A public school committee composed of three transgender advocates is slated to recommend that a Virginia public school district include gender identity in sex education curricula beginning in fourth grade, according to a copy of the recommendations obtained by the Daily Caller.
The Family Life Education Curriculum Advisory Committee plans to recommend that the Fairfax County Public School Board include “gender identity in elementary [Family Life Education]” programming and develop “inclusive curriculum” for sex education for all students during the 2022-2023 school year. The committee specifically called for the “inclusion of the gender spectrum in the elementary” and 10th-grade curricula, according to the recommendations draft.
“The committee recommends the addition of gender to the objective [of a grade 10 lesson plan] to clarify that both sexuality and gender are currently included in the lesson instruction,” the draft reads.
The board also recommends that the school district adopt “gender combined instruction” for sex education lessons on “human growth and development” beginning in fourth grade. Gendered health classes reportedly affirm a “rigid binary based on anatomy,” according to the draft.
“When students are separated by boys and girls, it affirms a rigid binary based on anatomy,” the draft reads. “The practice of segregating students by gender is not inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, intersex, and gender diverse students.”
The same draft states that it “is plausible that some students would be more comfortable in a gender segregated class.”
Several parents told the Daily Caller they do not believe that combined sexual education classes are appropriate for young children. D.O. Jackson, a mother in Fairfax County, said she thought updating the curriculum “seems very agenda ridden.”
“This is a delicate topic and can quickly become inappropriate when middle school boys are in a room with girls,” Jackson said. “Most of the planet is not bothered by what people do in their own private lives. But pushing kids into adults’ private lifestyles is irresponsible.”
Another mother, Debra Tisler, told the Daily Caller that she believes that an updated gender identity curriculum “does not take into consideration the religious, ethnic, or cultural beliefs of all children” and parents.
“It’s developmentally inappropriate and does not take into account the age and maturity levels of the children,” Tisler said. “It’s very dangerous and unethical to implement [a] curriculum that does not account for that.” (RELATED: Fairfax County Public Schools May Suspend Students Who ‘Misgender’ Peers, Engage In ‘Hate Speech’)
One father, James Wallwork, alleged to the Daily Caller that the committee is “trying to sneak changes through” and not being “forthright about what they are trying to do.” He stated that three voting members are transgender activists that belong to the Transgender Education Association, making him wonder whether the recommendations are being made by individuals who are ideologically driven.
“I don’t think it is public knowledge [what] the impact that this advisory panel has on FLE curriculum. In addition to that … the committee is all pointed by school board members and three of them have chosen to appoint members of a local transgender advocacy group,” Wallwork said.
Voting members of the committee also in a transgender activist organization include Willow Woycke, Amber Beichler, and Chaiya Mohanty Ortiz. The three sit on the committee with 29 other voting members and six non-voting members, according to the draft.
The committee was slated to present their recommendations to the school board on May 24, according to a previous agenda posted on Fairfax County Public School Board’s website. A Fairfax County Public Schools spokeswoman told the Daily Caller that a new date has not yet been determined.