No Means No When Parents Speak

Last spring I wrote a couple of posts (here and here) about what we learned from Kelly Litvak about human sex trafficking—and how one of the steps of recruitment was desensitization. That is, introducing things that are gross, ugly, taboo, socially unacceptable, to condition a dulled response, and finally acceptance of the aberrant behavior as normal. 

Courtney and Kelly Litvak
image from Epoch Times

There’s a follow-up story about Litvak’s work and experience from a couple of weeks ago, here. 

But I’m looking at another story, out of Austin, Texas, where the school district voted unanimously—over the outcry of parents—to instigate a sex-ed curriculum for children in grades 3-8 that looks designed to do what Litvak says sex traffickers do to normalize the unacceptable.

The Texas legislature, earlier this year, passed legislation intended to prevent this type of sex ed. SB 22 made it so that schools could not contract with abortion providers. This thwarted Austin Independent School District’s plans to adopt a Planned Parenthood-provided pro-LGBT sex ed curriculum called Get Real. Not to be deterred, they assigned internal staff to write their own. They did this in a hurry, without expertise in the subject matter. Mostly, it appears they borrowed large portions from a Canadian program.

The writers failed to alter details where laws are different. For example, the Austin ISD program tells 6^th graders (who are 11-12 years old) that the age of consent is 16; in Texas, however, it is 17.

The program labels disagreement with the homosexual agenda as simply homophobia, and is categorized “along with other forms of discrimination,” and says such views “should be challenged.” In other words, if you’re a Bible believing religious person who saves sex for within traditional marriage, you are simply a homophobic bigot, and your beliefs should receive public scorn.

The program does spend a large portion, however, on not accepting bullying—toward LGBT-believing people.

But Christians are used to the schools dealing unfairly with us. And we have been able to mostly counter the attacks with good teachings at home. So, can this new sex ed be as radical as all that? Is this just alarmist? You judge.

You can find more commentary on the Austin ISD program here, which includes links to the actual 6^th-8^th grade curriculum. But I’ll share a few of my impressions.

There’s a graphic aimed at the younger students. You’ll note that there is nothing scientifically accurate about it. It doesn’t clarify; it confuses. According to the program, there are four aspects of sex:

·        Your sexual identity, your woman-ness or man-ness, which is what your brain tells you that you are, which can be male, female, or whatever else.

·        Your attraction, which is what your heart tells you to be attracted to, which can be to women and/or feminine and/or female people; or to men and/or masculine and/or male people.

·        Your anatomical sex, which isn’t necessarily related to your attraction, but can be to women and/or feminine and/or female people; or to men and/or masculine and/or male people.

·        Your expression, which is your femininity or masculinity as you choose to appear to others, regardless of your biology, the gender you identify as, or whatever type(s) you are attracted to.

They say that identity ≠ expression ≠ sex; gender ≠ sexual orientation. And that sex is assigned you at birth based on the appearance of your genitals—which they’ve just told you is not related to your gender, identity, expression, or whatever.

graphic from Austin ISD's sex ed curriculum
image found here

They fail to note that every cell of your body has contained the DNA determining you to be either a male or a female since you were an embryo. They fail to note that 99.98% of humans recognize themselves and others based on these inborn characteristics—so to say there is no correlation is not only confusing; it is a lie.

Lying would be bad enough. But among the evils that they do in this effort to sexualize young people is to expose them to the details of perverted sex, without ever countering with an example of a married couple—as though normal was whatever LGBT people do, but what the students’ parents do would be so abnormal as to not get a mention.

What the overwhelming majority of us actual normal people want our children to know is the basics about how their bodies will change during puberty, and why—so that they can have children when they are grown and ready for that step in their adulthood. They don’t need to be confused. They don’t need to be exposed to what qualifies as pornography in any other setting.

In our Texas Republican Party 2018 platform, we had a plank that would remove the pornography exemption for schools. That means, if it would be ruled as porn in any other setting, it is not exempt in a school setting. This would disallow many of the visuals and demonstrations included in the curriculum—and other versions like it. But that didn’t come out of this legislative session; there were a great many other SOGI (sexual orientation and gender identity) issues to deal with.

In the Austin ISD 6^th grade sex ed, drawings of male genitalia are beyond diagrams to very realistic. 

In the section for this younger age group about abstinence, it goes into what behaviors qualify as abstinent and what doesn’t—including descriptions of vaginal sex, oral sex, and anal sex—because, I guess, they think a pre-adolescent can’t get through the 6^th grade sexually abstinent without knowing what those various things mean. Descriptions of which body parts fit where for each were included. But at least I didn’t see them diagrammed.

