The judge cited the Supreme Court’s recent decision establishing parents’ right to opt kids out of LGBTQ+ inclusive lessons.
A Boston judge has ruled in favor of a Massachusetts dad who sued his local school district to ensure his five-year-old son is never exposed to books featuring LGBTQ+ characters.
As the Boston Herald reported, the father, identified in court documents as Alan L., is described as a “devout Christian” who objects to the inclusion of certain children’s books featuring LGBTQ+ characters in the kindergarten curriculum of Joseph Estabrook Elementary School, where his son, identified as J.L., is enrolled.
The point isn’t actually to “protect the child from knowing”. The point is to censor school faculty from speaking positively of LGBTQ+ people and to exclusively degrade and slander the community from reactionary media organs.
The kid will absolutely know about LGBTQ+ people, because their minister will give fire and brimstone speeches about how the community is full of sinful and debauched degenerates. The kid will be raised to hate and fear LGBTQ+ people because they will only be shown to him in the most negative light.
This lawsuit guarantees any public employee who contradicts this framing can be legally fired, that they can suffer civil and criminal liabilities that bankrupt them, and that the kid can be used as a weapon to justify this persecution.
I think you’re right.
I grew up in the '80s, and I heard more about “homosexuals” in church than anywhere else. (I also knew far more about abortion than anyone else in my kindergarten class. As an adult, I would say my understanding was not age-appropriate.)
The good news is that the final straw for me losing my faith was going to university and actually meeting openly gay people. They were nothing like I had been taught they would be. And the whole evangelical house of cards came crashing down for me.
I hope other kids in these sorts of households have similar revelations.
these churches mistreat children for their own gain. it’s sickening
I think you are right, and I find the thought of raising someone with the intent to keep them ignorant is gross.
As a teacher, one could not bring up the subject, but one could encourage critical thinking.
If I had the opportunity, but with these constraints I would say:
“How do you know they are bad (or X opinion)? The Church thought Galileio was wrong about the sun being in the center of the solar system, and scientists thout Harlen Bretz’s theory about the Missoula floods sounded too biblical. Anyone can be wrong; so it is important to gather information and decide for yourself.”
And yes, I believe a child would understand the point, even if they don’t get the references.
There’s a very “We Report You Decide” attitude among liberal teachers. And while I don’t object to it on it’s face, I gotta say it feels more and more like bringing a pea shooter to a machine gun fight.
I wouldn’t expect anyone - child or adult - to intuit morality. At some point you just have to hang the rainbow flag and declare your classroom a safe space for transgender kids