K-8 Sexual Health Education Forum: LSC Transcript

K-8 Sexual Health Education Forum: LSC Transcript

Moderators: David Bullion, Superintendent of Schools; Alison Strauss, Director of K-8 Science Education; Theresa Glug, LSC President

Glug: Welcome everyone to this evening’s LSC meeting to discuss our K-8 sexual health education curriculum. As your local school council representative, it’s my honor and privilege to host this forum, where you can learn more about our planned sexual health module for the spring semester and discuss any issues and/or concerns you may have as parents. Given the extreme importance of this topic for families, I’m also pleased to have with me Mr. Dave Bullion, our superintendent of schools, and Dr. Alison Strauss, our director of science education. They will be more than happy to answer any questions that are too difficult for me [laughs].

Lastly, before we get started, I want to reiterate two things. First, the school board continues to acknowledge that parents or guardians are the primary sexuality educators for their children. And second, parents may choose to opt their children out of our sexual health education curriculum at any time without repercussion. Again, if you don’t feel comfortable with your child or children participating in sexual health education, you are free to opt out by providing a written request. With that, let’s open up the session for Q&A.

Unknown participant: My name is Bill Munroe, and I’ve just got one question. Why is it that my daughter has to learn about the ‘science’ of her private parts, but she can’t stand for the pledge of allegiance no more, because you people banned it! [crowd groans]

Glug: Thanks for the question, Mr. Munroe. I want to be crystal clear on this once more. There is no requirement saying your daughter has to participate in sexual health education. You may opt her out if you send a written request to your homeroom teacher. Dave, would you like to tackle the second part of the question?

Bullion: Oh, uh, sure. Thanks for your attendance tonight, Mr. Munroe. It’s passionate parents like you that really make our school community such a special place. To answer your question regarding the pledge of allegiance, I also want to be crystal clear: it has not been banned. In fact, in our state, and at the federal level, there are no existing laws either requiring or banning the performance of the pledge of allegiance in schools. The reality is, it used to be a popular tradition that, as time has gone on, has become more politically sensitive and polarizing. So again, in the strictest sense, the pledge of allegiance has not been banned in our school. More like, retired.

Munroe: Is that because of your Critical Racist Theory propaganda? I’ve read about the white genocide that’s taking place in this country. It’s called replacement theory. The real patriots in this country know what you people are up to! [crowd rumbles]

Unknown participant: Get off the stage!

Unknown participant: I thought we were here to talk about sex ed!

Munroe: We’re here to talk about the goddamned desecration of this goddamned country!

Glug: Please, everyone remain calm. Remain calm everyone, please.

Bullion: Please everyone, calm down. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Munroe, Critical Race Theory is not a component of our K-8 curriculum. The focus of tonight’s meeting is sexual health education. As Theresa mentioned, you’re welcome to have your daughter excused from participation in our sexual health education module if you so desire.

And I’d just like to add. As your superintendent, I truly appreciate the difficulty parents like you face in these challenging and polarizing times. But rest assured, as educators, we’re striving the very best we can to provide neutral, science-based information to your children.

Munroe: Like all that transexual nonsense? [crowd sighs]

Strauss: The correct term is transgender, Mr. Munroe.

Munroe: And boys peeing in the girls’ bathroom and beating them in sports? That ain’t fair, you know! That ain’t right!

Strauss: Mr. Munroe, in the module, students will be introduced to the concepts of biological sex as well as gender, how they interrelate, and how both constructions are part of a complex spectrum that’s constantly changing and evolving, along with the rest of our society.

Munroe: Gender ain’t no spectrum! I got a pecker, therefore I’m a man! If you ain’t got no pecker, you ain’t no man. Simple!

Strauss: Actually, Mr. Munroe, that’s not remotely correct.

Munroe: But you people gotta make everything crazy. [crowd shouting]

Unknown participant: Fuck off, fascist!

Unknown participant: No more masks in school!

Munroe: The other day, I got an email saying my daughter couldn’t come to school because she was a ‘close contact’ to somebody with the Wuhan virus. The email said ‘they’ had to stay home for five days because ‘they’ didn’t get the Soros vaccine. My daughter is a beautiful, Christ-loving, God-fearing, young woman. She ain’t a they! She’s a she! [crowd erupting]

Unknown participant: Fuck the patriarchy!

