On its blog, the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) has an item about a California class which teaches children about gender diversity:
The blog post then shows a video of the lesson and ends with:
Now let's be clear here. We all know why NOM chose to push this item. The organization is implying that marriage equality will confuse children, i.e. making them think that "gender doesn't matter."
It's yet another way the organization is seeking to scare people into voting against marriage equality.
And like all of its other tactics, this one by NOM is blatantly dishonest.
While seeking to attack people's visual senses by showing the video, NOM omits (maybe intentionally, maybe not intentionally) two pertinent facts which destroys the organization's horror story:
1. The children who took part in this lesson were not required to. According to the article, all parents were informed of the lesson plan beforehand and were able to opt their children out of it if they chose to do so. So this was case of parents still having control over what is being taught to their children.
2. These lessons had nothing to do with marriage equality but the issues of gender identity and bullying. Whether the religious right wants to adhere to the fact or not, the issues of gender identity are becoming more widely known and some parents are finding that they have to deal with this issue.
Both of these facts are relatively easy to find because they are contained in the Fox News story which NOM referred to but chose not link to.
And as I asked before, what's so wrong with talking about this issue to children in a reasonable manner? Children aren't porcelain or glass. And they won't remain children forever. Teaching a child respect and understanding at an early age is hardly a bad idea.
But the fact of the matter here is not what the lessons teach. It's the fact that in spite of all of its talk about having an intelligent conversation on the pros (and mostly cons) of marriage equality, NOM has no problem calling on the gay boogeyman lie yet again.
Video: Coming to a Public School Near YOU?
Fox News covered a class full of kindergartners in California being taught that you can feel like a girl, feel like a boy, feel like both, or feel like neither.
Watch it and tell us what you think:
The blog post then shows a video of the lesson and ends with:
The group brought in to teach children these lessons (allegedly to prevent bullying) is called Gender Spectrum.
"People can be girls, feel like girls, they can feel like boys, they can feel like both, and they can even feel, like I said, kinda like neither."
Now let's be clear here. We all know why NOM chose to push this item. The organization is implying that marriage equality will confuse children, i.e. making them think that "gender doesn't matter."
It's yet another way the organization is seeking to scare people into voting against marriage equality.
And like all of its other tactics, this one by NOM is blatantly dishonest.
While seeking to attack people's visual senses by showing the video, NOM omits (maybe intentionally, maybe not intentionally) two pertinent facts which destroys the organization's horror story:
1. The children who took part in this lesson were not required to. According to the article, all parents were informed of the lesson plan beforehand and were able to opt their children out of it if they chose to do so. So this was case of parents still having control over what is being taught to their children.
2. These lessons had nothing to do with marriage equality but the issues of gender identity and bullying. Whether the religious right wants to adhere to the fact or not, the issues of gender identity are becoming more widely known and some parents are finding that they have to deal with this issue.
Both of these facts are relatively easy to find because they are contained in the Fox News story which NOM referred to but chose not link to.
And as I asked before, what's so wrong with talking about this issue to children in a reasonable manner? Children aren't porcelain or glass. And they won't remain children forever. Teaching a child respect and understanding at an early age is hardly a bad idea.
But the fact of the matter here is not what the lessons teach. It's the fact that in spite of all of its talk about having an intelligent conversation on the pros (and mostly cons) of marriage equality, NOM has no problem calling on the gay boogeyman lie yet again.
Wait...but I thought Prop 8 in CA was going to fix all of that!
ReplyDeleteNOM is intellectually dishonest and not sticking to the subject at hand -- namely marriage. What do children have to do with a civil contract between two consenting adults? ABSOFUCKINLUTELY NOTHING. This is a red herring meant to instill fear in the hearts of our neighbors with out honestly addressing marriage equality at all.
ReplyDeleteAlvin, I see they actually let you post a comment but you missed something important. NOM's biggest lie was so big, and so audacious, that you didn't even see it. (Watch their Youtube videa again: don't the kids seem a bit old to be "kindergartners"?) It's bad enough that they claim the kids are being taught "without parental consent" (which the news segment doesn't address at all). But NOM has to take their lie to another level entirely: on their blog post they say "Fox News covered a class full of kindergartners in California being taught that you can feel like a girl, feel like a boy, feel like both, or feel like neither" and on their Youtube page they caption the video with "Public School Teaches Kindergarteners There Are Multiple Genders Without Parental Consent". Here's the thing: not only are kindergartners NOT being taught these things, but despite NOM's claim the kids in the news segment are NOT KINDERGARTNERS AT ALL. The news piece initially refers to them as "elementary school kids" but later (0:40) identifies them as FOURTH GRADERS. That's right, the kids are not kindergartners as NOM is claiming and even THEIR OWN YOUTUBE VIDEO shows them for the liars they are. Either they think their followers are too stupid or too lazy to watch the video for themselves, or they're starting to believe their own pants-on-fire talking points.
ReplyDeleteLOL. John B.
ReplyDeleteI don't think NOM is going to let me comment on its blog again. I caught the group slipping this weekend and took advantage - in a polite way of course. LOL