Court Rules Schools Can Force LGBT Ideology On Kids Against Parents’ Religious Objections
It should be obvious to anyone that forcing parents to accept LGBT instruction for their children violates their religious freedom.
The largest school system in Maryland has unveiled a new book list loaded with LGBT-activist propaganda aimed at elementary schools and tailored to children as young as 4. The objective of the sexual content is to "reduce stigmatization and marginalization of transgender and gender nonconforming students."
Fox News Digital reported that a recent Montgomery County Public Schools PowerPoint presentation referenced a set of activist books that will be distributed to classrooms, from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. The books seek to undermine the concept of a gender binary at an early age and immerse children in the vernacular of LGBT activists, teaching toddlers words like "drag queen" and "intersex."
\u201cMCPS ES Principals: this book is part of the newly released LGBTQ-inclusive curricular materials to supplement BENCHMARK ELA; let\u2019s all make sure Teachers/Reading-Specialists have the resources to successfully implement!\u201d— LGBTQ at MCPS (@LGBTQ at MCPS) 1667222595
Pre-kindergarteners will read or be read "Pride Puppy!" a book about a young child celebrating "Pride Day" with his grandfather. It is touted as an "affirming and inclusive book that offers a joyful glimpse of a Pride parade and the vibrant community that celebrates this day each year.
Kindergarteners (i.e., children ages 5 and 6) will take a break from learning to tie their shoes and mastering the alphabet to read "Uncle Bobby's Wedding," a book about a gay wedding.
Move over, "Clifford the Big Red Dog." First-graders will read "Intersection Allies," a "gleeful entry into intersectional feminism for kids ... offering an opportunity to ... connect to collective struggle for justice."
After a few years, kids in the MCPS district will be ready for "Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope," a book about the black transsexual son of the activist chair of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation Board.
It's not enough that the books are in the curriculum. MCPS wants to make sure the message is getting across.
MCPS pre-K teachers were provided with a resource guide linking them to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's glossary of "LGBTQ+ words."
Accordingly, teachers can provide toddlers with activist-approved definitions for words such as: "non-binary"; "transgender"; "pansexual"; "cisgender"; and "gender expression."
The glossary tells teachers how to frame several of the words and concepts at different grade levels. For instance, for "sexual orientation," the HRCF tells indoctrinaires that "you might say who you love or are attracted to."
The resource guide for the second-grade LGBT content provides stock answers to student's questions.
If, for example, a student says, "They can't get married, they're both men," the teacher is prompted to respond by saying, "When people are adults they can get married. Two men who love each other can decide they want to get married, be a family and care for each other."
Teachers are instructed to "disrupt the either/or thinking" and emphasize that "people of any gender can like whoever they like. People are allowed to like whoever they want" and that pleasure should be the determining factor behind students' choices pertaining to the clothes they wear, the books they like, and the play they engage in.
MCPS told Fox News Digital that the readings are not mandatory and that families will be notified ahead of their full implementation. Notwithstanding the MCPS' claim, the "Sample Responses to Caregivers' Questions" suggest otherwise.
In response to the question "Why can't I opt out of this just like I can for Family Health & Life?" the stock reply is, "In these picture books and discussions students are learning about the diversity of identities that exits in the world and in our classroom. ... All children and their families deserve to see themselves and their families positively represented in our school community."
Parents who suggest that their kids are "too young to be learning about gender and sexuality identity" are to be told, "Children are already learning about it and mostly see 'straight' and 'cisgender' representation around them. ... By learning about the diversity of gender, children have an opportunity to explore a greater range of interests, ideas, and activities."
The guide suggests that educators ought to tell parents who ask about keeping their children home that LGBT content will be "embedded throughout" and not only in specific instances — in other words, that it's unavoidable.
While MCPS seeks to expose children to LGBT activist rhetoric at an early age, it also provides them with an incubator for their resultant identity crises.
Montgomery Community Media reported that on Nov. 9, MCPS hosted a workshop entitled "Supporting Transgender Students." The workshop ran students, guardians, and teachers through the Montgomery County Board of Education's Gender Identity Guidelines, which MCPS adheres to.
It is clear from the guidelines that MCPS, which reportedly saw a 582% increase in the number of students identifying as "gender nonconforming" in the past two years, is willing to keep parents in the dark about their kids' "gender support plan[s]."
The document states, "Prior to contacting a student's parent/guardian, the principal or identified staff member should speak with the student to ascertain the level of support the student either receives or anticipates receiving from home. In some cases, transgender and gender nonconforming students may not openly express their gender identity at home because of safety concerns or lack of acceptance."
In the event that parents may not be on board with the school district playing into their child's dysphoria, "Student Welfare and Compliance (SWC) should be contacted."
In such cases, "staff will support the development of a student-led plan that works toward inclusion of the family, if possible ... and recognizing that providing support for a student is critical, even when the family is nonsupportive."
According to MCPS' guidelines, staff are not to disclose information "about a student's transgender status, legal name, or sex assigned at birth" to their parents or guardians.
"The fact that students choose to disclose their status to staff members or other students does not authorize school staff members to disclose a student's status to others, including parents/guardians," the document states.