Unknown participant: Abstinence only!

Glug: Okay everyone, everyone please calm down. There’s no need for shouting. Please everyone, let’s keep things civil. Thank you for your questions, Mr. Munroe. At this point let’s please continue this discussion offline so that others may participate in tonight’s forum.

Alright, well then, I want to remind everyone that the focus of tonight’s discussion is our K-8 sexual heath curriculum. Please keep your questions relevant to tonight’s topic. Okay, we have another participant. Please state your name first, then ask your question.

Unknown participant: Hi, my name is Mary Margaret O’Connell. I’m the mother of seven children, five of which are currently enrolled in the district. Well, I was raised Catholic and –

Unknown participant: Obviously.

Glug: Please, please, that’s not necessary.

O’Connell: Okay, well, anyway, I want my children to learn that, when it comes to sex, abstinence is the best choice. And I don’t want them learning about contraception. Or STDs. Or AIDS. Or anything like that.

Strauss: Thanks for expressing your concerns, Ms. O’Connell. We understand that each family’s religious beliefs are extremely important to them, and that sometimes those beliefs don’t neatly align with our curricula. Again, you are the primary sexuality educator for your children, and we will only provide fact-based information to supplement your at-home teachings.

O’Connell: Thank you, Dr. Strauss. But I don’t think you quite understood my question. I don’t want my children leaning about any of that stuff. At all.

Glug: Excuse me, Ms. O’Connell, if I may. Might I suggest you consider opting your children out of sexual health education then? Remember, there’s no penalty for doing so.

O’Connell: Okay, that’s fine. But my concern is, you’re still going to teach it to the other kids. And then they’re going to teach it to my kids. So, the only way for me to be the ‘primary sexualizer’ for my kids, is if you don’t teach them anything at all. Do you understand?

Bullion: You raise a fair point, Ms. O’Connell. How about you and I have a one-on-one discussion after the forum?

O’Connell: Very well. Thank you, Mr. Bullion.

Glug: Okay, well, I think we have time for one more question then.

Unknown participant: Hi, my name is Courtney Rose Dempster-McKinnon, and my daughter is in the seventh grade. What I want to know is, are we going to teach our girls how to love and cherish their bodies? And how to embrace their femininity and sexuality in an empowering way? Free from the male gaze? And from the societal expectations that women are only allowed be sexual when it pleases men? [crowd gasps]

Glug: Uh, Dr. Strauss, perhaps you’re most qualified to answer this one?

Strauss: Hi, Ms. Dempster-McKinnon. You raise a very important point. In past years sexual health education in this country has given women’s bodies short shrift. The focus was mostly on men, who, let’s be honest, aren’t that complicated. They hit puberty, get hairy, stink like a wet dog’s ass, and then constantly get boners and hump everything in sight.

Our curriculum aims to rectify that prior imbalance by educating girls, when age appropriate, about crucially overlooked aspects of their own biology, including things like their menstrual cycle, how to use contraception and practice safe sex, and how to avoid ruining their lives by getting pregnant in high school and becoming ill-prepared, abusive mothers. Like my mom.

Dempster-McKinnon: Okay, that’s so great to hear! And how much will the curriculum encourage girls to embrace hot, steaming, raw, dirty sex? And see it as something joyous and beautiful to be celebrated? Like, my daughter and I watched the WAP video when it first came out, and she loved it. And now she’s super excited about being penetrated one day and experiencing the intense physical pleasure afforded by the magnificence of the female orgasm, which our puritanical forefathers, who opted instead for misogyny, violence, guns, and deprivation, tried to beat out of us. [crowd shouting]

Unknown participant: Whore!

Unknown participant: Abstinence only!

Unknown participant: Y’all motherfuckers is crazy.

Glug: Please, everyone, please! Settle down.

Strauss: Well, again, as the primary sexuality educator for you children, it’s certainly within your right to discuss the benefits of sexual intercourse with your daughter as you see fit. Theresa, Dave, anything to add?

Bullion: Nope, and I think that’s the perfect place for us to end. Well, I just want to thank everyone again for such a lively, spirited discussion. It’s events like these that really bring us together and forge the type of community that’s welcoming and inclusive for all of our children.

Glug: Agreed. Thanks again, everyone. Enjoy the rest of your evening.

Unknown participant: Godless slut!

Unknown participant: Nazi!