There’s a section of the Austin ISD 8^th grade sex ed that focuses on why women are paid less than men. Not whether they are, but only why. However, the fact is, when you compare apples to apples, women and men are paid virtually equally for equal work. And women at this time are more likely to have college education opportunities for higher paid work. So—why this section?

There’s a section for 8^th graders (age 13-14) to help them figure out who/what they are. Because, they tell your child, you might not be what your biology tells you, or what you’ve always thought you were. And you might not be attracted to whichever types you thought, because now you're being introduced to this new array of types.

Can I just say, this is not information that would lead my child to a healthy, happy marriage relationship in which they can bring children into the world. So, no, I would not want it inculcated into my children.

And, by the way, there’s a pretty strong assumption that pregnancy is just one of those bad risks, like STDs. And while abstinence works 100% of the time (the only time I saw this is mentioned in the 8^th grade curriculum), there are many many options for contraception to suit you and your teenage lifestyle, because we know you’ll be choosing to have sex (wink, wink).

There’s a section on being able to tell flirting, which is legal in schools, from harassment, which is illegal. It comes down to whether it is two-way. In other words, if a person flirts—which in most generations has meant putting oneself out there in a playful way to encourage a similarly playful reaction—and the person doesn’t respond, then it’s harassment. But you won’t know that until you’ve done it. Not helpful information.

The program spends a large portion telling the students of the various combinations of gender, identity, expression, and orientation—with an emphasis on “and they’re all OK.” Nevermind that there’s only one combination that leads to procreation, and only one place—within marriage—that it creates a family. The youth are told these various forms are all equally acceptable. Marriage isn’t mentioned.

There’s a small portion of one lesson that talks about values and where they come from, including from family and church. This is followed by an exercise in which the students label various beliefs with Agree, Disagree, or Pass—in front of their peers. So that there is peer pressure to agree with the lessons and beliefs of peers, even after being told pressuring for agreement is unacceptable. That’s not realistic. The school authority tells them what to believe even though it may differ from what the family or church has taught them, and then challenges them to share publicly whether they dare to disagree with what the school authority has told them.

I thought the California version, Teen Talk, was more explicit than what I’m seeing (outside the videos, because I didn’t view them all) in the AISD program. But it’s still definitely not what I would want my children to be taught.

Parents resist in Downey, California
image from here

Everywhere these things are incorporated in schools, the implementers count on parents not being informed. Because informed parents always object. What an inconvenience for these people who claim to know more than you do about what your child should be taught!

Think about this: Whose values on sex do you want to be inculcated in your child? Yours, or LGBT activists? It’s an either/or question. Do you want your child to understand the way abstinence before marriage followed by complete fidelity within marriage is the path to a healthy and happy love life—which has been known for millennia and which social data confirms? Or do you want a radical pro-sex-without-consequences of all types and in all situations.

By the way, the original instigation of sex ed in schools was ostensibly to lower rates of out-of-wedlock births. Those rates were at that time on a downward trajectory. But rates went up from that point on, while abortions rose as well, until plateauing in recent years. When schools say, “Think how bad things would be if we hadn’t acted,” think again.

You need to be willing to remove a child from school to avoid their exposure to the normalization of perverted sex. When parents do that, schools cave to the pressure. But you have to actually stand strong. Be informed. And take action to protect your child.

Besides those I’ve linked above, here are additional places I’ve written about explicit sex ed in schools, as well as a couple of the news stories I mentioned above.

·        “Growing tide of outraged parents move to demolish perverted California sex ed program,” LifeSite News 

·        “Planned Parenthood Sex-Ed Not Radical Enough, AISD proposes Canadian Curriculum to Indoctrinate Children,” Texas Values 

·         “Worth Standing Up” 

·        “Teachers’ Unions Harm Education” 

·        "Too Much Savagery" 

·        “Worse than We Imagined” 

·        “Worse than We Imagined, Part II”         

·         “Surprise at Old News” 

Normalizing, Part III: Change Is Possible

There’s so much more to cover about the lines that have already been crossed toward normalizing sexual perversion, I’m sure we’ll leave out plenty. But this third post is probably enough for now. (See Part I and Part II.)

For the sake of sanity, let’s start with this clip from Monty Python’s Life of Brian:

So, in 1979 the movie depicted the absurdity of a man suddenly deciding he was a woman, when it was clear to all those around him (who were supposed to be open-minded people of the first century AD) that, of course Stan can’t just “be” a woman; he doesn’t have a womb. He can’t have babies—and that isn’t even the fault of Roman oppression. It’s just a fact of life.

