High Five, Everybody
The Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum have done everything they can to derail improvements to the sex-ed curriculum in our public schools here in Montgomery County, Maryland. The closest they ever came to a success was a lawsuit in 2005 where they won a 10-day temporary restraining order -- that put the suers in a position to make some demands of the school system, and MCPS had to start over again, developing new classes on sexual variation for 8th and 10th grades and condom use for 10th.
Nothing else worked. All the TV cameras in the world couldn't sell people on their position regarding the evil nastiness of gay people. They did the phone campaigns, letter-writing campaigns, petition-signings, church-group lecturing, URL-approximating, blogging, web-siting and Internet-foruming, and in the end nobody went along with them. The candidates they liked all lost. Even when the school district was forced to put their members on a citizens committee to evaluate the curriculum, the other members voted them down when they proposed nonsense.
People in Montgomery County like our gay friends and neighbors, we don't have anything against them, except the ones who leave their trash cans out by the curb all week. We didn't want the schools teaching kids ugly stuff about our friends.
When the county school board voted to test and then to implement the new classes, the CRC and two other groups filed a couple of appeals with the state school board and the state superintendent, trying to get them to overrule the county. First the state superintendent refused to order a stay blocking the pilot-testing, so that went forward. The CRC filed with the state school board, asking them to block the implementation of the classes throughout the school district next fall.
This week, the state school board gave their response, word started leaking out this afternoon. The whole decision is like 17 pages long, so here's how MCPS put it on their web site:
High five, everybody. It's been a long row, but everybody's kept their spirits up, everybody's kept their nose to the grindstone, nobody let up for a second. This has been a lot of hard work, but it needed to be done. It's fine to negotiate over details of the sex-ed curriculum, it can be more conservative or more liberal, I wouldn't mind, but we as a community could not let a small group of extremists hijack the whole process, disrupting the school district when everybody else wanted to work and make the schools better.
You can read the whole ruling HERE. It's good, very satisfying. They go through it point by point by point, taking it apart ... it's kind but brutal.
I got some email from a shy little birdy who didn't want to be mentioned on the Internet, but who said it better than I can:
A few months ago, in March, John Garza, President of the CRC was saying:
They had planned to make a big show-trial out of this, and it didn't happen. It wasn't meant to be. They didn't find the "lawyers, sons, and money" they needed, and none of it came to be. I mean: none of it.
The CRC has one more trick up their sleeve. They have said they will file a suit in federal court. Of course it could be a state court, but they did say federal. The state school board looked at their constitutional complaints one by one and rejected them all easily. But they can hope that maybe a judge will see it differently. Hey, maybe they can bring this into court right before school starts, so the judge doesn't have any time to review the materials and the arguments ... like last time. Uh, I don't think they'll take MCPS by surprise twice, the same way. Not how it works.
Look, America tried something, the last few years, tried experimenting with a new approach to life, and it didn't work out, let's say. It turns out that good old American freedom works best for everybody. I am writing this on the night before the Fourth of July, and it does, it all fits together, as the person who emailed me put it, this ruling provides "authoritative support for the independent people of Montgomery County to be free from the tyranny of imperial small-mindedness."
Happy 4th of July, everybody.
Nothing else worked. All the TV cameras in the world couldn't sell people on their position regarding the evil nastiness of gay people. They did the phone campaigns, letter-writing campaigns, petition-signings, church-group lecturing, URL-approximating, blogging, web-siting and Internet-foruming, and in the end nobody went along with them. The candidates they liked all lost. Even when the school district was forced to put their members on a citizens committee to evaluate the curriculum, the other members voted them down when they proposed nonsense.
People in Montgomery County like our gay friends and neighbors, we don't have anything against them, except the ones who leave their trash cans out by the curb all week. We didn't want the schools teaching kids ugly stuff about our friends.
When the county school board voted to test and then to implement the new classes, the CRC and two other groups filed a couple of appeals with the state school board and the state superintendent, trying to get them to overrule the county. First the state superintendent refused to order a stay blocking the pilot-testing, so that went forward. The CRC filed with the state school board, asking them to block the implementation of the classes throughout the school district next fall.
This week, the state school board gave their response, word started leaking out this afternoon. The whole decision is like 17 pages long, so here's how MCPS put it on their web site:
ROCKVILLE, MD – The Maryland State Board of Education ruled in favor of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) Tuesday clearing the way for the 8th and 10th grade health education curriculum to include two lessons that promote tolerance, empathy and respect for all people regardless of sexual orientation and one 10th grade lesson that demonstrates the proper use of a condom.
Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, and Family Leader Network asked the State Board of Education in the spring to overturn the Montgomery County Board of Education’s curriculum decision to include these lessons in health classes.
"We appreciate the State Board’s careful deliberation and strong ruling in favor of MCPS in this case," said Nancy Navarro, president of the Montgomery County Board of Education. "The State Board rejected each and every legal challenge brought by the opponents and determined and that there was no valid reason to overturn our decision. It is my hope that the litigation in this matter will finally come to an end as we move forward with the lessons that teach that all people deserve to be respected regardless of their sexual orientation." State Board Rules in Favor of MCPS in Health Ed Case
High five, everybody. It's been a long row, but everybody's kept their spirits up, everybody's kept their nose to the grindstone, nobody let up for a second. This has been a lot of hard work, but it needed to be done. It's fine to negotiate over details of the sex-ed curriculum, it can be more conservative or more liberal, I wouldn't mind, but we as a community could not let a small group of extremists hijack the whole process, disrupting the school district when everybody else wanted to work and make the schools better.
You can read the whole ruling HERE. It's good, very satisfying. They go through it point by point by point, taking it apart ... it's kind but brutal.
I got some email from a shy little birdy who didn't want to be mentioned on the Internet, but who said it better than I can:
(1) the state board upheld the local board unanimously on all counts -- constitutional, regulatory, and otherwise; (2) the state board cited legality as its one and only reason, not the content, and upheld the lawful discretion of the local board; (3) the state board noted there may be differences of opinion regionally and religiously -- see first paragraphs on pages 10, 14, and 16 -- but declared the local board was well within its own legal authority; and (4) the decision was reached last week (July 27) but released only today, with four of the 11 board members abstaining, suggesting conservative discomfort but no basis for a reversal. The timing of today’s announcement with tomorrow’s celebration is judiciously pleasant – authoritative support for the independent people of Montgomery County to be free from the tyranny of imperial small-mindedness. Happy 4th of July, one day early!
