all-encompassingly

In Montgomery County, Maryland, there is a new program (although the old one wasn’t spectacular either) for the “health” curriculum. When I was in high school it was basically sex-ed with some talk about drugs and depression as bookends. And this stuff goes way beyond practicing with Trojans and bananas.

From the an American Family Association email:

In one lesson, a boy begins to wear dresses to school, calls himself “Portia,” and wants to be known as a girl. The lesson refers to “Portia” as a “she” when the law and biology classify “her” as a “he.” The principal gives this boy a key to a private restroom and a new student ID identifying him as a girl. The lesson implies that schools should create new unisex bathrooms for cross-dressing students instead of directing students to professional counselors for gender confusion. What the lessons should tell students is that the American Psychiatric Association classifies transgenderism as a gender identity disorder.

Having followed this issue closely, I can say that the “health” curriculum in Montgomery County is as bad as what the AFA claims. In fact, probably worse. Much of this is thanks to the interesting character who helps runs the county’s health curriculum Barbara Pearlman.

Here are a couple things the AFA suggests doing:

- Call the Maryland Board of Education at 410-767-0467 or email them at stateboard@msde.state.md.us. Your message can be as simple as “Please Stop the Montgomery County Board of Education’s New Sex-ed Health Curriculum”.

- Email the Maryland State Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Nancy S. Grasmick at ngrasmick@msde.state.md.us