1) Family structures differ
2) GLBTQ people exist
3) Gay bashing is wrong.

Would you characterize these statements as controversial enough to derail a school district's entire education plan?  If you answered yes, then you have a pretty good read on the climate in Helena, Montana.  The Associated Press has the story:

The proposed 62-page document covers a broad health and nutrition education program and took two years to draft. But it is the small portion dealing with sexual education that has drawn the ire of many in the community who feel it is being pushed forward despite its obvious controversial nature.

Parents appeared most worried about pieces of the plan that teaches first-graders about same-gender relationships, fifth-graders that sexual intercourse includes "vaginal, oral, or anal penetration," and high school students about erotic art. The curriculum would also teach kindergartners anatomical terms such as penis, vagina, breast, nipples, testicles, scrotum and uterus. 

First of all, don't be fooled by claims that they are teaching your five year old about BJ's!  or whatever.  “Sex education” in the early grades consists of age-appropriate things like learning about good and bad touches and how to avoid sexual predators and learning the names of body parts, as well as beginning to develop relationship skills like self-esteem, good communication, and assertiveness.   It’s building the framework so that when a child is old enough to hear about actual sexual acts, STDs, pregnancy, consequences, etc, they’re incorporating that information with the relationship and communication skills they’ve already been taught.

Fifth graders would learn about sexual acts in the context of safety and consensuality; it might sound young, but since there were 14,000 cases of chlamydia among those aged 10-14 in 2008, can one really object? As for "erotic images," let's consider the increasingly hige and troubling role pornography plays in the lives of teens.  Don't "images" merit SOME discussion?

Read the standards for yourself here and while you're at it, observe for yourself the emphasis on abstinence.

But what I, and believe me what they, really want to talk about is Gay Stuff.

The Associated Press article mentions it three times in 500 words: the excerpt above and these two quotes:

A proposed sex education program that teaches fifth-graders the different ways people have intercourse and first-graders about gay love has infuriated parents and forced the school board to take a closer look at the issue....

"They made this more controversial by adding in all this stuff like same-gender relationships to small children, ..." Mikal Wilkerson, who has five children in the school system and a husband who sits on the school board, said Wednesday in an interview.

That's also the aspect conservatives are highlighting; see:  Hannity  and O'Reilly.

Hannity even provides a helpful infographic:



Again, that's the source of the controversy, folks, this is the information so outrageous that Hannity has to employ Power Point to fully convey the horror. 1) Understand that family structures differ  2) Understand that gays exist  3) Understand that gay bashing is wrong.   

I have to say it gives me a lot of feelings when I hear parents and anti-sex education activists objecting to their children learning that I exist, much less objecting to them learning it's wrong to gay bash me.

But my feelings aside, the fact is I do exist!  I do, my WIFE does, millions of GLBTQ people around the world do, including some in Helena, Montana.  How is it wrong to inform a child that a type of person exists?  How is it right to hide that knowledge from a child, or teach them to be accepting of the diverse types of people they will meet in their lives?

Hannity's guest throws around the morality/legality issue, but again, regardless of others' "morals" and regardless of the law, GAY PEOPLE EXIST!   Some parents of children are same-sex parents.  Some students in every school district, including Helena, Montana, grow up to be GLBTQ.  Just like the tone of the Hannity and O'Reilly segments, to deny these people the right to be acknowledged as full equals in society, or really just people in society, is cruel and bullying. 

Children shouldn't be taught to stigmatize GLBTQ people.  They shouldn't be taught to fear and loathe their fellow students   - or themselves.  Removing these lessons from the curricula inflicts harm on GLBTQ and heterosexual students alike. 

If you live in Helena, please, please contact the Board of Education and tell them you support this curriculum.