I’d say this basic fact was obvious common sense until about 2 minutes ago, historically speaking. A decade ago, during discussions about same-sex “marriage,” when activists were asked what would be the line that would not be crossed, the line that would be too far, pedophilia and transgenderism were both supposedly beyond the line. No one would ever accept those perversions. It was that recent that the term “transvestite” became politically incorrect and became “transgender,” about the same time T was added to LGB. (The term LGBT was used in the 90s, but not widely. By the way, the terms transgenerderism and transphobic are so new, automatic spell checks still highlight them to alert you that you don't have a word.) Many Ls and Gs still aren’t comfortable with that, since the point of their argument is that it matters to them which sex/gender they’re attracted to. Which sex you are, or which you’re attracted to, is not arbitrary or without meaning.

So now, when we have transgenderism being forced upon our school children, and we’re denigrated as vilely transphobic for stating the obvious, maybe we would be wise to step back and refuse a few already crossed lines before things get worse.

In June, the country’s biggest, and possibly most powerful, teachers’ union, the NEA, met and passed New Business Item 11, requiring that “all state and local affiliates encourage K-12 teachers to view a series of films called Creating Gender Inclusive Schools.” I viewed a two-minute sample. They talk mostly about colors and activity choices, which may be associated with gender, but which are totally cultural and often arbitrary, and have nothing to do with actually being male or female.  And then they slip in the idea that you don’t have to have gender imposed on you; you can just choose your gender.

Just as in the children’s music video I mentioned in Thursday’s post, this is a lie. Liking blue or black or pink or purple does not change whether you are male or female. Liking sports and physical activities when you’re a girl doesn’t mean you’re really a boy in the wrong body; it means you’re a girl who likes sports and physical activities. Liking arts, dance, music, literature, or other pursuits that require a certain aesthetic sensitivity when you’re a boy does not mean you’re really a girl in the wrong body; it means you’re a boy with an aesthetic sense.

These films are not designed, as claimed, to make all children “safe” in schools; they are designed to indoctrinate a radical ideology through lies told over and over, to impressionable children in a setting where they are expected to trust their authority figures.

Michelle Cretella
screen shot from this video

This does not make all children “safe.” This makes no children safe. The 99.97% who are not confused about whether they are male or female are told to reconsider, making them uncertain and confused. And the .03% who are confused about their sex are not given the help that will treat and help them overcome the confusion; they’re encouraged in it. And, against the advice of the American College of Pediatrics, which calls it child abuse, they may be surgically and medically altered in ways that will sterilize them and prevent them from ever living a normal life.

In a piece earlier this year, Ryan T. Anderson reminded us of the negative outcomes of this lie:

The most thorough follow-up of sex-reassigned people—extending over thirty years and conducted in Sweden, where the culture is strongly supportive of the transgendered—documents their lifelong mental unrest. Ten to fifteen years after surgical reassignment, the suicide rate of those who had undergone sex-reassignment surgery rose to twenty times that of comparable peers.

You don't lower the risk of suicide by sex-reassignment "therapy"; you increase the risk of suicide.

The concern about preventing suicide is also used as an argument for accepting homosexuality as normal. But we know now, because of several European countries that have long accepted and normalized homosexual behavior, societal acceptance doesn’t improve the long list[i] of mental and physical issues related to having LGBT issues.

If the underlying, and possibly causal, mental issues were addressed and treated, not only would the suicidal tendencies be addressed, but freedom to choose a normal lifestyle might also become more likely.

In Monday’s post, I pointed out that, while there are important differences in degree of evil between pedophilia and homosexuality, I remember—unlike Roaming Millennial and most of her generation—when it was commonly understood that homosexuality was a deviant perversion. Did the behavior change? No. The message that was inculcated through media and academia changed, with the purpose of changing people’s beliefs. That inculcation has been so successful that people of the millennial generation and younger aren’t even aware that they’ve been the target of activist indoctrination. They think their current understanding is simply the decent and compassionate response to scientific “fact.”

Let me be clear that I am in favor of both decency and compassion. I might, however, have a different idea of what that consists of.

I believe some things needed to change. People who mean no harm and do no harm to others should be respected, even if their choices are not what we might call moral. (A person who knowingly spreads HIV or any other sexually transmitted disease is guilty of doing harm, as is a person who gives in to a sexual attraction to children.) A person with same-sex attraction should not be hated for being different. They should be treated with kindness and respect—not because of their sexual orientation, but because of their being human. But tolerance does not require approval.

I approve of my church’s position toward same-sex attraction—which isn’t new or changed; this has always been the case, but has been made clearer and more accessible. A person with same-sex attraction is required to live according to the same moral commandments as everyone else, because God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34, Doctrine & Covenants 1:35, 2 Nephi 26:33).

