jdi000 t1_iu6o9z2 wrote on October 28, 2022 at 11:25 PM

Reply to comment by Thievie in Pro-LGBTQ+ PAC Targets Penn. Republican Candidates Oz and Mastriano by wdcmsnbcgay

Yes not what I want schools teaching

Thievie t1_iu6qacs wrote on October 28, 2022 at 11:42 PM

I find that to be a narrow minded point of view. It is up to schools to prepare children for life in a functioning society. A society in which LGBT people exist. They learn about money in math class, love in literature, race in history class, and sex in sex ed. Why should orientation or identity be any different? It seems like a very natural thing to learn in something like a social studies class.

jdi000 t1_iu6qyl5 wrote on October 28, 2022 at 11:47 PM

It's not narrow-minded it's a choice, sex ed is elected at a lot of schools and parents can opt out. I am not sure why this needs taught at school? Orientation is a choice of the individual and identity has no impact on learning the standard education curriculum. No one needs to identify or discuss their orientation at school. Since religion is separated from education, these other things should be left separate too.

Thievie t1_iu6vi0b wrote on October 29, 2022 at 12:25 AM

I think you are conflating teaching with discussion. There is no "sexual orientation 101" class. However, LGBT people exist and therefore students might have classmates that raise questions, or the class might want to read a book that features a gay character. Under "don't say gay" laws, none of this would be allowed to be discussed. Neither would many historical topics revolving around civil rights. This severely limits perspectives and harms teaching possibilities, not to mention removes valuable resources from children that might need it the most.

Also, I learned about many religions in public school. School shouldn't tell you which way is the "right" way to be, but it should educate students that there are many people of many different religions out there, and explore the historical and cultural significance of them. Discussion of LGBT topics should be the exact same way.