A few months ago, in March, John Garza, President of the CRC was saying:
... What the state board said is that the battle between us and the school board is equally matched on the evidence. So therefore we have to have a trial. Now, that trial will be sometime between now and July of this year. And the state board clearly said that the evidence is so equally matched that the state board finds it to be in equipose [sic]. Or that it's "equally matched," they used both of those words in their decision. So it's a toss-up right now, who's gonna win before the state board.
...
... we need money. To take the deposition of each of the citizens advisory committee's gonna cost fifteen thousand dollars. This is money to pay for the court reporters, this is not for the lawyers. Every lawyer who's working on this case is working for free. To take the depositions of the board of education's gonna take six thousand dollars. To bring in experts, we have Dr. Jacobs, but to bring in more experts from Harvard University, from other renowned, uh, institutions, it's gonna cost us twenty to thirty thousand dollars.
We have need for signs, the web site maintenance, postage, all these things are gonna cost us ten thousand, twenty thousand, thirty thousand dollars.
They had planned to make a big show-trial out of this, and it didn't happen. It wasn't meant to be. They didn't find the "lawyers, sons, and money" they needed, and none of it came to be. I mean: none of it.
The CRC has one more trick up their sleeve. They have said they will file a suit in federal court. Of course it could be a state court, but they did say federal. The state school board looked at their constitutional complaints one by one and rejected them all easily. But they can hope that maybe a judge will see it differently. Hey, maybe they can bring this into court right before school starts, so the judge doesn't have any time to review the materials and the arguments ... like last time. Uh, I don't think they'll take MCPS by surprise twice, the same way. Not how it works.
Look, America tried something, the last few years, tried experimenting with a new approach to life, and it didn't work out, let's say. It turns out that good old American freedom works best for everybody. I am writing this on the night before the Fourth of July, and it does, it all fits together, as the person who emailed me put it, this ruling provides "authoritative support for the independent people of Montgomery County to be free from the tyranny of imperial small-mindedness."
Happy 4th of July, everybody.
posted by JimK at 8:31 PM
56 Comments:
Thanks little birdy.
Happy 4th of July!
It's been a long time comin'.
"The State Board rejected each and every legal challenge brought by the opponents..."
"Frivolous litigation is a legal claim or defense presented even though the party and the party's legal counsel had reason to know that the claim or defense had no merit."
"The State Board rejected each and every legal challenge brought by the opponents..."
From today's Washington Post:
MONTGOMERY SCHOOLS
Md. State Board Approves County's Sex-Ed Curriculum
By Daniel de Vise
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 4, 2007; Page B06
The Maryland State Board of Education has ruled in favor of a sex-education curriculum adopted last month for use in Montgomery middle and high schools, finding nothing illegal in the new lessons on sexual orientation and condom use, school officials said yesterday.
In a 17-page June 27 opinion, the state panel declined to "second guess the appropriateness" of the curriculum approved by the Montgomery County Board of Education. Instead, the state panel said it could reverse the county's action only if it violated the law. And after reviewing more than a dozen claims alleged by curriculum opponents, the state board found no violation...
Opposition groups argued that the new lessons violate free-speech rights of students by expressing only one viewpoint on homosexuality, wholly favorable, and that they restrict religious expression by suppressing the view that homosexuality is a sin. They said the lessons violate the constitutional right of equal protection by excluding the perspective of former homosexuals and also the fundamental right of a parent to control the upbringing of a child.
The state school board dismissed each argument in turn. Local school boards are not required to show all viewpoints in writing curriculum; nothing in the lessons prevents the ideologically opposed from "adhering to their religious beliefs about homosexual acts." The ruling noted that parents must give written consent for their children to take the lessons.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/03/AR2007070300991.html
"People in Montgomery County like our gay friends and neighbors, we don't have anything against them, except the ones who leave their trash cans out by the curb all week."
How about the ones that look like they should be wearing a roach motel around their neck?
We like nice people, whether they're gay or not.
JimK
^5 everybody and happy Fourth of July.
I am a gay student in MCPS and I have been reading this blog a lot. Thank you all so much for standing up for us and not letting these creeps tell lies about us. THANK YOU! Happy 4th!
Rock on! :) CRC, PFOX, etc... hate gets you nowhere, does it?
Thanks, everyone :)
Jim,
Thank you for all you have done for the community over the last 2-1/2 years. Your insights, wisdom, and good humor have made a difference for the better.
I think it apt that the State Board issued its decision on the eve of the 4th of July.
Today is a good time to reflect on what Ameica is and on what America can be.
Happy 4th to everyone.
Don't high five. Hang ten, dudes!
Read rocker Ted Nugent's analysis of the corrupting influence of 1967 Summer of Love in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal. He was there and saw it all. Among the effects was the institution of valueless sexual education programs in the late 60s and early 70s in our nation's public schools, followed by an explosion of teen promiscuity and pregnancy.
TTF celebrates the "improvement" of this valueless approach, meaning, in all likelihood, further corruption by normalizing and euphemizing aberrant sexual preference.
Look back in five years and see what changes take place once this settles in.
"Look, America tried something, the last few years, tried experimenting with a new approach to life, and it didn't work out, let's say."
Does anyone who understands this delusive worldview of Jim's care to elaborate?
Hey, Anon-
Since you are all about "old time" values, I am sure you would love to get rid of your mother when your father dies, like in some Hindu cultures? READ BELOW (www.cnn.com). It's tradition, so you gotta do it, right? While society evolves they find that what they used to believe was not right and they change it for the better good. MCPS is a good example of this, using knowledge as power and helping eliminate hateful likes, such as those by CRC and PFOX.
By Arwa Damon
CNN
VRINDAVAN, India (CNN) -- Ostracized by society, India's widows flock to the holy city of Vrindavan waiting to die. They are found on side streets, hunched over with walking canes, their heads shaved and their pain etched by hundreds of deep wrinkles in their faces.
These Hindu widows, the poorest of the poor, are shunned from society when their husbands die, not for religious reasons, but because of tradition -- and because they're seen as a financial drain on their families.
