There are basically two opposing world views with some variation regarding sexuality.
One view: One’s core identity is based on relationship with the creator, and sexual expression is to be enjoyed and protected between a man and woman in marriage as the creator designed.
Another view: One’s core identity is as a sexual being and sexuality is to be expressed however one feels, and others are expected to validate this.
I hope we all agree that every student, including LGBTQ students, deserves to be treated with kindness and respect, and everyone has a right to their own world view and should not be bullied for it.
For schools to legitimately be “welcoming” and “safe” they cannot promote one world view over the other. However, Superintendent [Joseph] Barrow has done that by choosing Welcoming Schools (“creating LGBTQ inclusive ELEMENTARY schools”) which is part of The Human Rights Campaign (“the largest LGBTQ advocacy group … We’re not giving up or giving in, and we are fighting harder than ever before.”)
Our K-5 children will be told gender is “how you feel.” From the lesson plans: “You’re a boy because when you were born a doctor saw your body and said you were a boy but you couldn’t talk and say how you feel so maybe you’re a boy, a girl, or neither.”
He is disregarding the students and families with a different world view, which adds to a culture of bullying. A resident publicly shamed a man who does not agree with the LGBTQ training: “The man on the front page needs to hang his head in shame.”
No matter how kind or thoughtful one is, if they don’t agree, they are shamed, called “homophobes” or worse.
Instead, Superintendent Barrow should focus on producing critical thinkers: Kids who learn that it’s OK to believe differently, who recognize differences and learn to work alongside those with different beliefs in a diverse world, who recognize that each person is valuable and must be treated with kindness and respect regardless of their beliefs.
This, along with strict enforcement of anti-bullying policies, will truly make our schools welcoming and safe. You cannot achieve this by expecting students to validate lifestyles that violate their beliefs.
We all want every student in Fayette County schools to feel included, and that is only possible without promoting one particular world view. I proposed to Barrow to obtain parental permission for any gender/sexuality topics at school.
Both views would be respected without promoting one over the other, and it would give parents the choice about controversial sexual issues being discussed with their children.
We don’t have to agree with each other, but we must in kindness respect each other for the sake of the children.
Kevin Grill
Fayetteville, Ga.
