The Post Covers the Forum

Pretty nice story in The Washington Post this morning:

Montgomery County school officials drafting a new sex education curriculum should reject lessons suggesting that homosexuality is a condition that can be reversed, speakers at a community forum said yesterday.

"A person's sexual attraction cannot be changed at all. There is no data to suggest that," said Paul A. Wertsch, a physician and chairman of the American Medical Association's committee on gay and lesbian issues, speaking before about 100 parents and other community members at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School.

Wertsch was among the health educators who spoke at the forum sponsored by Teachthefacts.org, a parent group established to support the education curriculum proposed last year by the county Board of Education. The curriculum, which the parent group considered comprehensive, was dropped in the spring to settle a lawsuit brought by other parents who thought some of the lessons, including a demonstration of how to put on a condom, were too explicit. Sex-Ed Panel Aims to Sway Lessons on Gays: Montgomery Urged to Reject Teaching Homosexuality as Choice

I do need to comment on this headline. The forum yesterday wasn't to "sway lessons on gays," it was really just to find out what the facts are. There is an assumption, at least on our side, that the new curriculum should include factual information, but I don't remember anybody yesterday saying, "The new curriculum oughta do this or that."

And that second phrase: Montgomery Urged to Reject Teaching Homosexuality as Choice. I didn't hear that. I heard people say, "Homosexuality is not a choice." Nobody urged Montgomery to do anything. We were just finding out what the facts are.

Our side believes that the facts should be taught, but somehow it didn't seem necessary to say that. Maybe it's because of our name.

With the school board starting from scratch on a sex education plan, both sides are campaigning fiercely to influence what Montgomery eighth-graders will hear about homosexuality and what 10th-graders will hear about contraceptives.

Teachthefacts.org and the plaintiffs in the lawsuit -- Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum and the Virginia-based Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays -- are seeking representation on an advisory committee that will work with the school system on devising the lessons. The school board will select the committee next month.

As you know, CRC and PFOX are guaranteed membership on the citizens committee. We remember some stuff on their blog back when the school board announced how they're going to do things, where CRC was upset that they would have to follow the rules. The rules are that all organizations nominate three people for the committee, and the school board selects one. The rules are that former members of the citizens committee would not be allowed to join again. The Washington Times had a story on their hissy-fit HERE.

Nice section here:

Speakers yesterday, citing numerous studies and personal anecdotes, attempted to counter their opponents' desire to include in the curriculum the viewpoint that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice that can be changed with therapy.

Robert Rigby Jr., a special-education teacher at Falls Church High School, said that he spent 17 years in reparative ministries trying to become straight and that during that time, "my life was an ongoing disaster." Rather than change his attraction to men, Rigby said, the therapy left him depressed and suicidal. Finally, he said, "a Baptist pastor said the words that changed my life: 'Robert, God made you the way you are, and God loves you the way you are.' "

Personally, I thought Robert's talk yesterday was compelling. It's one thing to talk about policies and curricula, but it's quite another to see a guy, a regular guy, really, who has been beaten up by ugly attitudes and hateful things people say and do. The schools don't need to promote that sort of thing.

This reporter (V. Dion Haynes, doesn't usually cover this beat, thanks, good job) called the President of CRC, to see what she thought about it all:

In a phone interview, Michelle Turner, president of Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, said: "There is no conclusive truth that sexual [orientation] is something you are born with. Where's the science?"

She added that the judge in the case ruled that if the school system addresses the issue of homosexuality in class, teachers must include viewpoints from more than one perspective. "If you open Pandora's box, you have to address everything that comes out of it."

"The science" is not under the sand where her head is buried. She should have come to the forum (we went to hers) if she wanted to see the science. Dr. Wertsch showed us the genetic and neurological physiological data, as well as very persuasive results from twin studies, showing that sexual orientation has biological correlates.

Ms. Turner's Pandora's Box is a pipe-dream. There's no way any judge could ever tell a school that they have to teach myths alongside facts. No, when somebody's religious beliefs conflict with science there's no question about what should make it into the classroom.

Organizers of the forum showed "Protect Yourself," a seven-minute video that was intended to be part of the curriculum. The video opens with a young woman in a pharmacy standing before a row of condoms. She asks what the best ways are for young people to protect themselves from sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy. The video then shows shots of several teenagers, who respond that refraining from sex or using condoms are best. At the end, the woman uses a cucumber to demonstrate how to put on a condom.

Glenn Northern, sexuality education policy manager at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, praised the video. "It mentions abstinence seven times. This is not simply giving lip service to abstinence."

Turner said the school system is clear in teaching against smoking and using illicit drugs but sends a mixed message on sex. "Why would they teach kids how to have sex when there are so many physical and emotional dangers?" she said.

I heard the response to her question this morning. Smoking and drugs are bad for you, nobody needs to smoke or use dope. Just about everyone is going to have sex at some time in their lives. To some of this, that's a pretty big difference.

The forum was beautiful, I can't stop saying it, and we are glad that The Post phoned Ms. Turner so we can see just how silly CRC's position is, in a proper context.