They cannot remarry. They must not wear jewelry. They are forced to shave their heads and typically wear white. Even their shadows are considered bad luck.
Hindus have long believed that death in Vrindavan will free them from the cycle of life and death. For widows, they hope death will save them from being condemned to such a life again. Video Watch how some widows are rebelling »
"Does it feel good?" says 70-year-old Rada Rani Biswas. "Now I have to loiter just for a bite to eat."
Biswas speaks with a strong voice, but her spirit is broken. When her husband of 50 years died, she was instantly ostracized by all those she thought loved her, including her son.
"My son tells me: 'You have grown old. Now who is going to feed you? Go away,' " she says, her eyes filling with tears. "What do I do? My pain had no limit."
As she speaks, she squats in front of one of Vrindavan's temples, her life reduced to begging for scraps of food.
There are an estimated 40 million widows in India, the least fortunate of them shunned and stripped of the life they lived when they were married.
It's believed that 15,000 widows live on the streets of Vrindavan, a city of about 55,000 in northern India.
"Widows don't have many social rights within the family," says Ranjana Kumari with the Center for Social Research, a group that works to empower women.
The situation is much more extreme within India's rural community. "There, it is much more tradition-bound; in urban areas, there are more chances and possibilities to live a normal life."
But the majority of India's 1.1 billion population is rural. "The government recognizes the problem," Kumari says. "It can do a lot, but it's not doing enough."
Don't miss
* Guild of Service
* Widows' Rights International
* Impact your world
One woman, a widow herself, is working for change. Dr. Mohini Giri has formed an organization called the Guild of Service, which helps destitute women and children.
Giri's mother was widowed when Giri was 9 years old, and she saw what a struggle it was. Then, Giri lost her husband when she was 50, enduring the social humiliation that comes with being a widow. At times, she was asked not to attend weddings because her presence was considered bad luck.
"Generally all widows are ostracized," she says. "An educated woman may have money and independence, but even that is snatched away when she becomes a widow. We live in a patriarchal society. Men say that culturally as a widow you cannot do anything: You cannot grow your hair, you should not look beautiful."
She adds, "It's the mind-set of society we need to change -- not the women."
Seven years ago, Giri's organization set up a refuge called Amar Bari, or "My Home," in Vrindavan. It has become a refuge for about 120 of India's widows. Giri's organization is set to open a second home, one that will house another 500 widows.
But as she says, "Mine is but a drop in the bucket."
At Amar Bari, most widows reject traditional white outfits and grow out their hair. Along the open air corridors that link the house's courtyard are green wooden doors, leading to dark tiny rooms, home for each widow. Photo See the widows of Vrindavan »
Bent over by osteoporosis, 85-year-old Promita Das meticulously and slowly sweeps the floor just outside her door and then carefully cleans her dishes.
"I came here when I couldn't work anymore. I used to clean houses," she says. "Nobody looked after me, nobody loved me. I survived on my own."
She married at 12 and was widowed at 15. Seventy years later, she finds herself at Amar Bari. "I used to live in front of a temple, but then I came here," she says.
She carries with her not only the pain of a life without love, but also the loss of her only child. She gave birth at 14; her baby lived a year.
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Another widow, Ranu Mukherjee, wearing a bright red-patterned sari, shows off her room at the home and wants to sing for her guests. The lyrics of her song are about a lost traveler.
"When did you come here after losing your way?" she sings. "When I remember the days gone by I feel sad."
"Since you are all about "old time" values, I am sure you would love to get rid of your mother when your father dies, like in some Hindu cultures? READ BELOW (www.cnn.com). It's tradition, so you gotta do it, right?"
Not at all. Man-made traditions need to be continually re-evaluated in light of scripture. If you even made a cursory review of Jesus' ministry on Earth, you'd see that this is the Christian position.
Thanks for posting this story. It's a perfect example of what was posted recently about the role of women in societies with a Judeo-Christian heritage vs. the rest of the world. Only in the West are women afforded dignity.
It's also a perfect example of how all cultures are not equal, as is taught in public schools these days.
Anonymous said "Man-made traditions need to be continually re-evaluated in light of scripture".
Scripture is man-made. All traditions are man-made and need to be continually reevaluated in light of fairness and equality. Strict adherence to the bible teaches that women are subservient to men, Paul says suffer not a woman to teach or to speak in a church, she should be silent. Traditional Christians oppress women, "honour" killings are rampant not just in Islamic communities, but fundamentalist Christian ones as well.
One thing, Anon, I will never forget is how the Catholic Church was complicit in the extermination of my people.
Anonymous - I found your comments about "valueless" education to be quite ironic. It wasn't too many years ago when proposals to teach "values" in schools were hooted down by folks in our communities, especially those of your "right-wing" orientation. I suppose the reason for opposing the teaching of values then was because the values to be taught did not meet your "Christian" test of biblical inerrancy. C'est la vie...time and civilization move on, even if it is difficult for folks like you to keep up with changes you cannot control. As you said "TTF celebrates the "improvement" of this valueless approach, meaning, in all likelihood, further corruption by normalizing and euphemizing aberrant sexual preference."
Such a ridiculous thing to say! "Aberrant sexual preference" (a ludicrous statement) is in the eye of the beholder and you are becoming more blind as your inner rage and frustration eats away at you.
Anon-
you are so full of you-know-what! I'd like to sit down with you sometime person-to-person and see if you would say any of the comments you are on here to another person's face. Or would you not since you are so homophobic and think you might "catch" the, as you would put it, "curable gay illness" with which I was born?
All you want is control over the lives of others and you should be ashamed of yourself for that, because that is NOT what Jesus would do. Were you a lonely child?
I am a father of two wonderful children with my partner. One just graduated from Harvard Law and my daughter will graduate from high school in June'08 (the same year we are getting rid of our incompetent 'president') Neither is gay, and that is just fine by me. I applaud MCPS for showing me that just because I am gay, I am still a human being and a respected parent of my children (who my partner and I both adopted together). I am sure my children would be interested in meeting you as well. So just let me know when and where, I'll be there.
andrea-not anon
GA- for someone who claims to know Jeus- you are amazingly hateful.
"Thank you all so much for standing up for us and not letting these creeps tell lies about us."