Behavior matters. Thoughts lead to behavior, but in a civilized world we don’t prosecute or persecute thoughts we disagree with; we communicate—both ways. And persuade when we can.

One reason I approve of my church’s approach regarding behavior, not orientation, is because orientation can change. I’m sympathetic with those who don’t want same-sex attraction. They want to be rid of it. And they struggle, sometimes for years, sometimes not very successfully. They don’t get much help in today’s world, which includes even therapists who think the solution is to accept their condition and try to change the world to accommodate them, rather than help them find ways to change or avoid the unwholesome lifestyle and associated mental and physical illnesses.

I’m disturbed by parents who respond in extreme ways to a child’s announcement of same-sex attraction. Being angry at the child, punishing or ostracizing that young person—that is not the right approach. Even if the young person goes through a long period of appallingly unwholesome lifestyle choices, forcing them to change when the world is telling them they can’t is only going to make them feel unloved. They may already feel unloved.

One young person I know, feeling sympathy for gays—convinced that those she knows are all legally married to their monogamous exclusive partner (see heteromorphism in the last post)—believes the church ought to accept them, because she can’t accept the idea that they should go through life without ever experiencing love.

I understand the care and concern. And I don’t deny that some gay couples love each other. But there’s a huge difference between love and sex. Sex doesn’t express love outside marriage; the commitment must come first. This is just as true for heterosexuals. Have you ever known a gay person who waited until after marriage before having sex? Even since the change in the definition of marriage was forced upon us nationally by the Supreme Court?

If you’re going to encourage acceptance of same-sex “marriage” in order to allow a certain group of people to experience love, you’re saying they have no chance of change, and no chance of self-control. And you’re also putting them above others who never marry—or experience that type of love—for various reasons—a disability that interferes with a love life, a lack of opportunity, or some other life tragedy. Why change the world for homosexuals but not all other individuals?

If you’re being practical (and parents, family, and friends should be), a committed same-sex “marriage” relationship is a better situation than a non-exclusive relationship, or the more typical promiscuous gay lifestyle. But it still doesn’t give them as likely a chance of a healthy, happy life as leaving the lifestyle and possibly changing orientation to the point that a real marriage becomes a possibility—with God’s blessing.

I’m also disturbed by parents who reject church teachings in order to support a child’s homosexuality. That means you’ve bought into the lie that your child was born that way and has no ability to change—or even to refrain from engaging in illicit sexual acts with multiple sex partners. Why would that be moral for your homosexual child but not for your heterosexual child? Why are you suddenly so sure you are right and God—the definer of good—is wrong?

For help as a parent, or as someone with unwanted same-sex attraction, you might try Positive Approaches To Human Sexuality (https://www.pathinfo.org).

I believe we’re all better off with actual truth, rather than gut reactions—many of which are planted in us by a long-term indoctrination program that we haven’t been aware of or had control over.

Yes, be kind to everyone. But civility does not require agreeing with everyone or approving of everyone’s behavior.

Keep pedophiles far away from our children. But also keep indoctrinators of the entire LGBTIQ+ alphabet of treatable mental illnesses away from our children. Because their normalization indoctrination has already done harm to many and brought us dangerously close to allowing pedophiles access to our children.

