Lawsuit targeting LGTBQ books in classrooms

[Anonymous]

I tend to be pretty liberal but was really shocked at the derisiveness from Lynne Harrison regarding the parents’ lawsuit.

https://moco360.media/2023/06/02/parents-students-doctors-react-to-mcps-lawsuit-targeting-lgbtq-storybooks/

[Anonymous]

Why? Parents are objecting to inclusive books on the grounds that the school is interfering with their right to inculcate their kids with their religion. They can send them to religious school. This isn't sex ed.

[Anonymous]

Which part of her remarks did you find problematic. I read the entire article and agree with everything she said.

Moreover, I support her firm stance on this issue. This isn't an issue on which I want wobbly political answers from my elected officials - I want a clear statement that MCPS will not single out the existence of LGBTQ+ children and families as "controversial."

[Anonymous]

I didn’t find the comments rude, just straightforward. I think the school has a right to teach their general curriculum (include age-appropriate LGBTQ+ books) to all students without telling the parents ahead of time. I think she’s right to say that if you want your children not to be exposed to ideas that don’t align with your religious beliefs you need to send them to a religious school, not a secular public one.

What shocked you so much, OP?

[Anonymous]

This is already being discussed in another thread. It's incredibly disappointing because the groups suing here would be the ones immediately turned on and singled out to have books with them in it eliminated.

[Anonymous]

We’re in FCPS, not MCPS. However, we were surprised that our special Ed preschooler brought home a book about being trans. We tossed it and will be homeschooling after this year. Other parents can make a similar choice if they have issues with the book selection in the public schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is already being discussed in another thread. It's incredibly disappointing because the groups suing here would be the ones immediately turned on and singled out to have books with them in it eliminated.

Which thread? (OP here.) I don’t object to the books being in MCPS. I objected to Lynne Harrison’s comments, which seemed unnecessarily rude. I think she could have phrased her objections in a slightly less derisive manner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which part of her remarks did you find problematic. I read the entire article and agree with everything she said.

Moreover, I support her firm stance on this issue. This isn't an issue on which I want wobbly political answers from my elected officials - I want a clear statement that MCPS will not single out the existence of LGBTQ+ children and families as "controversial."

My kids school banned Halloween and Valentines Day as not being inclusive,but is mandating lgbtq books in classrooms. Just seems a little incongruous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is already being discussed in another thread. It's incredibly disappointing because the groups suing here would be the ones immediately turned on and singled out to have books with them in it eliminated.

?

I would have no objection to kids being read books about devout Christian and Muslim kids. I do actually read my kids those types of books at home and would love to have them read at school too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is already being discussed in another thread. It's incredibly disappointing because the groups suing here would be the ones immediately turned on and singled out to have books with them in it eliminated.

Not true, I want my kids to learn about religious fanatics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which part of her remarks did you find problematic. I read the entire article and agree with everything she said.

Moreover, I support her firm stance on this issue. This isn't an issue on which I want wobbly political answers from my elected officials - I want a clear statement that MCPS will not single out the existence of LGBTQ+ children and families as "controversial."

My kids school banned Halloween and Valentines Day as not being inclusive,but is mandating lgbtq books in classrooms. Just seems a little incongruous.

Not really. Generally speaking, schools get rid of Halloween/Valentines Day celebrations because some significant portion of their student population is prohibited from attending for religious reasons (not that they disagree, but that they are not allowed to participate). The school is trying to be inclusive, just like it is with the curriculum. The common thread is inclusivity (and no, having your kids read books that you disagree with is not being "exclusive").

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which part of her remarks did you find problematic. I read the entire article and agree with everything she said.

Moreover, I support her firm stance on this issue. This isn't an issue on which I want wobbly political answers from my elected officials - I want a clear statement that MCPS will not single out the existence of LGBTQ+ children and families as "controversial."

My kids school banned Halloween and Valentines Day as not being inclusive,but is mandating lgbtq books in classrooms. Just seems a little incongruous.

To be clear, MCPS is not "mandating" those books. They are simply adding them to the list of books that teachers could choose to read in class, and that librarians could choose to stock.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t find the comments rude, just straightforward. I think the school has a right to teach their general curriculum (include age-appropriate LGBTQ+ books) to all students without telling the parents ahead of time. I think she’s right to say that if you want your children not to be exposed to ideas that don’t align with your religious beliefs you need to send them to a religious school, not a secular public one.

What shocked you so much, OP?

DP here. I don't think most parents have an issue with books showing LGBTQ characters or books with the message that we must love and accept all including those in the LGBTQ community. What the parents have an issue with is MCPS requiring kids to read books such as A Boy Named Penelope which teaches kids that changing your gender is not a big deal and it's as easy as changing your favorite color. That's overstepping their boundaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t find the comments rude, just straightforward. I think the school has a right to teach their general curriculum (include age-appropriate LGBTQ+ books) to all students without telling the parents ahead of time. I think she’s right to say that if you want your children not to be exposed to ideas that don’t align with your religious beliefs you need to send them to a religious school, not a secular public one.

What shocked you so much, OP?

DP here. I don't think most parents have an issue with books showing LGBTQ characters or books with the message that we must love and accept all including those in the LGBTQ community. What the parents have an issue with is MCPS requiring kids to read books such as A Boy Named Penelope which teaches kids that changing your gender is not a big deal and it's as easy as changing your favorite color. That's overstepping their boundaries.

I agree with this. And the more activists push to get the curriculum to reflect their ideology, the more the other side will push back to get it to reflect theirs - or push to destroy public schools altogether.

Schools are *public* institutions that are compulsory, and they must be ideologically and politically neutral. That’s why the comment “just send your kid to religious school if you don’t like it” is so offensive. The parents are not asking for their religion to be taught in schools. They aren’t even asking for the other ideology not to be taught. They just want to opt their kids out.

The left needs to stop acting like public schools are their own little activist clubs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which part of her remarks did you find problematic. I read the entire article and agree with everything she said.

Moreover, I support her firm stance on this issue. This isn't an issue on which I want wobbly political answers from my elected officials - I want a clear statement that MCPS will not single out the existence of LGBTQ+ children and families as "controversial."

My kids school banned Halloween and Valentines Day as not being inclusive,but is mandating lgbtq books in classrooms. Just seems a little incongruous.

To be clear, MCPS is not "mandating" those books. They are simply adding them to the list of books that teachers could choose to read in class, and that librarians could choose to stock.

And to be clear, all the parents are asking is for the right to opt out.