The lies are told by TTF and are as follows:
1. Homosexuality is innate
2. Those who don't believe #1 are hateful
3. Those who experience homosexual feelings can't be truly happy if they resist them
4. They are people who are exclusively homosexual who have no capacity to develop satisfying heterosexual relationships
"One thing, Anon, I will never forget is how the Catholic Church was complicit in the extermination of my people."
I'm not necessarily any big fan of the Catholic church but I've only heard the Catholic leadership was improperly reticent about the abuses in Germany. Complicit seems to go a little further. What are you talking about?
One thing I will say is that they have worked hard to make amends for their role in recent years. I do remember reading JP II's words when he visited Auschwitz: "It is not permissible for anyone to pass by here with indifference."
"Or would you not since you are so homophobic and think you might "catch" the, as you would put it, "curable gay illness" with which I was born?"
Oh, I don't think it's generally a disease, I think it's a choice. Only when one gets to the point where they can't function heterosexually would it be a condition since it is interferring with normal functioning. I think statistics show few people are at that point. In any case, I certainly wouldn't consider any emotional disturbance contagious.
"All you want is control over the lives of others"
I could care less what you do. All we discuss here is what should be taught to teens.
"and you should be ashamed of yourself for that, because that is NOT what Jesus would do."
Now what exactly are you saying that Jesus wouldn't do?
"Scripture is man-made."
Not Judeo-Christian scripture.
"All traditions are man-made and need to be continually reevaluated in light of fairness and equality."
Randi, you keep a contradiction going. On one hand, you believe in "science and reason". On the other, "fairness and equality". Where, however, do you observe fairness and equality in nature? These ideals don't proceed from science. They proceed from a common Creator. Nature's principle is survival of the fittest.
"Strict adherence to the bible teaches that women are subservient to men, Paul says suffer not a woman to teach or to speak in a church, she should be silent."
Sameness and equality are not the same thing. Again, show us a place outside countries with a Judeo-Christian heritage where women have any dignity.
"Traditional Christians oppress women, "honour" killings are rampant not just in Islamic communities, but fundamentalist Christian ones as well."
Let's see it.
Andrea- not anon
Hey GA- you do realize that everyone else here thinks you are sad and ignorant. Why not find a place where people respect you- like PFOX or CRC or FOTF. I hope before you leave(and I hope you will)you tell us which CRC/PFOX loser you are.
"Hey GA- you do realize that everyone else here thinks you are sad and ignorant. Why not find a place where people respect you- like PFOX or CRC or FOTF. I hope before you leave(and I hope you will)you tell us which CRC/PFOX loser you are."
Yet another tremendous contribution to the discussion by Andrea. Well-reasoned.
Andrea- not anon
You see, GA- unlike other people here- I give you exactly the sort of discussion you deserve. The others are just being kind to you.
"You see, GA- unlike other people here- I give you exactly the sort of discussion you deserve. The others are just being kind to you."
Maybe you're just kidding yourself, Andrea. I've yet to see any evidence you are capable of putting together any more than a few insulting lines.
Dear Abby,
My husband is a liar and a cheat.
He has cheated on me from the beginning, and,
when I confront him, he denies everything.
What's worse, everyone knows that he cheats on me.
It is so humiliating.
Also, since he lost his job six years ago, he hasn't even looked for a new one.
All he does all day is smoke cigars, cruise around and BS with his buddies
while I have to work to pay the bills.
Since our daughter went away to college he doesn't even pretend to like me and
hints that I may be a lesbian.
What should I do?
Signed: Clueless
Dear Clueless,
Grow up and dump him. Good grief, woman. You don't need him anymore!
You're a United States Senator from New York running for President of the United
States .
Act like one.
Poor loser. Now that both the MCPS and Maryland State Boards of Education have found no content or legal problems with the pediatrician recommended MCPS comprehensive and inclusive health education curricula, Anon is reduced to proselytizing and personal insults.
I don't know which is more pathetic; his homophobia or his hilaryphobia.
TTFrist
Like I said, he was a very lonely boy as a child and thinks that by hating others he will gain friends. Love conquers hate, and it will go on that way forever. Are there any other minorities that you would like to attack here, Anon? Love Jesus first and foremost, then love ONE ANOTHER unconditionally. Remember that part of the Bible? Maybe the Bible is not translated into a language that you read... don't worry, us LIBERALS will make sure it is translated so that EVERYONE can read about how hateful you are. You poor, lonely man... I guess finding Jesus and having a personal relationship with Him just wasn't enough, was it? Sad, sad, sad... I agree with happilyhomo!, I would like to meet with you face-to-face to see if you would say any of the comments on here to my or anyone else's face. I picture you are a somewhat overweight man (from sitting as his computer so much and not getting outside), with a Children's version of the Holy Bible by your side, eating lots of chips and crying yourself to sleep at night. Prove me wrong, let's have coffee/tea and to know each other as human beings. You game?
This is from the Gazette (CRC posted in on their site so I thought I would pass it along).
(URL: http://www.gazette.net/stories/070307/montlet204136_32399.shtml)
Creating a school environment with tolerance and respect for all is difficult. Part of the concern about the school system’s new lessons, which presented sexual orientation, including homosexuality and transgenderism, is that the new curriculum enforced a gay advocacy agenda by labeling any student having concern about homosexuality as homophobic.
When activists obtained state Superintendent Nancy Grasmick’s opinion ‘‘that both sides have equally matched arguments,” school board member Patricia B. O’Neill had an opportunity to calm concerns that students failing to embrace the new lessons are being treated as second-class citizens. Instead, as quoted in a June 27, article (‘‘Critics try again to block sex-ed curriculum”), she expanded the name-calling to include ‘‘bigots.” Now, courtesy of O’Neill, the nonparticipating students and their parents are labeled as both homophobic and bigots.
Community criticism of the past curriculum resulted in it being overthrown by a federal judge. Ignoring the same credible criticism is not ‘‘courage in the face of bigots” but is a lack of tolerance and respect by O’Neill.
Why isn’t the school board willing to make the changes needed to make the curriculum both tolerant of all and truthful? The school system’s intolerance now extends to the one out of 10 nonparticipating students and their parents, ex-gays, ex-transgenders, 270 concerned physicians, and government information.