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[i] Homosexual conduct has consequences for mental health. There is a well-documented correlation between homosexuality and suicide and mental illness. See, e.g., Theo B. M. Sandfort, De Graaqf, Bilj, and Schable, “Same-Sex Sexual Behavior and Psychiatric Disorders:  Findings from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study,” 85 (Archives of General Psychiatry 85 (January 2001) (“The findings support the assumption that people with same-sex behavior are at greater risk for psychiatric disorders”); Richard Herrell, et al., “Sexual Orientation and Suicidality,” Archives of General Psychiatry 867 (October 1999) (“Same-gender sexual orientation is significantly associated with each of the suicidality measures” and “is unlikely to be due solely to substance abuse or other psychiatric co-morbidity”); David M. Fergusson, et al., “Is Sexual Orientation Related to Mental Health Problems and Suicidality in Young People?” Archives of General Psychiatry 876 (October 1999) (“Findings support recent evidence suggesting that gay, lesbian, and bisexual young people are at increased risk of mental health problems, with these associates being particularly evident for measures of suicidal behavior and multiple disorder.”)  While some may argue that these findings are “caused by society oppression” (J Michael Bailey, “Homosexuality and Mental Illness,” Archives of General Psychiatry 883 and 884 October 1999), this is not the only possible explanation. The survey of findings from the Netherlands Mental Health Survey and Incidence Study found a significant greater risk for psychiatric disorders among homosexuals, even though “the Dutch social climate toward homosexuality has long been and remains considerably more tolerant” than most of the world. Sandfort, et al, above, at 89. Other possible explanations include hypotheses that “homosexuality represents a deviation from normal development and is associated with other such deviations that may lead to mental illness,” and that “increased psychopathology among homosexual people is a consequence of lifestyle differences associated with sexual orientation.”  J. Michael Bailey, above, at 884. Also, Sandfort et al., above, at 85-91.  (Youth are four times more likely to suffer major depression, also three times as likely to suffer generalized anxiety disorder, nearly four times as likely to experience conduct disorder, four times as likely to commit suicide, five times as likely to have nicotine dependence, six times as likely to suffer multiple disorders, and over six times as likely to have attempted suicide. Additionally, this research originates in the Netherlands where homosexuality is much more mainstream and accepted.)  Substance abuse is an additional health concern of those in the homosexual lifestyle:  Timothy J. Dailey, “The Negative Health Effects of Homosexuality” and associated notes, Family Research Council “The Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychologists reports that lesbian women consume alcohol more frequently, and I larger amounts, than heterosexual women. Lesbians were at significantly greater risk than heterosexual women for both binge drinking (19.4 percent compared to 11.7 percent), and for heavy drinking (7 percent compared to 2.7 percent)….Among men, by far the most important risk group consisted of homosexual and bisexual men, who were more than nine times as likely as heterosexual men to have a history of problem drinking.”

Platform and Minority Report, Part II

This is part II of our discussion of the Platform and Minority Report, from the Texas State Republican Convention. There will be four parts total (I’m doing them on consecutive days. So, part I was yesterday. Here are the subjects in order:

·         Part I: Cannabis 

·         Part II: Marriage, Homosexuality, and Other LGBTQ Issues

·         Part III: School Choice

·         Part IV: The Minority Report

Marriage, Homosexuality, and other LGBTQ Issues

Another issue that occupied a lot of testimony time at the convention was homosexuality. Those issues ended up mainly in State Affairs. The main concern, since the Obergefell ruling, is about religious freedom, balancing that with tolerance. The 2016 plank said this:

Homosexuality: Homosexuality is a chosen behavior that is contrary to the fundamental unchanging truths that has been ordained by God in the Bible, recognized by our nation’s founders, and shared by the majority of Texans. Homosexuality must not be presented as an acceptable alternative lifestyle, in public policy, nor should family be redefined to include homosexual couples.  We oppose the granting of special legal entitlements or creation of special status for homosexual behavior, regardless of state of origin.  We oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values.  

There was a rewrite, hotly debated, that lasted until a compromise, late Thursday evening, which became acceptable to all, containing many of these same ideas (I’ve highlighted in both where the words are identical):

Homosexual Behavior: We affirm God’s biblical design for marriage and sexual behavior between one biological man and one biological woman, which has proven to be the foundation for all great nations in Western civilization. We oppose homosexual marriage, regardless of state of origin. We urge the Texas Legislature to pass religious liberty protections for individuals, businesses, and government officials who believe marriage is between one man and one woman. We oppose the granting of special legal entitlements or creation of special status for homosexual behavior, regardless of state of origin. We oppose any criminal or civil penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values.

The changes take a bit of concentration to discern. While God and Bible are cited in both, the new plank is more about affirming marriage, rather than condemning the sinfulness of homosexuality, which may make it less controversial while still concentrating on what we want to accomplish: protect marriage, and protect religion freedom. I like the connection of marriage to civilization; that's part of the Spherical Model formula for civilization.

That's us, in front of the Civilization wall
in the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center

The testimony against the plank was mainly of the variety that homosexuality ought to be seen as just another acceptable lifestyle choice. That is definitely not the view of the Republican Party of Texas. It is gaining ground with younger people, mainly because of the indoctrination from media and academia—along with their inherent (but maybe not obvious) anti-religious bias.

During testimony during the Permanent Platform Committee, on Thursday afternoon/evening of the convention, there was a particular pro-homosexuality witness who was called back for a question by an older woman on the committee. The witness was flippant. The committee member took offense at that. And there was a rather unpleasant interchange that got terminated as not really questioning the witness, so it should be saved for committee discussion later.

Over time, it’s been my observation that Log Cabin Republicans, who agree with Republicans on 90% of issues, and just diverge on these particular social issues, have generally been good members of the party, agreeing to disagree without being disagreeable. I hope that attitude can continue.

