Tuesday, January 16, 2007

How many 'sexual variations' will MCPS teach?

The Montgomery County Board of Education unanimously approved a new sex-ed curriculum that promotes teaching of "sexual variations" in middle and high school. The question now is, how many "variations" will MCPS teach our kids?

In a story headlined, "Wide Berth Allowed on Teaching About Homosexuality," the Washington Post reports that the new MCPS curriculum "goes deeper into sexual and gender identity than most other Washington area schools have dared."

According to the Washington Blade, a homosexual newspaper, "Students in 10th grade receive a more robust curriculum, including an examination of topics like coming out. It also asks students to consider the challenges a transgender student might face."

Patricia O'Neill, one of the few staunch Weast allies on the board, is taking the most extreme positions. The board defeated her attempt to include sexual advocacy language that was moderate in tone, but open to extremist interpretations.

Weast loyalist Sharon Cox, one of the unsuccessful lead advocates of the discredited cucumber sex curriculum that the board was forced to withdraw under court order, sarcastically invited traditional family groups to sue the school system over new sexual variations program. The last Weast ally on the board, Steve Abrams, tried to water down the language, fearing lawsuits.

In 2005 the Board of Education identified its own curriculum as "inappropriate content" that "surpassed the threshold set in the Adult Content dictionary."

“I believe that regardless of what we put forward, we will be sued,” Cox said. “That’s fine. Bring it on.”