O’Neill had an opportunity to show that the school board has changed. Shamefully she has demonstrated that the board continues its self assumed role as the ‘‘enforcer” of the gay advocacy agenda with no tolerance or respect for those who disagree.
Ruth M. Jacobs, M.D., Rockville
The writer is an infectious disease specialist and representative of the Citizens for Responsible Curriculum on the Citizens Advisory Committee.
What are your thoughts on this guys? Sounds quite intolerant and hateful to me. Shame, shame, shame
"Now that both the MCPS and Maryland State Boards of Education have found no content or legal problems"
Actually, just gave their opinion that there were no legal problems. Unfortunately, as far as content, they just said it's a local matter. The curriculum is misleading and inaccurate, so hopefully a way will be found to redress this problem.
"with the pediatrician recommended"
Do you remember a few years ago when a group of pediatricians was saying mothers should stop giving kids milk and let them get their calcium from brocolli?
It is possible for a group of pediatricians to disconnect from reality.
"MCPS comprehensive and inclusive health education curricula,"
If by inclusive you mean includes relevant facts to make responsible and healthy decisions, the curriculum falls way short.
"Anon is reduced to proselytizing and personal insults."
Don't forget pointing out the inadequacies of the quack curriculum just put out by MCPS.
I do feel bad about the insults considerin' how nice everyone has been to me.
"I don't know which is more pathetic;"
Sad, pathetic. I would say it's a matter of opinion except I don't think that is your opinion. I think, like most liberals, you are extremely insecure about the logic of your positions and are very threatened by anyone disahreeing with you.
"his homophobia or his hilaryphobia."
Not afraid of neither and actually like some gays I've met and Hillary too. Admittedly, I've never warmed up to her husband.
But then "phobia" of all kinds of things is another of those liberal rhetorical devices for anyone who disagrees with them. I predict Americans will display their Demophobia in 2008.
Quack curricula? I think you are the quack, mister. It's not like MCPS is NOT teaching abstinence, all it is trying to do is empower those who do make the decision to engage in sexual encounters before marriage have the tools to protect themselves. Also, what about all the gay students who always hear "male-female, female-male, male-female, female-male"??? The gay students will believe that what is being said does not pertain to them...and that is just sad. It is our job as educators to educate EACH AND EVERY STUDENT in that classroom, not just pick and chose to educate the 'majority' or the 'minority'. That would be bad pedagogical practice.
I don't know how old you are, but times have changed, sir. We have to keep up with the times and keep our children safe. You can't be in their lives every single second for the rest of their lives BUT WE CAN empower them so that they will know what to do when we are not there to enable them by making decisions for them.
The reality is, it's the year 2007, not 1907. Maybe that's where you are making your mistakes... You know, they have current research done for THIS year, not 100 years ago. I hope you don't have children, but if you do, I hope they don't turn out as hateful, closed-minded and bigoted as the tree from which they, unfortunately, stem.
This part of Jacobs' letter "any student having concern about homosexuality as homophobic." is a lie. The curriculum clearly states (Grade 8, lesson 1):
People sometimes stereotype others based on their beliefs. Just as stereotyping others based on sexuality is not an acceptable behavior, stereotyping others based on personal beliefs also is not acceptable.
Harassment is defined as:
“Any kind of repeated attention that is not wanted.” (Holt)
The following examples of harassment are given:
Repeatedly making an individual the target of jokes.
Repeatedly making derogatory or demeaning comments about an individual.
Referring to an individual using racial, ethnic, or sexual epithets.
In other words, a person can be as "concerned about homosexuality" as they want to be or as their beliefs require them to be, but if they pay repeated unwanted attention to any other person at the school, or repeatedly make someone at school the target of jokes or demeaning comments, or use epithets directed toward others at school, they'd be guilty of harassment.
This part of Jacobs' letter is also a lie: "Community criticism of the past curriculum resulted in it being overthrown by a federal judge."
Community criticism was not the reason Judge Williams gave for granting a 10 day temporary restraining order back in 2005. He was concerned that a few teacher resources included a few denominations' views on homosexuality. He said it is not necessary to offer opinions about controversial subjects "to achieve the goals of advocating tolerance and providing health-related information."
MCPS took Judge Williams' opinions to heart and removed all references to and opinions about various denominations from the curriculum's teacher resources. Some fundamentalist CRC members and supporters would like to include their views about homosexuality and sin but that would violate Judge Williams' order.
MCPS Mom
"I don't know how old you are, but times have changed, sir. We have to keep up with the times and keep our children safe. You can't be in their lives every single second for the rest of their lives BUT WE CAN empower them so that they will know what to do when we are not there to enable them by making decisions for them."
You could do that by providing a societal moral basis instead of a valueless approach.
The idea that all this is just the inevitable march of progress is nothing but liberal propaganda. The mid-70s actually had much looser sexual standards but everything changed when problems like AIDS, herpes and epidemic teen pregnancy resulted from valueless sex ed. Many other periods had looser standards than today. It's a pendulum not an algebra curve.
"The reality is, it's the year 2007, not 1907. Maybe that's where you are making your mistakes... You know, they have current research done for THIS year, not 100 years ago."
Let's consider even further back. Ancient Greeks and Romans practiced bisexuality widely. Modern Greeks and Romans don't because this type of desire is not innate.
Valueless Anon likes to talk about "valueless sex education programs." Whatever those programs are, anyone who has read the MCPS sex education curricula knows they are far from valueless.
