Sex-Ed Battle Hits New Turf

The Charles County school board took the unusual step last month of saying that it would not support a curriculum that teaches students about homosexuality or condom use -- even though there are no plans to revise the curriculum.

National surveys show broad support for sex education -- and also for teaching about homosexuality -- as long as it is done in an unbiased manner. A 2004 survey by National Public Radio, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government found that one in four of those surveyed thought it was "inappropriate" to teach about homosexuality. But the survey also found that 52 percent of the respondents said they were comfortable with teachers talking about homosexuality in a neutral way. Educators should teach "only what homosexuality is, without discussing whether it is wrong or acceptable," the survey said.

It was Montgomery County's decision to allow teachers to initiate discussions about homosexuality beginning at the eighth grade that drew fire from some parents, who felt that doing so was tacitly endorsing a lifestyle to which they were opposed. Before the change, teachers could discuss homosexuality only if asked about it by a student .

Ultimately, the school system threw out those plans after CRC and the group Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays sued the school system. Educators are in the process of writing a new program. But school officials said the new curriculum likely will still include discussions about homosexuality. It will be reviewed by a citizen advisory committee and is expected to be completed in the spring.

Groups such as the Alliance Defense Fund have tried to offer programs that highlight their viewpoints. Three years ago, the Arizona-based group unveiled the national Day of Truth to communicate to students "in a loving and peaceful manner that homosexuality is dangerous and wrong,'' Johnson said.

Jim Kennedy, a Montgomery County parent and member of Teachthefacts.org -- a group that supports comprehensive sex education in the county's public schools, including discussions regarding homosexuality -- said it's important for kids to understand what homosexuality is, in part because they may be struggling with issues of sexual identity.

"That kid deserves to know what's happening to them,'' Kennedy said.

But for Turner, the CRC president, there is a larger issue at hand.

"I think the question begs: What are our public schools becoming?'' she asked. "Are they going to be advocates of every politically correct topic that comes along?"