Last January, Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey signed a bill that required LGBT history to be taught in public schools. While I personally think that that is a good thing, many parents would disagree with me, saying that such a curriculum would be damaging to their children’s mental health and that it is a radical agenda that is being pushed on students, according to Daily Signal.
Some parents, during a “parental rights” conference in Flemington, expressed their concern that the new law requiring an LGBT history curriculum would “teach lifestyles and life choices that stand 100% against our family values” and that it is an attack on their religious freedom. They also said that a “special interest group” is developing an additional curriculum that could harm their child’s mental health and jeopardize their safety. Admittedly I haven’t read the specifics of the new law despite living in New Jersey for my entire life, but these parents sound a tad paranoid to me. I fail to see how teaching LGBT history is a threat to anyone’s safety and how it could possibly be damaging to one’s health.
Others have warned against a “gender ideology” that already exists in schools that makes children believe that they are a different gender than what they were born as. Again, this sounds paranoid. However, Kathy Goldenberg, the president of the New Jersey Board of Education said that the board has no authority to enact policy changes because the law was passed within the legislature of New Jersey.
Some people, like Thomas Sobol of Flemington said that an LGBT curriculum is “wrong, wrong, wrong for public schools” and that “This agenda should not be forced on people and I don’t think that it’s age-appropriate to have this in public schools. Public education should be neutral, and it’s unfair to exclude people with religious values. This agenda did not come out of nowhere.” Even the Mayor of Barnegat, Alfonso Cirulli, called upon Christians to unite in an effort to stop the teaching of LGBT history as such laws “undermine biblical teachings.” The problem with that is that we do have separation of church and state.
Again, I personally think that teaching LGBT history is beneficial as it may decrease the stigma surrounding LGBT people and show that they can contribute to great things in society. What do you think? Is this a good thing or should LGBT history be left out of public schools?
Source: Daily Signal
Again, I personally think that teaching LGBT history is wrong, wrong, wrong. It is never, never, never appropriate to discuss any kind of sexuality with others people’s children.
Honest question – do you think sex ed shouldn’t be taught in schools at all? Not even how children are conceived, biology, STDs, etc…? Because heterosexuality is inherent in all of that, in addition to being pertinent to queer teens who should know about STDs and more. If so, how do you believe sexually curious teens – straight and gay – should come by that information?