequivocally supported the Quakertown students attacked by Police Chief McIlree on Feb. 20, many of whom are Hispanic. Mark has uncovered cases of medical malpractice causing parents to be wrongfully separated them from their children. Mark openly advocates for full civil rights protections for the LGBTQ community, including streamlined name and gender marker changes while Bradley sits on a school board that refuses to celebrate Pride month.
I know Bradley, he’s been to my home. I don’t believe he’s a bad person, but being a “good guy” isn’t enough. Real leadership means more than being personally likable; it means standing up for all the good people in our community, especially those whose experiences, backgrounds, or identities may not look like his own.
Mark Pinsley isn’t just a better option. In my opinion, he is the only option for people who care about disenfranchised communities and having an elected representative who is willing to fight for what’s right – no matter the cost.
