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California school district has approved a mandatory
homosexual curriculum for children as young as 5 and
parents will not be allowed to remove their children
from the lessons.
The mandatory program, officially titled "LGBT Lesson
#9," was approved May 26 by the Alameda County Board of
Education by a vote of 3-2. Students from kindergarten
through fifth grade will learn about "tolerance" for the
homosexual lifestyle beginning next year.
The curriculum is in addition to the school's current
anti-bullying program and is estimated to cost $8,000
for curriculum and training.
Parents will not be given an opportunity to opt-out of
lessons that go against their religious beliefs. Some
parents are threatening to sue the school board and
mount a recall. Opponents presented a petition with 468
signatures from people who don't want the homosexual
lessons in the curriculum.
At the board meeting, parent Julie Kim said, "The topics
covered in this curriculum for all the grades should be
left up to the parent to discuss with their children."
The district's legal counsel recommended against giving
parents an opportunity to opt out of the lessons,
claiming only health or sex education topics require
opt-out provisions: The most prudent course of action
for Alameda Unified School District's Board of Education
in regards to the proposed lesson is to recommend
providing notice to parents, not to allow an opt out of
the instruction.
The school district claims it will reassess the
curriculum, but only after it has been in place for a
full year. According to the Island of Alameda, trustee
Tracy Jensen addressed a crowd at City Hall following
the vote. "We are not telling anyone what to think,"
Jensen said. "We are letting children know that gay
people exist and they deserve to be treated with
respect, regardless of whether or not you believe that
homosexuality is acceptable."
But Capitol Resource Institute's Karen England explored
the curriculum and released a statement condemning the
program before the board's vote.
"This curriculum ignores the fact that every child has a
mom and a dad, to redefine ideas like 'family.' School
absolutely should be a safe place, but this isn't just
about safety. Students have to embrace highly
controversial social values or risk being labeled as
bigots," she warned. "Five year old kids aren't ready to
think on their own about sexuality and their families'
values will be dismissed. That's not an education in
critical thinking. It's social activism."
In kindergarten, children will be introduced to "The New
Girl … And Me" by Jacqui Robins. The book is about a
young girl who is new at a school and strikes up a
friendship with another girl after a popular boy refuses
to play with her.
In first grade, students will read "Who is in a Family?"
By Robert Skutch. It explores different types of
families. One page states, " … Robin's family is made up
of her dad, Clifford, her dad's partner, Henry, and
Robin's cat, Sassy."
"If a student responds that one family in the book is
made up of a mother, a father and two children and a
cat, you may acknowledge that some families look like
this," the curriculum states, "but also ask students for
other examples of what a family can look like."
Teachers are told to reflect and "reinforce to students
that in our school and our community there are many
different types of families that provide love and care
to each other. Remind the students that all family
structures are equally important."
Second grade students will read about two homosexual
penguins that raise a young chick in the book "And Tango
Makes Three" by J. Richardson and P. Parnell. The two
male penguins, Roy and Silo, are described as being "a
little bit different."
"They didn't spend much time with the girl penguins, and
the girl penguins didn't spend much time with them," the
text states. When the male penguins nurture an egg, it
soon hatches. "We'll call her Tango," it states,
"because it takes two to make a Tango." The book
declares, "Tango was the very first penguin in the zoo
to have two daddies."
In the third grade, students will watch a film called
"That's a Family," featuring some homosexual couples in
addition to traditional families. According to the
lesson plan, it aims to "assist students in developing
sensitivity to gay and lesbian family structures" and
teach "respect and tolerance for every type of family."
Fourth graders will be required to read an essay titled,
"My School is Accepting but Things Could be Better" by
Robert, an 11-year-old who has two lesbian mothers. They
are introduced to terms such as "ally," "gay," "lesbian"
and "LGBT."
Teachers are instructed to ask, "How do you think Robert
feels when he hears people say things like, 'this is
gay' or 'You're so gay'?" By fifth grade, students learn
to "identify stereotypes about lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender people." They are told that "LGBT people
have made important contributions within the United
States and beyond."
Teachers are asked to write the acronym LGBT and ask
students the meaning of each letter. Students discuss
why stereotypes are "incorrect and hurtful" to LGBT
people and people with LGBT family members.
The children are provided with a list of famous LGBT
people, including novelist James Baldwin, singer Elton
John, comedian Ellen Degeneres, pop singer Christina
Aguilera, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, poet Walt Whitman, singer
Lance Bass, figure skater Rudy Galindo, homosexual
politician Harvey Milk, Army veteran Jose Zuniga and
basketball player Sheryl Swoopes.
Teachers then ask if students are surprised to learn
that those famous people are members of the LGBT
community. The curriculum also provides a list of LGBT
vocabulary words for students, including the following:
bisexual, transgender, gay, LGBT and lesbian.
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