Sex-Ed Lessons Revised For Vote

Teachers Could Answer Questions On Homosexuality

Montgomery County sex education teachers would be allowed to tell students who ask that homosexuality is not a mental illness under a last-minute change to new lessons that go to the school board today for a politically charged vote.

Superintendent Jerry D. Weast informed school board members in a memo yesterday of a one-sentence addition to the lessons, which are proposed for all eighth- and 10th-grade health classes in the fall. The lessons were field-tested at six schools this spring.

The extra sentence could be key to preserving the support of the board. Board members have faced mounting pressure from an advisory committee -- made up of parents, educators and representatives of various constituencies -- to bolster the lessons with statements that counter misconceptions about homosexuality. A closely divided board rejected adding such language to the teaching materials in January, when they were approved as a pilot.

"If students ask the question, they're entitled to an answer," said board member Patricia O'Neill, who had planned today to propose adding similar language.

The lessons -- drafted, struck down and rewritten during five contentious years -- represent Montgomery's first countywide attempt to broach homosexuality in sex education. An alliance of citizen groups opposed to the lessons on moral grounds has appealed to the Maryland State Board of Education, which is expected to rule this summer. Another segment of the community, including much of the school board's advisory committee, felt the lessons didn't offer enough information to answer student questions about homosexuality.

In a memo to Weast dated Friday, the advisory committee asked Weast to reconsider adding five statements to the lessons: that fleeting same-sex attraction does not equate homosexuality; that homosexuality is neither a disease nor a mental illness; that it is not a choice; that homosexuals can live happy lives and be successful parents; and that children raised by same-sex couples do "just as well" as those who are not.

Weast and his staff rejected most of the additions, reasoning that the lessons already contained more than enough material for two 45-minute classroom sessions. But Weast said it seemed acceptable to provide "appropriate guidance to teachers" should students ask whether homosexuality is an illness. Variations on that question were asked during field tests, and teachers reported they were uncertain whether to answer them. Under current language, teachers are instructed in most cases to refer student questions to a "trusted adult."