Thread: Mandatory 'gay' lessons spark lawsuit

BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS

Mandatory 'gay' lessons spark lawsuit

Parents have 'right to remove children from controversial program'

Posted: August 14, 2009
12:40 am Eastern

© 2009 WorldNetDaily

Parents in the Alameda, Calif., school district who have been told their children will be required to undergo a controversial homosexual instruction program have sued the district to protect their children from the indoctrination.

The action was filed this week by Pacific Justice Institute, which said it will be defending the parents' rights to remove their children from such programs.

WND earlier reported when the district was accused of violating federal law for approving a mandatory homosexual curriculum for children as young as 5 – without allowing parents to opt-out of 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 are scheduled to learn about "tolerance" for the homosexual lifestyle beginning next school 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.

The school decided parents would not be given an opportunity to opt-out of lessons that go against their religious beliefs, even though opponents of the program submitted a petition with 468 signatures of those who do not want the homosexual lessons in the curriculum.

'And Tango Makes Three' book about homosexual male penguins who name their chick Tango because 'It takes two to make a Tango.'

Capitol Resource Institute's Karen England said the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment governs any survey, analysis or evaluation given to students.

Under the regulation, parents must be notified and given an opportunity to opt-out, if the evaluation addresses topics such as:

Political affiliations or beliefs of the student or the student's parent;
sex behavior or attitudes; religious practices, affiliations, or beliefs of the student or student's parent, etc.

"Alameda's new curriculum requires written and verbal expression of student ideas, with a clear intent to evaluate whether students endorse homosexuality," England said. "It is intolerant of traditional views on human sexuality."

Alameda Unified School District receives federal funds from the federal Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act, under Title IV of No Child Left Behind. Recipients of those federal funds must implement a district program on school safety and bullying prevention.

However, England notes, accepting those funds also makes Alameda subject to the Pupil Rights Amendment.

Pacific Justice said the lawsuit came after a multitude of parents sent letters to Supt. Kristen Vital requesting their children be given an opt-out option for the program, and the district responded with form rejection letters.

The law firm said documentation it obtained from the school through a public records request reveals that the vast majority of bullying and harassment incidents documented in the district involve racial tension and opposite-sex sexual harassment, not sexual orientation.

In fact, Pacific Justice said, incident reports show that there were no complaints of harassment due to sexual orientation in AUSD elementary grades.

The lawsuit filed in Alameda Superior court seeks enforcement of the opt-out requirements of the California Education Code.

Kevin Snider, the chief counsel for Pacific Justice, said, "Alameda parents believe all children deserve safe schools. Parents do not support LGBT indoctrination that fails to address the main causes of bullying and harassment in the district and intentionally omits children belonging to the other five protected classes.

"It is their right to remove their children from this highly controversial program, and we intend to vigorously defend that right," he said.

The school district claims it will re-assess 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 approving the program.

"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."

In kindergarten, the schools plan to introduce children 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."

Curriculum for 1st grade students includes 'Who's in a Family?'

Teachers will ask children to "identify and describe a variety of families" and "to understand that families have some similarities and some differences."

"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."

3rd grade students will watch 'That's a Family' film

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'?"

"This curriculum also puts teachers in an awkward position," England said. "They're forced to teach that traditional views are bigoted, even if they hold traditional views."

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.

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=106819

"This curriculum also puts teachers in an awkward position," England said. "They're forced to teach that traditional views are bigoted, even if they hold traditional views."

What BS,

If this is not indoctrination, then what is?

Even the teachers are forced to teach that traditional views are bigoted!