Lawsuit targeting LGTBQ books in classrooms

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I agree. This topic is controversial and at a minimum, it is fair to allow families to opt out. Teachers have not been trained on how to present and address questions and I prefer to be the one to discuss with my kids rather someone with no first hand experience in the topic. At such a young age, schools should be focusing on reading and math since the county is performing very poorly on these measurements.

They are books for reading, as in part of the reading curiculum.

Oh ok great. So they can add some anti-gay Focus on the Family pamphlets to the ELA curriculum and that’s ok because it’s “the reading curriculum.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are allowed to opt out of the Family Life and Human Sexuality curriculum, per state law. They are not allowed to opt out of the English Language Arts curriculum. Would you want people to be able to opt out of math, science, or social studies?

books with instruction on what it means to be transgender are part of the Family Life curriculum. the law doesn’t require it to be during a certain class period. it’s the content that matters.

The Family Life curriculum is a distinct and separate curriculum from ELA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It is a huge double standard.

Books about kids being trans do not belong in elementary schools.

There are trans kids.
There are trans kids in our schools.
Why can't there be books about trans students?

How about kids with abusive parents? Or kids that have a life threatening disease, or any disease, like diabetes which is very common? How about kids that live in a foster home? MCPS has become a shit show. None of you are willing and able to see that the topic is controversial and needs to stay out of the elementary schools. Parents can read these books to their kids at home. Or allow parents to opt out. MCPs is a diverse district so they have to learn to respect the needs of a diverse population. I would be terrified to see how a teacher would answer questions coming from kids who are not familiar with trans kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It is a huge double standard.

Books about kids being trans do not belong in elementary schools.

There are trans kids.
There are trans kids in our schools.
Why can't there be books about trans students?

How about kids with abusive parents? Or kids that have a life threatening disease, or any disease, like diabetes which is very common? How about kids that live in a foster home? MCPS has become a shit show. None of you are willing and able to see that the topic is controversial and needs to stay out of the elementary schools. Parents can read these books to their kids at home. Or allow parents to opt out. MCPs is a diverse district so they have to learn to respect the needs of a diverse population. I would be terrified to see how a teacher would answer questions coming from kids who are not familiar with trans kids.

There are books about all of those things. The library database is searchable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I agree. This topic is controversial and at a minimum, it is fair to allow families to opt out. Teachers have not been trained on how to present and address questions and I prefer to be the one to discuss with my kids rather someone with no first hand experience in the topic. At such a young age, schools should be focusing on reading and math since the county is performing very poorly on these measurements.

They are books for reading, as in part of the reading curiculum.

Oh ok great. So they can add some anti-gay Focus on the Family pamphlets to the ELA curriculum and that’s ok because it’s “the reading curriculum.”

It's really interesting that you see books about the trans experience as propaganda like Focus on the Family pamphlets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I agree. This topic is controversial and at a minimum, it is fair to allow families to opt out. Teachers have not been trained on how to present and address questions and I prefer to be the one to discuss with my kids rather someone with no first hand experience in the topic. At such a young age, schools should be focusing on reading and math since the county is performing very poorly on these measurements.

They are books for reading, as in part of the reading curiculum.

How closed minded can you be to see that a large percentage of the population does not want their kids exposed to these books.?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I agree. This topic is controversial and at a minimum, it is fair to allow families to opt out. Teachers have not been trained on how to present and address questions and I prefer to be the one to discuss with my kids rather someone with no first hand experience in the topic. At such a young age, schools should be focusing on reading and math since the county is performing very poorly on these measurements.

They are books for reading, as in part of the reading curiculum.

How closed minded can you be to see that a large percentage of the population does not want their kids exposed to these books.?

Did you take a poll of MCPS parents?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

The existence of trans and gay people is not activist. It just is. The books reflect that reality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It is a huge double standard.

Books about kids being trans do not belong in elementary schools.

There are trans kids.
There are trans kids in our schools.
Why can't there be books about trans students?