There were several other planks that are related more specifically to defense of marriage—which is the appropriate way to look at the position of Republicans generally. It is not about hate; it is about preserving marriage in order to preserve civilization. Here are some of the additional planks:

Definition of Marriage: We support the definition of marriage as a God-ordained, legal, and moral commitment only between one natural man and one natural woman.

State Authority over Marriage: We support withholding jurisdiction from the federal courts in cases involving family law, especially any changes in the definition of marriage.
Spousal Benefits: We shall not recognize or grant to any unmarried person the legal rights or status of a spouse, including granting benefits by political subdivisions.
No-Fault Divorce: We urge the Legislature to rescind no-fault divorce laws and support covenant marriage.

Overturn Unconstitutional Ruling: We believe this decision, overturning the Texas law prohibiting same-sex marriage in Texas, has no basis in the Constitution and should be reversed, returning jurisdiction over the definition of marriage to the states. The Governor and other elected officials of the State of Texas should assert our Tenth Amendment right and reject the Supreme Court ruling.

There are additional LGBTQ issues, mainly related to transgender indoctrination:

Gender Identity Facilities in Businesses: We support enacting legislation in the State of Texas ensuring that no government entity in the state be allowed to take it upon itself to define for any private business or private entity how it must segregate its restrooms, changing facilities, or showers; nor may any government agency be allowed to require businesses to profess, espouse, or adopt specific views on sex, sexuality, gender, or gender identity, other than to guarantee that views and positions on these matters are not used as a basis to deny access to public accommodations, as defined by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, nor to deny employment, or discriminate in employment decisions, solely on the basis of a person’s views on these matters.

Child Rights: We call on the Texas Legislature to pass legislation to protect privacy in public schools and government buildings as allowed by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, by ensuring that multi-use facilities, including showers, changing rooms, and bathrooms, are designated for and used only by persons based on the person’s biological sex.

No Sexuality Indoctrination: We call on the State Legislature to pass legislation so that no public school or other educational institution may force, require, or pressure any child or student to profess, espouse, or adopt, or otherwise be indoctrinated without explicit parental consent, specific views on sex, sexuality, gender, or gender identity.

Gender Identity Pronouns: We oppose any attempt to criminalize and/or penalize anyone for the wrong use of pronouns.

The opposition will call these hateful. But we resist nonetheless. Because, while we’re quite willing to be tolerant, we’re not willing to give up our freedom, privacy, safety, or beliefs just to avoid being called hateful, homophobic, and bigoted. And we all know they’ll call us that regardless of reality, so it’s just better, always, to stand for truth.

Worse than We Imagined, Part II

Sometimes it’s prudent to fact-check the fact checkers.

This Snopes headline came to my attention:

Reading, Writing, and RuPaul

Reports of revised curriculum standards for Washington state led to false rumors claiming that schools there will be teaching "transgenderism" to Kindergarteners.

That relates to what I wrote in my last post, “Worse than We Imagined.” So I began to read, wondering if I had missed something and would need to write a retraction.

But Snopes is…not fully accurate.

They claim that the Daily Caller article on Washington State Board of Education changes to standards to include teaching transgenderism to kindergarteners is “mostly false.”

Image from here

The original Daily Caller article actually begins with this: 

By fall 2017 Washington state public schools will begin teaching gender expression to kindergarteners under newly-approved health education learning standards that designate sexual health a “core idea” of public K-12 education.

Here is what Snopes says is actually true:

Washington State has released updated curriculum guidelines in 2016 that include directives regarding gender and gender expression.

So, Snopes agrees with the Daily Caller so far.

What they don’t seem to like is the conclusion drawn by the Daily Caller opinion piece, that teaching “gender expression” to kindergarteners can easily be construed to mean teaching “transgenderism” to kindergarteners. Snopes says the guidelines don’t actually use the word “transgender” except in the glossary section.

But why would they include transgenderism in the glossary (on page 53 of the .pdf file) of their standards if they did not assume it would come up? The word itself may or may not be used in kindergarten. The state standards writers seem less concerned about the teaching of the word transgenderism than they are about the teaching of the various ways gender can be expressed— which, of course, to them, must include transgenderism, else why change the standards?

The Daily Caller article included the link to the .pdf file (which I also linked in Monday's post and above), and Snopes shows page 29, which is at issue—below.

Snopes uses this to show how overblown the Daily Caller claims are. But I look at the chart and see that the Daily Caller point of view is totally justified.

One point the Snopes piece makes is that the standards are not curriculum; curriculum and lesson plans decisions are made at the local school board level. But, to fact-check Snopes, that’s not entirely accurate.

It has been a long time since I worked as a curriculum writer. I worked in California, writing hi-low textbooks; that is, high interest level (middle school to high school) but low reading level (around second grade). I didn’t write for kindergarten, or even for elementary school. But I think some practices translate across grades.

