Democrat Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey drafted a proposal to overhaul physical and sexual education in public schools in the state — a framework which includes “gender identity” discussions with students as young as third grade, as well as talks of same-sex relationships and “gender-role stereotypes” with preschoolers.
The Board of Education and Secondary Education met on Tuesday to begin the public comment period for the proposal for public school physical and sexual education, which has not been updated in the state since 1999, CBS News Boston reported. Healey drafted the proposal, meaning the plan does not need the approval of the state legislature to go into effect.
The 46-page proposal — which has review panelists from the pro-transgender Boston Children’s Hospital and Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts — is broken down by age category, and includes some form of gender identity and sexual orientation instruction for students in Pre-K though 12th grade. The Pre-K-2nd grade part of the proposal recommends instructors “discuss gender-role stereotypes and their potential impacts on people of all genders” and “demonstrate empathy and ways to treat all people with dignity and respect.”
The part of the proposal for this age group also recommends instructors “demonstrate awareness of, and ways to show respect for, all types of families (e.g., families with heterosexual parents, families with same-gender parents, single parent families, intergenerational families, adoptive families, foster families).”
The part of the proposal aimed at young students in grades 3-5 dials up its recommendations for discussions about “gender identity,” which is the made-up concept that people can bend biological reality and identify with a different sex than what they were born as.
Public Comment Draft for MA Sex-Ed Plan by Breitbart News on Scribd
“Describe the differences between biological sex and gender identity, and explain how one’s outward behavior or appearance does not define one’s gender identity or sexual orientation,” the proposal reads under the section Standards — Grads 3-5.”
“Describe a range of ways people may express their gender and that some people’s gender identity (how they think about themselves) matches others’ expectations about what their bodies look like on the outside and others do not,” the proposal continues. “Explain how gender identity and sexual orientation can vary in each individual.”
The proposal further recommends teaching students in grades 3-5 to “identify characteristics of valid health information, products, and services related to human sexual and reproductive anatomy, puberty, and personal hygiene,” as well as “[l]ocate resources from home, school, and community that provide medically accurate sources of information about human sexual and reproductive anatomy, puberty, and personal hygiene.”
In grades 3-5, students would also be given the definition of sexual intercourse and “the range of ways pregnancy can occur” and would be shown “ways to treat people of all gender identities, gender expressions, and sexual orientations…with dignity, respect, and empathy.”
The part of the proposal for middle schoolers, grades 6-8, recommends instructors examine how family, personal values and beliefs, as well as media and cultural and societal norms impact views of gender identity and sexual behavior. Instructors are also advised to “explain how assigned sex, gender identity, and gender expression are distinct concepts and how they interact with each other.”
“Explain three dimensions of sexual orientation (i.e., identity, attraction, and behavior) and how they are all a part of an individual’s sexual orientation that may or may not align with each other,” the proposal reads. “Explain that attractions can be romantic, emotional, and/or sexual to an individual of the same gender and/or a different gender(s) and that attractions can change over time.”
The proposal outlines how middle schoolers should be able to access so-called “credible sources” of “information about gender identity” and that they should be able to “[i]dentify parents, guardians, or other supportive, trusted adults to whom students can ask questions about gender, gender-role stereotypes, gender identity, and sexual orientation and demonstrate strategies for engaging in these conversations.”
The section for middle schoolers additionally focuses on how these students should respond positively to people who have different views of sexuality and gender than they do, and encourages instructors to “[i]dentify behaviors, policies and practices in the school community that promote or hinder dignity and respect for all individuals, including those of different sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expression.”
The part of the proposal for high schoolers, grades 9-12, intensifies the call for tolerating all sexualities and gender identities.
“Discuss how to foster empathy, inclusiveness, and respect around issues related to sexuality (such as sexual activity, sexual abstinence, sexual orientation), gender expression, and gender identity,” the proposal reads. “…Analyze a variety of internal and external influences (e.g., peers, media, family, society, community, culture) on a person’s attitudes, beliefs, and expectations about sexual behavior and identity…Determine the role of personal views about gender, sexual identity, and sexual health on choices and behaviors.”
The Board of Education and Secondary Education voted to open the public comment period for the sex-ed proposal for 60 days, according to CBS News Boston. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is taking feedback via mail and email. Following the public comment period, the board will vote on whether to send the recommendations to the governor’s desk for a signature.