For our 8th grade students, MCPS teaches the following instructional objectives in health classes on "family life and human sexuality":
*Examine factors that influence stereotyping and generalizations about gender roles
*Discuss how culture and family values affect relationships and marriage
*Explore the effect of family stress and divorce on the family and society
*Describe the process of pregnancy and birth, recognizing the importance of prenatal care for the mother and fetus
*Discuss the effects of hormonal changes on the body and on behavior throughout the life cycle
*Analyze the influence of peer pressure and other factors on an individual's decisions regarding sexual behavior
*Analyze consequences of sexual activity
*Examine myths and misconceptions about human sexuality
*Discuss the social, emotional and economic impact of teenage parenting
*Discuss how family values, culture, religious views and other factors influence family planning
*Identify abstinence from sexual intercourse as the most effective means of pregnancy prevention
*Identify and describe methods of pregnancy prevention
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/health/gr8.htm#FAMILY%20LIFE%20AND%20HUMAN%20SEXUALITY
And in 10th grade, these are the instructional objectives:
* Define the term family and describe a variety of differing family structures that exist in society
* Cite ways in which culture and other forces affect family values and practices
* Describe how the family meets the needs of its members throughout the life cycle
* Discuss effects of hormonal changes on behavior throughout the life cycle
* Investigate factors that contribute to sexual identity
* Identify issues that may enhance or threaten relationships, marriage, and families
* Identify and describe the anatomy and physiology of the human reproductive systems (o)
* Describe physiological dysfunctions, STD's, and psychological factors that affect human reproduction (o)
* Describe fertilization, fetal development and child bearing (o)
* Identify the most prevalent congenital and hereditary conditions that affect the fetus (o)
* Examine how culture, value systems, and the family influence attitudes toward sexual behavior (o)
* Analyze how the media and social trends influence relationships, sexual behavior, marriage, and family (o)
* Analyze risks and consequences of sexual activity (o)
* Recognize how laws relate to relationships, marriage, and sexual behavior (o)
* Demonstrate resistance skills and assertive behaviors which contribute to healthy sexuality (o)
* Analyze the responsibilities and psychological impact of marriage, and
parenthood (o)
* Examine moral, religious views, health and economic considerations that influence family planning decisions (o)
* Identify abstinence from sexual intercourse as the most effective means of preventing pregnancy (o)
* Evaluate methods of family planning and the effectiveness of methods of contraception (o)
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/health/gr9a.htm#flhs
Both of these sets of instructional objectives come from the existing "CRC approved" curriculum. These instructional objectives, unlike Anon's comments about Greeks, Romans, and the mid-70s, are far from "valueless."
Hi, MCPS Mom, I think we know the same Jacob. He's a great student and I am proud to be one of his teachers (I am proud to be a teacher of any student: gay, straight, questioning, etc, etc...)
ALL of our students deserve to be protected whether they be gay, straight,bisexual, transgender (YES, we do in fact have transgender students in MCPS who deserve to be protected just like everyone else), questioning, or "ex-gay". Anon would love for all students, except for those who are straight or "ex-gay" to be treated as second-class citizens. It's shameful, but it's the truth.
I am proud to work for a school system that treats everyone as an equal and abolishes outdated, hateful, religious-based, and out-of-the-scope information that would have been pushed upon or good-spirited and fair-minded student population.
HUGE HIGH-FIVE, EVERYONE! :) Love conquers hate, ALWAYS!!!
Here's something I came across on Myspace.com. Yet ANOTHER story about how inhumane and selfish people such as CRC and PFOX and EXODUS really are. SHAME ON YOU!!!!LEAVE YOUR KIDS ALONE! LET THEM BE WHO GOD WANTS THEM TO BE!
StandOut!Wrote:
Friday, April 14, 2006
From: Wade Richards
waderichards@standoutyouth.com
www.standoutyouth.com
Subject: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-
Can Gay People Really Change?
News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: Wade Richards
(414) 238-8933
waderichards@standoutyouth.com
StandOut!'s Wade Richards Challenges the Ex-Gay movement to Tell the Truth
Milwaukee, WI- As a former graduate of an Exodus International ex-gay/reparative residential ministry and a former Love One Out conference attendee I want to express the significance of diversity education among young people. There is no time like the present that we as a society teach every individual the importance of diversity, tolerance, and love. Yet, we live in a world that is not perfect, but we do not have to allow the weakness of bigotry and hate in others effect our perception of our own identity or self-acceptance.
In my experience with the ex-gay movement I have seen the damage and psychological turmoil that taunts an individual trying to deny the very nature of who they are. In many instances these individuals, like myself, live in an inner hell of depression and guilt. Never coming to peace with the person who they have tried earnestly to become. After months of struggling with my own sexual orientation, I realized that I was healed of all the emotional turmoil from my past that the ex-gay movement claimed to be the cause of my same-sex attractions. However, I was still Gay.
I find it unfortunate and grievous that a religious institution would invite or condone a conference like Focus on the Family's Love Won Out to speak deception to their people. Organizations and ministries like Focus on the Family, Love In Action's Refuge, and Exodus Youth give young adolescents a false hope. These organizations target those who have a stake in youth, such as pastors, youth leaders, school administrative workers, counselors, and medical professionals.
Our young people are face with unbelievable obstacles everyday.
-Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth of school age in the United States often suffer daily harassment, abuse, and violence at the hands of their peers. These students spend an inordinate amount of energy figuring out how to get to and from school safely, avoiding the hallways when other students are present in order to escape slurs and shoves, cutting gym classes to escape being beaten up -in short, attempting to become invisible
For some, the burden of coping each day with relentless harassment is too much. They drop out of school. Some commit suicide. Others barely survive. A few fight back, demanding that school administrations ensure their safety, that recognition of gays and lesbians be integrated into the curriculum, that they be allowed to organize gay-straight student groups, and that they be encouraged to celebrate their identities. (1)
-About 83 percent of the students reported being verbally harassed in the past year because of their sexual orientation, and 21 percent reported being physically assaulted.
More than 84 percent of the students reported hearing anti-gay remarks often at school, and most said that faculty and staff rarely intervened when overhearing such remarks. More than 23 percent said they sometimes heard anti-gay comments from teachers and staff.
Nearly 70 percent of the students said they felt unsafe in their schools because of their sexual orientation, and more than 30 percent said they had missed at least one day of classes in the past month because of their fears. (2)
With these statistics in mind, it is still believed, that one chooses to be gay.
Now we have religious based organizations and ministries preaching intolerance and hate, bring even more confusion to the lives of our young people.
On April 12, 2006- PFOX Parents and Friends of ExGays and Gays, joined with Liberty Counsel launched the anti-gay youth campaigned called Change is Possible Campaign. To help students bring this life-saving and life-changing message to their schools, PFOX and Liberty Counsel are encouraging students to take the Tolerance Test at http://www.lc.org/libertyalert/2006/la041206.htm
Students are asked to distribute literature and put up posters with the message that ex-gays exist, and then report to us the results of their efforts. We also encourage them to start Gay to Straight Clubs, and ask that the ex-gay viewpoint be included in all diversity day presentations that discuss homosexuality. We provide the students with a Students' Rights Brochure, sample graphics to use to create their own literature, health statistics, and a list of organizations that affirm a person's decision to leave homosexuality.