I wrote mostly government and civics related books and workbooks. But one big project was a biology text (which I did not complete at that job). A publisher looks at who is most likely to buy. The biggest markets then, and probably still, were California and Texas. As a writer I referred to the California and Texas standards; they were different in significant ways. For a biology text, human reproduction had to be handled very differently for the two markets. A publisher might decide to aim for a California market or a Texas market, or might do separate versions, with different chapters for materials for which the standards were disparate.

It was unlikely that a publisher would do a special version of a text just to fit Washington State standards, or Utah standards, or Mississippi standards. The other states would look at what was available and choose from among the variety of available materials—which had been aimed mainly at the California or Texas markets. On the topic of transgenderism, Washington State would probably choose materials aimed at the California market.

Smaller niche marketers, often coming from interest groups, might provide supplemental materials on certain subject matters, and try to sell those to individual states or school districts. (We’ll talk about one of these below.)

In Texas the SBOE does not write curriculum; it reads it and deems it acceptable or not. Then local school districts can adopt what they choose. Local school board members, who are unpaid for their school board work and probably make a living elsewhere, are unlikely to read every text. They might have committees set up to do that. The committees might include community members and parents—or, more likely, they include only teachers and administrators. (I have known parents who volunteered for this work in Texas, because Texans are proactive that way.)

Parents who disapprove typically get involved after they see the chosen materials and then must work to get something inappropriate removed from their schools by going through a long and challenging process.

So, when the Daily Caller says that the standards changes, which clearly include talking about “gender expression” to kindergarteners, might be a way of teaching the LGBTQ agenda on transgenderism, that isn’t alarmism. It isn’t making things up. That is likely to happen across the state—unless parents become aware and speak loudly their disapproval.

The Daily Caller article was originally written in June 2016, shortly after the standards changes were announced and approved. The hope is to get enough attention so that parents can prevent implementation of things they do not want their children to be taught, so those materials will not be forced on them by fall 2017, which is now upon us.

By the way, who might be one of the special interest groups offering materials they hope the schools will teach? Planned Parenthood might be one. In my last post I mentioned obscene materials they were trying to force on teens.

Two days ago I came across a story about Planned Parenthood’s new guidelines for talking to

Image from here

preschoolers about sex. These include, "Boy, girl, man, and woman are words that describe gender identity, and some people with the gender identities “boy” or “man” have vulvas, and some with the gender identity “girl” or “woman” have penises/testicles. Your genitals don’t make you a boy or a girl.”

This differs from their previous guidelines (which also include vocabulary not normally used by preschoolers): "I’m a woman—a girl who is all grown up—so I have a vulva instead of a penis. And you’re a boy, so you have a penis instead of a vulva."

Body parts don’t tell you anything anymore, they say. Because of new science? Of course not. Because they’re pushing an agenda. And they’re aiming it at our children. We can also assume they’re using taxpayer dollars to produce the indoctrination.

Will this new Planned Parenthood preschool material make its way into elementary schools in Washington State? I have no idea. But they meet the new state standards.

So, until the Washington State standards are changed back to something closer to sane reality, assume the standards changes likely means that confusing, biology-denying lies, along with immoral values, are going to be foisted upon your children—unless you stand up and refuse to let that happen to your children.

Worse than We Imagined

I have a good imagination. But imagining the ugly, savage, creepy, disgusting—I don’t spend a lot of time doing that.

So I didn’t imagine that things would get so bad so soon.

Washington SBOE seal
image found here

Let me share the easier bad news first. This is from schools in Washington State, where we lived when my kids started school. The Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) has put out a new set of Health and Physical Education Standards. They begin their 126-page document with this reassurance:

The 2016 Health and Physical Education K-12 Learning Standards were developed collaboratively with teachers, administrators, subject matter experts, state and national association, and stakeholders in health and physical education. Teams of Washington state health and physical education teachers started working on drafts in September 2014 with the aim to develop the most comprehensive, relevant, medically-accurate, and inclusive set of health and physical education learning standards for our state.

That is to reassure you parents, who were NOT consulted and were excluded from the process, don’t worry; experts are in charge.

Here’s what the experts are planning for Washington children:

·         Beginning in Kindergarten, students will be taught about the many ways to express gender.  Gender expression education will include information about the manifestations of traits that are typically associated with one gender. Crossdressing is one form of gender expression.

·         Third graders will be introduced to the concept of gender identity.  These children will be taught that they can choose their own gender.