This.
Just like there are Muslim kids in our schools and there are books featuring Muslim students.

I’m glad MCPS ended opting out for this type of thing. While I’m sorry that the Muslim girl felt uncomfortable hearing a story about a transgendered child, her discomfort is precisely why these books should be read to all. She is going to school with transgendered peers and needs to learn about them and get along with them. There are likely families who are “not comfortable” around Muslims, but their children also need to learn about them and get along with them.

This is PUBLIC school. Everyone of every type of diversity is in our schools and all are welcome. If you object to a subset of people because of a key characteristic of who they are, then get your education elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

I'm not comfortable sending my kids to school with bigots yet I still have to. Even in MOCO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It is a huge double standard.

Books about kids being trans do not belong in elementary schools.

There are trans kids.
There are trans kids in our schools.
Why can't there be books about trans students?

How about kids with abusive parents? Or kids that have a life threatening disease, or any disease, like diabetes which is very common? How about kids that live in a foster home? MCPS has become a shit show. None of you are willing and able to see that the topic is controversial and needs to stay out of the elementary schools. Parents can read these books to their kids at home. Or allow parents to opt out. MCPs is a diverse district so they have to learn to respect the needs of a diverse population. I would be terrified to see how a teacher would answer questions coming from kids who are not familiar with trans kids.

Here is a book on the approved list about a child in foster care: https://dae.mcpsmd.org/Eval_Detail.aspx?RecordID=110452&EvalID=107996

Here is a book on the approved list about a child with diabetes: https://dae.mcpsmd.org/Eval_Detail.aspx?RecordID=52313&EvalID=50682

Here is a book about Ramadan: https://dae.mcpsmd.org/Eval_Detail.aspx?RecordID=248798&EvalID=245103

The point is that there are THOUSANDS of books on the list. It's not like these six books are the only ones in the system, they were just added as "approved" alongside books on many many other topics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I agree. This topic is controversial and at a minimum, it is fair to allow families to opt out. Teachers have not been trained on how to present and address questions and I prefer to be the one to discuss with my kids rather someone with no first hand experience in the topic. At such a young age, schools should be focusing on reading and math since the county is performing very poorly on these measurements.

They are books for reading, as in part of the reading curiculum.

Oh ok great. So they can add some anti-gay Focus on the Family pamphlets to the ELA curriculum and that’s ok because it’s “the reading curriculum.”

It's really interesting that you see books about the trans experience as propaganda like Focus on the Family pamphlets.

I mean that’s the point - they are both ideological. One you like, the other one you don’t like. Schools are not places for ideology.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

The existence of trans and gay people is not activist. It just is. The books reflect that reality.

The books don’t just stop at existence. Heather and her Two Mommies went to the park, not a Pride Parade with drag queens and leather.

[Anonymous]

I never had any LGBTQ or inclusive books growing up and I still turned out gay.

I also knew I was gay when I was around age 7. Talk to other gay people and many, if not most, will tell you they knew they were gay well before when puberty began.

Think if the roles were reversed. What if I along with the other same-sex parents at school brought a lawsuit to stop kids from reading about heterosexual couples in books because it might confuse my kid or upset them? Ridiculous. Exactly. These lawsuits are ridiculous. Reading about a topic isn't going to make your kids gay or trans just like reading about the Boxcar Children or Amelia Bedelia didn't make me an orphan or kluzy maid. Grow tf up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I agree. This topic is controversial and at a minimum, it is fair to allow families to opt out. Teachers have not been trained on how to present and address questions and I prefer to be the one to discuss with my kids rather someone with no first hand experience in the topic. At such a young age, schools should be focusing on reading and math since the county is performing very poorly on these measurements.

They are books for reading, as in part of the reading curiculum.

How closed minded can you be to see that a large percentage of the population does not want their kids exposed to these books.?

how closed minded can you be to see that a large percentage of the population doesn't believe in your sky daddy & doesn't want their lives controlled by a fictional character?