For the first time since 1997, Texas education officials are reviewing — and potentially revising — health standards for all Texas public schools. While this should be an opportunity for strengthening the current factual, biological standards, leftist LGBT advocacy groups are calling this review process a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to attack Texas’s abstinence-focused approach and teach medically inaccurate, highly sexualized LGBT programming as early as kindergarten.
In Texas, the State Board of Education recently took public testimony on recommendations for new sex-ed standards compiled by health and education experts. Thankfully, the current standards before the SBOE are abstinence-focused, so opponents face an uphill climb. But that didn’t stop radical organizations such as Texas Freedom Network and SIECUS, who recruited witnesses to bombard the SBOE members with more than 12 hours of radical, pro-LGBT propaganda.
Witnesses urged SBOE members to include “sexual orientation and gender identity” or abortion rights in the Health portion of Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills state standards with vague exhortations to “be on the right side of history.” Their testimony contained many outrageous claims that are worth exploring to show the general outrageousness of the subject matter being pushed.
One teen pregnancy prevention coordinator claimed, “Youth who are taught abstinence-based or abstinence-only education are more likely to contract an STD, become a young parent, partake in other risky behaviors and even face incarceration.” A woman who wants LGBT sex to be taught in school proclaimed, “I was 15 when I wanted to have sex with my girlfriend but, we did not know how to because we were never taught.”
A representative from the Texas Is Ready Campaign told the board to ignore the more than 4,000 emails from their constituents opposing “comprehensive” (i.e., far-left) sex education and instead consider a recent survey that polled only 600 Texans. On the topic of supporting teaching “gender identity” in sex education, a woman testified that students should not be worried about defining people as male or female.
At another point, a Community Organizer for NARAL Pro-Choice admitted she favors teaching young people about abortion and wants kids to know that abortion is a “safe,” “common,” and “normal medical procedure.” Several abortion activist groups such as Planned Parenthood, NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, and Jane’s Due Process testified for abortion to be taught in schools. Although it is illegal for minors to receive an abortion without parental consent in Texas, abortion activists argued that Texas public schools need to teach minor students that abortion is “safe” and “legal.”
The last time we saw such egregiously radical examples of LGBT style sex-ed was in local Austin public schools. Parents overwhelmingly came out against comprehensive sex-ed LGBT indoctrination last year when Austin considered changing their local curriculum. What the Austin proposals advocated are fairly shocking.
The Austin plans sought to promote a full-on LGBT agenda, including students being told to attend pride rallies, be advocates for the LGBT political agenda, and “denounce inequality.” Presumably, this would include teaching students to denounce other children who hold to the biblical view of marriage and sexuality. The plans sought to falsely teach children their gender is not determined by biological sex, and inaccurately allege that doctors “decide” a baby’s sex.
Students in 6th grade (12-year-olds) would have been read a scenario where an 8th grader (14-year-old) enters a romantic and physical relationship with a 17-year-old boy who lives alone and the 8th grader keeps it secret from her parents and friends.
Among a list of several different “sexualities” labeled as “common,” heterosexuality is not mentioned, although homophobia was cited in the list of definitions. Indeed, children would have been told to directly “challenge homophobia,” which is merely described as discrimination. Other images depicting sexual acts are too graphic to share.
This type of radical sex education encourages exploring sex at any age, with any gender, that gender is “fluid” and has nothing to do with biological sex, and that birth control and abortion are basic rights which should be unapologetically promoted. Failure rates of contraceptives are ignored, and STDs are promoted as trivial medical conditions that can be treated.
As a result, children face tremendous pressure to engage in sexual activity. As explained by Monica Cline, a former Planned Parenthood sex education coordinator, a group of students she was teaching told her no one ever explained to them that they didn’t have to have sex.
At the SBOE, comprehensive sex-ed supporters touted a 600-person poll taken by a local research firm indicating support for their version of radical sex-ed. Yet, in the March 3 Texas Republican primary election, more than 1.7 million people voted in support of parents being the sole decision-makers over their child’s sex education.
Texas Values also presented written and oral testimony with more than 20 specific recommendations for keeping the abstinence-focused education currently in place, and we will track the standards throughout the rest of the process. If you live in Texas and want to send a message to your SBOE member to oppose radical LGBT sex-ed, go to NoRadicalSexEd.com.