·         Fourth graders will be expected to “define sexual orientation,” which refers to whether a person identifies as heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual; they’ll also be taught about HIV prevention.  Children in fourth grade will be told that they can choose their sexual orientation.

·         Fourth and fifth graders will learn about the relativity of gender roles and why such roles are social constructs that are not inherent to who we are as male or female human beings.

·         Seventh graders will be expected to “distinguish between biological sex, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation.”

·         High school students will critically “evaluate how culture, media, society, and other people influence our perceptions of gender roles, sexuality, relationships, and sexual orientation.”

In case you, as a parent, are confused about terms, they provide a glossary. [The definitions below were reported by The Daily Caller, but the link to the glossary was no longer available.]

Gender: “A social construct based on emotional, behavioral, and cultural characteristics attached to a person’s assigned biological sex.”

Gender expression: “The way someone outwardly expresses their gender.”

Gender identity: “Someone’s inner sense of their gender.”

So, kindergarteners will be told they don’t know what “boys” and “girls” are, that it’s up in the air, and they ought to go ahead and try out being something they are not, or invent something that is neither boy nor girl and be that.

And fourth graders, who are still in the stage where the opposite sex has cooties, are being told that they might be homosexual if they do not feel attracted to the opposite sex.

Parents are, of course, outraged. Back when we had children in Washington schools, I met personally with the health teacher to go over the curriculum and verify that it met my standards, and that she shared my values. I could have opted out if I had not felt comfortable.

Parents worry that is no longer the case; the LGBTQ agenda is being incorporated fully into the entire health education curriculum. So it’s not a matter of sending a child to the library during the teaching of a particular lesson. It will be multiple days, in multiple ways, over multiple years from K-12.

School board member John Torre claimed parents will be able to opt out, “including the sexual orientation and gender identity lessons.” But Torre also told the Washington Times, the proposed curriculum changes (put out in March, approved in May) have nothing to do with the previous week’s vote to allow boys who identity as girls to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of their choice. That’s just an unrelated coincidence.

Andrea Lafferty, president of Traditional Values Coalition, one of several opponent groups, said, “They are not being forthright with the information. They are not telling people the truth.  They are bullying parents. They are intimidating and they are threatening.”

Meanwhile Torre admits that he cannot provide either the science behind the curriculum changes, or examples of lessons; those things have not been written yet.

I might remind you that schools originally took on the role of informing children about sex for the purported purpose of preventing out-of-wedlock births. And I’ll repeat one of the Spherical Model maxims:

Whenever government attempts something beyond the proper role of government (protection of life, liberty, and property), it causes unintended consequences—usually exactly opposite to the stated goals of the interference.

There’s another, related piece of news that goes beyond what I could imagine. It’s about Planned Parenthood, that bastion of savagery that exists because of taxpayer dollars. I am going to have to quote from an article, because I could not make this up, and I fail to be able to put it in my own words:

Pro-life advocacy group Live Action released a second investigative video on July 15 showing what Planned Parenthood “counselors” teach minors in the name of “sex-ed”: sexual bondage and sadomasochism, and steering them to sex stores to “get educated.” In the latest video, a Colorado counselor told the Live Action investigator (posing as a minor) that “sexual exploration is normal”—and went so far as to suggest defecating and urinating on men as an option. Really. Only conservative media found the film worth reporting….

According to the counselor, “sexual exploration” is “normal” and “can be really fun.” For ideas to imitate, she referenced 50 Shades of Grey as well as porn. She even offered some creative techniques of her own: “There are so many different fetishes out there,” she stressed. “Like, some guys like for women to urinate on them” or “pooping.”…

During a “Hannity” interview on July 15, [Live Action President Lila] Rose, elaborated on Planned Parenthood: “Their interest is not protecting these girls. Their interest is abortion and in pushing a sexual ideology—a sexology—that's very destructive and dangerous on our teenagers.”

Obamacare provided this particular Planned Parenthood with additional funding for educating teens. That means in schools. Rose encouraged parents to contact their principles and school superintendents to find out what their school’s relationship was with Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood Houston
image from here

That is a good first step wherever you are in the country. We think our schools are somewhat safe from such indoctrination here in Texas, because we are vigilant. And yet the huge Houston Planned Parenthood office is guilty of selling baby parts (another abomination I couldn’t have imagined until proof was placed before us), but they were temporarily successful in getting the reporters prosecuted, rather than the actual perpetrators. The reporters were eventually exonerated, but no real justice has been done yet.

I’ll say one more time, homeschooling is a lifestyle choice worth looking into. If there is any way you can do it, your family will benefit—both educationally and socially. If you are in an area where schools are already imposing this savage, anti-family doctrine, you must find a way out now.