*Statement taken from the PFOX press release.
Yet have we not already seen the credibility of the ex-gay movement? Remember the high profile ex-gay spokesperson John Paulk was confronted and photographed patronizing Mr. P's gay bar in Washington, D.C. Also hundreds of people like myself, who claimed an ex-gay identity are walking away from the idea that reparative therapy works, and are embracing the truth that it is okay to be gay.
I challenge these ex-gay organizations to tell the truth, we must not lie to our youth any longer. Our youth need to know that they will be protected.
(1)The Hatred in the Hallways: Violence and Discrimination Against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Students in U.S. Schools study by Human Rights Watch (2001)
(2) GLSEN (Oct 10, 2001)
-30-
Wade Richards is a graduate of Exodus residential ex-gay ministry Love In Action (LIA) and also attended Critchon Bible College, both in Memphis, TN. After graduating from LIA, he was hired on as the Outreach Coordinator for a national Christian youth organization called The SALT (Savior's Alliance for lifting the Truth). Following his departure from The SALT, Wade founded StandOut!, a national gay and lesbian youth advocacy organization.
Wade has been featured in the international teen magazine Seventeen, national gay and lesbian newsmagazine The Advocate, as well as the Human Rights Campaign publication of Free at Last. He also has been featured on programs such as ABC's 20/20, Alan Colmes Talk Radio in New York City, Tom Murray's compelling ex-gay documentary Fish Can't Fly, and numerous other media outlets.
Anonymous said "The lies are told by TTF and are as follows:
1. Homosexuality is innate
2. Those who don't believe #1 are hateful
3. Those who experience homosexual feelings can't be truly happy if they resist them
4. They are people who are exclusively homosexual who have no capacity to develop satisfying heterosexual relationships"
1. All the evidence strongly suggests being gay is just as innate as being left or right handed.
2. If you weren't hateful you wouldn't be spending so much time and effort trying to oppress and change gays to your liking.
3. People can't be truly happy suppressing core aspects of their being
4. The studies by Spitzer, Schidlo and Schroeder have shown that it is virtually impossible to change same sex attractions into opposite sex attactions and no gay person owes it to you to attempt to do so just to make you happy.
Anonymous said ""Scripture is man-made."
Not Judeo-Christian scripture.".
All scripture is man-made. Think about it, if a book was written by an omnisicient god wouldn't you expect it to stun and amaze you page after page, to be a thing of incredible beauty and filled with profound knowledge that couldn't be found anywhere else? The bible doesn't read like that at all. Its similar in style and content to all the other false religions, its full of zenophobia, hatred, scientific and geographic mistakes. It reads exactly like one would expect the writings of primitive bronze age tribesmen to read, it is obviously not the work of a god.
Anonymous said "Randi, you keep a contradiction going. On one hand, you believe in "science and reason". On the other, "fairness and equality". Where, however, do you observe fairness and equality in nature? These ideals don't proceed from science. They proceed from a common Creator. Nature's principle is survival of the fittest.".
There's no contradiction between science and reason and fairness and equality, they are overlapping concepts. Science and reason dictate that we work together for fairness and equality. While fairness and equality aren't universal in nature they do exist. We are part of nature and we have fairness and equality. Cooperative species have fairness and equality. Sometimes survival of the fittest means survival of those who express fairness and equality. When individuals have a desire to treat others well that helps all individuals in a group survive, those traits are naturally selected for.
The bible certainly doesn't describe a god that believes in fairness or equality. Any god that would torture the vast majority of humans for the harmless act of not believing in him eternally is anything but fair or equitable.
Anonymous said "show us a place outside countries with a Judeo-Christian heritage where women have any dignity.".
The least religious places are the places where women have the most freedom and dignity. In fundamentalist parts of Israel they are trying to force women to ride on the backs of buses. In fundamentalist Christian societies women are expected to know their place and be subservient to men. Just look at how the "Concerned women for america" is dominated and led by men - even in christian womens organizations women don't have the dignity of speaking up for themselves.
Anonymous said ""Traditional Christians oppress women, "honour" killings are rampant not just in Islamic communities, but fundamentalist Christian ones as well."
Let's see it."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,2763,1512394,00.html
http://www.islamawareness.net/HonourKilling/outside.html
"Honour killing also happens in Christian communities in the Mediterranean and other regions. The culture of Ancient Rome allowed the father to kill his children if he deemed necessary. Honour killing was only abolished as a specific category in Italy in 1981, and murders in the name of honour still occur in the country. In 2006, Bruna Morito was shot six times in the face by her brother for bearing a child outside marriage. In Brazil, men could be acquitted for murdering their wives up until 1991, and there have been 800 recorded such murders in a single year. Even in 1991, a lower court ignored the ruling of the Supreme Court and acquitted Joao Lopes for the double homicide of his wife and her lover. In fact, the opposition of the woman as the vessel of familial honour and the man as its protector was widespread throughout the southern European region, although it is not clear how many murders are committed in the name of honour at the present time."
Anonymous said ""All you want is control over the lives of others"
I could care less what you do. All we discuss here is what should be taught to teens.".
You're lying. If you didn't care who gays loved you wouldn't be constantly pushing the destructive fallacy that gays can and should have hetereosexual relationships. You were just doing that a couple of posts prior to this disingenous statement.
Nice photo of Johnnie Garza in The Blade today.
I have to agree with Randi about Jewish and Christian religious texts. I read the Torah every week in synagogue, often out loud to the entire congregation, and have been doing so for over 40 years. I think I know it pretty well. It is clearly not the work of any god. It has its beautiful, ethical passages and its barbaric, genocidal ones as well. It clearly is not the work of an omniscient creator just based on the archaic scientific and medical beliefs strewn throughout.
Now, no science text is infallible, either, but that's the point -- science is meant to be tweaked and twisted and eventually overthrown and replaced. That's the path of truth. Not those who take a single translation of a document cobbled together from who knows how many other documents and claim that, and that alone, is the word of God.
Oh, and I'd love Dr. Jacobs to find us any "ex-transgenders" besides the delightful Reverend Grace.
Garza definitely needs to lose some weight...
