Some Massachusetts elementary schools are observing “Transgender Awareness Week” in a district that bars parents from opting their children out of lessons about gender identity and sexuality.
“November 13th through November 19th is Transgender Awareness Week,” Angiers Elementary Principal Orla Higgins Averill said in an email obtained by The Daily Signal. “This week helps raise the visibility about transgender people and address issues members of the community face.”
The link provided takes parents to the website of GLAAD, a radical LGBTQ activist group that claims so-called gender-affirming care is lifesaving for young people who believe they are transgender.
Angiers Elementary teaches kindergarten through fifth grade as part of Newton Public Schools in Newton, Massachusetts, a predominantly liberal area north of Boston.
Parents whose children are enrolled in Newton Public Schools can’t opt them out of lessons on sexual orientation or gender identity, according to guidance approved in October by the district’s school board, called the Newton School Committee.
“While parents/guardians/caregivers may opt out of the health curriculum specifically related to sexual
reproduction, our commitment to gender and sexuality education remains firm,” the document says. “Our curriculum aligns with state guidelines to promote understanding and inclusion of diverse identities and
orientations.”
A footnote clarifies that parents and guardians legally may exempt their kids from sex education lessons, but this doesn’t include lessons where themes of “sexuality, gender identity, or sexual orientation” are “embedded in the course material or instructional lesson but not the course’s primary subject.”
Newton Public Schools told The Daily Signal the guidance on gender identity is not a policy. The district did not immediately respond to a follow-up question about why that distinction matters.
“Regarding district policy related to sexual education,” the communications office said,........