In an effort to hide a student's confusion from their parents, the guidelines recommend covering up the school-home gender identity disparity: "Unless the student or parent/guardian has specified otherwise, when contacting the parent/guardian of a transgender student, MCPS school staff members should use the student's legal name and pronoun that correspond to the student's sex assigned at birth."
In August, a judge dismissed a complaint against the MCBE and MCPS, which alleged that the previous version of these guidelines were designed to bar parental involvement "in a pivotal decision" in their kids' lives and constituted a violation of both the parents' state and constitutional rights.
The Washington Post reported that Obama-nominee Judge Paul W. Grimm of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland sided with the MCBE's arguments that the guidelines "are certainly rationally related" to achieving the MCBE's "legitimate interest in providing a safe and supportive environment for all MCPS students, including those who are transgender and gender nonconforming."
As four schools in Montgomery County, Maryland, have temporarily closed in response to surging COVID-19 cases, the school district is offering "Equity Hubs" where students can meet together in person to learn virtually.
Montgomery County Public Schools announced last week that Loiederman Middle School, Harmony Hills, Pine Crest, and Wheaton Woods elementary schools, and the autism program at Westover Elementary School will revert to virtual learning for 10 days beginning Monday. The schools are expected to reopen Feb. 10, the district said.
While the schools are closed, MCPS is providing spaces where students in kindergarten through grade 5 can gather in person for "a safe place to learn while their parents work." According to the district, not every student has access to virtual learning at home, and some live in a situation where at-home learning is difficult. These so-called Equity Hubs are a solution designed to provide a "more structured learning environment" for poor kids whose home lives make virtual learning a struggle.
MCPS is working with the Black and Brown Coalition for Educational Equity and Excellence and the Children’s Opportunity Fund, two certified child care providers, to establish these Equity Hubs, which first opened in fall 2020 at the height of school closures during the coronavirus pandemic. Students who qualify can meet in person Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. til 5 p.m. at schools located throughout Montgomery County. Child care providers at these Equity Hubs follow "strict health and safety guidelines," provide meals and exercise/play for the kids, and assign two staff members for each group of 13 students.
According to the Greater Washington Community Foundation, the Children's Opportunity Fund raised over $4.6 million in 2020 to enroll 1,500 students across 70 sites. In January 2021, MCPS and Montgomery County Council provided another $3.6 million to support the Equity Hubs through March 2021, when schools reopened.
There are 165,267 students enrolled in Montgomery County's 209 schools, 25.4% of whom are economically disadvantaged, according to U.S. News & World Report. Only a tiny fraction of them are served by the Equity Hubs.
Critics questioned why the schools are safe enough to open for these Equity Hubs but not safe enough to resume normal in-person learning.
They're doing it again.\n\nSchools safe enough for daycare but not for learning.\n\nThe additional cost is $300 per student per week\n\nMontgomery County Public Schools already spend about $17,000 per student per year\n\nGive that money directly to families so they can find alternatives.https://twitter.com/MCPS/status/1486724665510825991\u00a0\u2026— Corey A. DeAngelis (@Corey A. DeAngelis) 1643338583
Montgomery County going virtual and then having the same students bring their laptops to a school without teachers and calling them Equity Hubs is beyond ridicule. These people shouldn\u2019t run a bake sale.https://twitter.com/MCPS/status/1486724665510825991\u00a0\u2026— Rory Cooper (@Rory Cooper) 1643377203
Like a work of absurdist art. An "Equity Hub" is school. It's just in-person school, which the county is admitting it CAN offer to offset the disastrous harm caused by its refusal to offer... in-person school.https://twitter.com/MCPS/status/1486724665510825991\u00a0\u2026— Mary Katharine Ham (@Mary Katharine Ham) 1643377812
What is MCPS doing with these school closures???\n\nThe literature is quite clear that closures INCREASE transmission.\n\nThe wave is long past peaked in Maryland.\n\nAre they trying to prop it back up? Or just this dumb?\n\nCongrats to the kids who qualify for "Equity Hubs" though!https://twitter.com/MCPS/status/1486724665510825991\u00a0\u2026— Phil Kerpen (@Phil Kerpen) 1643378468
The decision to close Montgomery County schools again was made after "a review of multiple key factors and input from a multi-stakeholder group." MCPS said the switch to virtual learning was made "in the interest of the overall school community's health and safety," but did not specify what those factors were or who those stakeholders are.
WTOP-TV reported last week that COVID-19 cases in the county are declining "precipitously," but health officials warn case rate numbers are "still at the highest they’ve been during the pandemic."
County Executive Marc Elrich said last Wednesday that cases in the county have fallen 51% since the week before, at 579.81 cases per 100,000.
“We can’t celebrate just yet, and we have to pivot our focus on what’s next," Elrich said.
He reported that the county has seen 120 COVID-19 deaths in January, more than the previous four months combined.
“More people in the state of Maryland have died from COVID this month than any other month in the pandemic,” he said.
Elrich and other county health officials strongly encouraged residents to get vaccinated against COVID-19 with booster shots to avoid serious illness or death from COVID-19 infection.