"I have to agree with Randi about Jewish and Christian religious texts. I read the Torah every week in synagogue, often out loud to the entire congregation, and have been doing so for over 40 years. I think I know it pretty well. It is clearly not the work of any god. It has its beautiful, ethical passages and its barbaric, genocidal ones as well. It clearly is not the work of an omniscient creator just based on the archaic scientific and medical beliefs strewn throughout."
And why, Dr, do you continue to read the Torah weekly if you agree with RS's assessment? Does your rabbi know how you feel about what you read?
You should really take the time out to read the gospel of Matthew and Paul's letter to the Romans. I suggested the same to RS who apparently has some ideas that RS doesn't want to be disabused of. Seems all of RS's current biblical comes from passages excerpted in Hitchens and Dawson.
"It clearly is not the work of an omniscient creator"
Did you say why you think this?
You clearly won't understand. Yes, my rabbi knows this. Why do I continue? Because this is my heritage, my history. It's a record from around 2500 years ago, and I can appreciate its significance to my ancestors then, and the impact it has had on civilization.
I also believe we can learn from its horrors as well as its beauties. That's a productive use for our brains; blindly following an authority's interpretation is not.
Anon=HATE, HATE, HATE!!!!!!
Anon from the radical CRC/PFOX fringe said I predict Americans will display their Demophobia in 2008.
Is your prediction based on data or is it like your view of homosexuality, that is, based solely on what you believe?
Here's what's really going on with the electorate as noted on the front page of today's Washington Post:
Virginia May Spurn GOP in '08
Independents Leaning Democratic for President
By Tim Craig and Jennifer Agiesta
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, July 7, 2007; Page A01
Virginia, usually a reliably Republican state in presidential elections, may become a key battleground in the 2008 election as broadly negative views among independents of President Bush and the war in Iraq have altered the presidential race.
Mirroring the national mood, Virginians' approval of Bush and support for U.S. policies in Iraq have eroded as the war has dragged on. Bush is the worst of the past nine presidents, say Virginia's independent voters, who helped him win in 2004 but now say they are more likely to prefer that a Democrat rather than a Republican be the next president.
The revised portrait of the Virginia political landscape emerges from a poll conducted by The Washington Post, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard University.
The poll paid particular attention to independents, about 30 percent of Virginia's adult population. Results offer fresh evidence of a trend in Virginia politics -- that independents have played a critical role in electing Democrats in two consecutive governor's races and in last year's U.S. Senate race.
As Democrats and Republicans gear up for next year, the poll shows that Virginians are nervous about the economy and health care and are frustrated with politics. State residents' anxieties mirror those expressed by voters nationally, challenging the notion that Virginians are at odds with the rest of the country on key issues and giving Democrats an opportunity to win the state's 13 electoral votes...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/06/AR2007070601975.html?hpid=topnews
Anonymous said "Seems all of RS's current biblical comes from passages excerpted in Hitchens and Dawson.".
I assume you mean Hitchens and Dawkins. I've read Dawkings, but not Hitchens and I read the bible many years before that. My bible is full of notes and bookmarks highlighting the immorality of the god character and his pet peoples. That's where I get most of my information about the bible although these two web-sites have been a big help as well.
http://www.evilbible.com/
http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/
"You clearly won't understand. Yes, my rabbi knows this. Why do I continue? Because this is my heritage, my history. It's a record from around 2500 years ago, and I can appreciate its significance to my ancestors then, and the impact it has had on civilization."
Oh, I can understand that. I just didn't know why you said you agree with Randi about Jewish texts since Randi doesn't appreciate its impact and significance.
My point regarding the texts (and there are multiple texts, none of which can be considered authoritative) is that they are representative of Bronze Age peoples, warts and all. Yes, there is some beautiful spirituality and morality visible, but a lot of hate, fear, disgust, misogyny and misanthropy.
By the way, morality has evolved along with everything else, as is evident with our primate cousins and the cetaceans. We really aren't all that special.
Anonymous said "Randi doesn't appreciate its impact and significance.".
Oh, I most certainly do. It has the same impact and significance that thousands of years of belief in the sun god did several thousand years ago. Its the historical nature of religions to be false and they come and go over the millenia with millions of people being devoutly deceived and convinced of the truth of myths. Christianity and Islam will pass just as assuredly did the beliefs in the sun god, zeus, Thor and Apollo. We won't see it in our lifetimes, but it is as inevitable as history repeating itself.
"Oh, I most certainly do. It has the same impact and significance that thousands of years of belief in the sun god did several thousand years ago. Its the historical nature of religions to be false and they come and go over the millenia with millions of people being devoutly deceived and convinced of the truth of myths. Christianity and Islam will pass just as assuredly did the beliefs in the sun god, zeus, Thor and Apollo. We won't see it in our lifetimes, but it is as inevitable as history repeating itself."
One of your problems is you don't read much outside your already settled viewpoint.
Try Alistair McGrath's book, The Twilight of Atheism. He dissects Dawkins' writing very well.
As if you read Dawkins book. Pot, kettle, black.
And I might add that atheism is growing faster than any religion from virtually being non-existant in the 1900s to close to a billion people holding the rational evidence based viewpoint today.
The more highly educated people are the less likely they are to believe in the supernatural, the trend is clear.
"And I might add that atheism is growing faster than any religion from virtually being non-existant in the 1900s to close to a billion people holding the rational evidence based viewpoint today.
The more highly educated people are the less likely they are to believe in the supernatural, the trend is clear."
Randi, did you know that there's a country with over a billion people that has a very nasty government and that that government has made it clear that they would like their citizens to be athiests?
That might tend to skew the results. The population there isn't generally that well-educated either.
Anonymous, what the governement would like and what the people are is too totally different things. Statistics show that the people in that country who aren't highly educated are far more likely to be religious. Only 7% of the members of the Academy of Sciences are religious - think about it.
Yeah and 100% of the few members of NARTH (people who strive to keep gays in the closet) and the Discovery Institute (people who claim supernatural causes for nature) are devoutly religious. Think about that too.
"I live by the golden rule: Treat
others as you'd want them to treat
you. The religious right wants
to tell people how to live."
Source: Jesse Ventura
http://www.people.ubr.com/political/by-first-name/j/jesse-ventura/jesse-ventura-quotes/i-live-by-the-golden.aspx
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