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Grade School's Gender Diversity Program Riles Conservatives
Filed under: In The News, Bullying, Education: Big Kids
Learning about transgendered clownfish in school? What would Nemo say? Credit: Getty Images
Children at Redwood Heights Elementary School in Oakland, Calif., learn about lesbian lizards and transgendered clownfish.Judge not, they are advised. Nature offers many ways to be male and many ways to be female. There are more than just two options.
Whaaat?!
Cue the moral outrage.
"This instruction does not represent the values of the majority of families in Oakland," attorney Kevin Snider of the conservative Pacific Justice Institute tells the San Francisco Chronicle in a statement.
You would think, then, the majority of parents would pull their kids out of class when the discussion veers toward lesbians. They have that right. However, Redwood Principal Sara Stone tells the Chronicle only a few kids have opted out.
Conservatives accuse school officials of having a broader agenda than teaching children about gender diversity in the animal kingdom. They're right, Stone tells the newspaper.
She wants to stop kids from being picked on for gender issues.
"If we don't have a safe, nurturing class environment, it's going to be hard to learn," Stone tells the Chronicle. "Really, the message behind this curriculum is there are different ways to be boys. There are different ways to be girls."
That's what makes conservatives grind their teeth. There are not different ways to be boys and girls, they say. Boys are boys. Girls are girls. And it is only sprouty, new-age, liberal educators who are muddying the waters.
Leaders of the Pacific Justice Institute say in a press release sent to the Chronicle that they will provide legal assistance to parents who want to challenge the curriculum.
A classic argument that homosexuality is unnatural is that there are no "gay" animals. Not so, gender teacher Joel Baum tells Redwood students. There are single-sex Hawaiian geckos, fish that switch genders and male snakes that act "girly."
"That's a lot of variation in nature," Baum tells students. "Evolution comes up with some pretty funny ways for animals to reproduce."
Evolution?!
But that's a bit of conservative moral outrage for another time. The subject at hand is swishy fish.
Actually, school officials tell the Chronicle, the subject at hand is bullying -- and how to prevent it.
"Gender harassment can start at very young ages, often before kindergarten, and it is not uncommon for children who step outside of narrow gender expectations, whether in their clothing, hair, toys or styles of play, to become the targets of mistreatment by other children," school district spokesman Troy Flint tells the newspaper.
And how do the kids feel about all this?
"I think it's about how it doesn't matter who you are," fourth-grader Desmond Pare tells the Chronicle. "If you're a girl who likes girl stuff, or a boy who like boy stuff, it just matters if you're human."
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
5-25-2011 @ 4:21PM
Alicia said...As a nation, we've been scratching our chins on how to cut down on bullying and specifically suicides, especially among gay teenagers. Yet when someone comes up with a (damn good) idea and gives it a try, out come the lawyers.
Give it up already. Even Focus on the Family finally admitted that they've lost the fight on gay marriage because people in their 20s and 30s have souls and know that it's not about who you love.
Reply
5-27-2011 @ 2:02PM
Talker said...I have seen footage of this 'teaching' and it is so much more than a bully issue. (The topic of the buzz word 'bully' in schools right now is a whole separate and ridiculous issue).
The footage I have seen clearly is about confusing children and telling them a girl is not a girl, and a boy is not a boy, etc..... it is morally appalling, and quite frankly, just another reason for parents who are trying to raise morally courageous children to pull their children from the public...excuse me from the union education system.
Call it what you want, but anyone with reason can see what this 'teaching' really is.
Reply
6-01-2011 @ 11:18AM
Mesha said...You have to understand for your children sake. There are many kids born different in this world and from a young age they learn that they don't fit in. I was one of those kids. I was rough and tumble, appreciated more boy things than girl things all that got me was people bullying me emotionally and physically. Forced to eat hay, beat on, and disgraced. I had no friends, I'd rather stay with my teacher during recess than play with the kids. Socially awkward. This could be your kid. This doesn't put a label of any sexuality or gender issue. There are plenty of female guys who are attracted to women and vice versa, and I know them. When I was in middle school a kid committed suicide because no one protected him from kids who didn't like the fact that he was different. I was taught since elementary that if I wasn't like everyone else it was not worth me living in this world. Many times held a knife in my hand thinking that if I die I will be free from it all. They need to teach these kids that what make this world beautiful is how different they are. I wish someone had taught me that a long time ago. But now I know their is a reason why I'm so different and its really the way I was born, I produce naturally more testosterone than females should. After I found that out my mom said one thing that made me the happiest girl in the world "It's not your fault". Now I want to tell every single child those four words.
6-01-2011 @ 6:47PM
Kaylah said...I'm all for teaching kids that being different is OK- show respect for others and enjoy what makes you unique, all the Disney stuff. But gender is a completely different issue! A biological female human CANNOT become a biological male human even if they can change their outward appearence, behavior, and name to show otherwise.
As for the animals... can people regrow a new tail? No? Then they cannot be "just like" a lesbian lizard. Can people live in the ocean in an anemone? No? Then they cannot be "just like" a transgendered clownfish. Lizards are lizards, clownfish are clownfish, and humans are humans- you are biologically who you are. It's better to save this specific issue until the kids can do their own research and really understand the subject... maybe in a few more years?
Reply