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Thievie t1_iu271ra wrote

Reply to comment by Kabloosh75 in Pro-LGBTQ+ PAC Targets Penn. Republican Candidates Oz and Mastriano by wdcmsnbcgay

When do you think kids start going through puberty? Especially girls? We were given "the talk" in elementary school and we absolutely would've been fine if there was any discussion of gender or orientation as well. If you can handle being told "you're going to start to grow boobs and pubic hair and bleeding out of your vagina", you're old enough to be to be told "it's ok if you have a crush on the same sex, there's nothing wrong with you and don't let anyone tell you otherwise".

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Kabloosh75 t1_iu2cdes wrote

Yeah ok. Kids go through puberty around 11-14. That's more or less middle school. If it's that important to teach your kids this kind of information then as a parent you have all the right to. It's just you can't be relying on the state to do it for you through public education.

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Thievie t1_iu2drop wrote

As in my case, it's very common for kids to be educated about puberty BEFORE it happens, so late elementary school.

Also the LGBT school debate isn't about whether teachers should be required to teach children about sexual/romantic orientation and gender. It's become about whether they're ALLOWED to at all. And I see literally no valid reason why not. Teachers are not corrupting children's minds. Thanks to social media, kids are learning about sexual topics, identity topics, etc younger and younger. There are 10 y.o. kids out there experiencing romantic attraction, learning about sex acts, exploring gender and sexual identity, etc whether they're too young to or not. Better that they be more educated, more safe, and less confused.

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Kabloosh75 t1_iu2hylb wrote

Well I don't see how talking about sex in anything but a sex education class should ever be a thing.

Well, smart parents should be cognizant of what their kids are consuming and not just through the education system. Again, this isn't something the state should be responsible for.

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Thievie t1_iu2mbpa wrote

Teachers don't talk about sex in any class other than sex ed. Sexual orientation includes both romantic and "sexual" attraction and therefore you can absolutely talk about sexual orientation, gender identity, etc without talking about sex. Conversations like "you're allowed to have a crush on someone the same gender as you" or "sometimes people have two dads" or "Billy wants you to call her Tammy now" have nothing to do with sex.

Again, no one is saying teachers NEED to discuss these things. Just that they should be allowed to. And it goes beyond teachers. "Don't say gay" bills would ban library books, restrict counselors, and enforce censorship filters, taking away resources from kids who WANT to learn more about why they are the way they are. And I think that's cruel.

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jdi000 t1_iu6l9cb wrote

Family's reserve the right to teach their own kids about such matters, I don't prefer my kids learning this from social media or school but at home.

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Thievie t1_iu6nmm5 wrote

Says who? You could say that about any subject.

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jdi000 t1_iu6o9z2 wrote

Yes not what I want schools teaching

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Thievie t1_iu6qacs wrote

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.

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jdi000 t1_iu6qyl5 wrote

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.

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Thievie t1_iu6vi0b wrote

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.

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