The Attorney General of New York, Letitia James, and the state’s commissioner of education, Betty Rosa, released a joint guidance statement this month, warning schools that it would be illegal to ban inappropriate sexual content.
In the August 9 guidance, the two state officials tell school districts that they can not use “a pretext of inappropriateness or lewdness to systemically remove diverse perspectives from the classroom” because it violates the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHR).
The guidance suggests that the radical gay agenda is sanctioned by state law and warns against “Prohibiting discussions related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, nonbinary and gender expansive people, or diverse family structures and identities using a pretext of inappropriateness or obscenity.”
The guidance seems to say that school district officials cannot remove pornography or explicit sexual materials from schools if the subject matter extols the extreme LGBTQ agenda. This guidance opens up school children of all ages to be subjected to hardcore gay sexual material as a matter of state law.
Indeed, this guidance can be said to be mandating that the youngest of school children should be exposed to such pornographic material.
The guidance also notes that banning transgender “girls” from sports or from using the girls’ bathroom and locker room facilities is illegal, saying it is against the law to “Prohibit a person from participating in a particular extracurricular program or using a particular facility because they do not conform to gender stereotypes.”
Along those same lines, the guidance adds that “Prohibiting a transgender, gender expansive, or nonbinary person from using the single-gender extracurricular program or facility most closely aligned with their gender identity” is also illegal.
The two state officials even declare that it is unlawful to require transgender people to provide proof from a physician that they are legitimately being treated for gender issues.
Schools are barred from “Requiring a gender expansive or non-binary person to provide identification or proof of their gender in order to access the appropriate single-gender extracurricular program or facility,” the guidance insisted.
Finally, the guidance also dismisses the concerns of biological girls who might be worried that they will be forced to undress and use facilities in which males may be seen walking around nude or in various states of undress.
Schools are prohibited from “Barring a gender expansive student from a single-gender extracurricular program out of concern that they will make other students uncomfortable,” the document says.
Ultimately, the guidance warns teachers, staffers, and school district personnel that they must “affirm” a student’s claims to being transgender, gay, or a member of any of the “protected classes.”
The guidance concludes:
Failure to adequately address instances and patterns of harassment against students based on protected classes or a school environment that becomes hostile towards a protected class may violate state, federal, or local law.32 Further, denying equal access to student groups that affirm student identities or address prejudice related to these identities may also violate federal law.33 Teachers and other school staff who interact with students and affirm students’ identities, including racial and ethnic identities, gender and gender expressions, and lesbian, gay, bisexual transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual identities play an important role in fostering school belonging and helping students feel welcome.34 If teachers or other school staff know of discrimination in their school or school district based on a protected class, they may report such discrimination to their supervisor or to agencies charged with remedying that discrimination. Reporters may receive protection from retaliation based on applicable law.
If Letitia James and Betty Rosa are correct in their proclamations, New York State law now enshrines transgenderism as a “protected class” with no proof and no doctor’s certification and demands that everyone else bow to the transgender agenda.
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