Jul 06, 2007  |  By: JOSHUA LYNSEN  | COMMENTS     

The Maryland State Board of Education announced Tuesday it would allow Montgomery County Public Schools to teach gay-inclusive sex education classes this fall.

State officials said legal challenges to the curriculum, raised by three conservative groups, were unfounded and the curriculum is legal.

“As to the content of the lessons, there may be disparate points of view on whether homosexuality or transgender issues are appropriately included in the curriculum in the way MCPS has chosen to do so,” state officials said in their ruling. “Yet, that decision is a local decision and this board … will not second guess the appropriateness of the local board’s decision governing curriculum, unless, of course, that decision is illegal.”

Nancy Navarro, president of Montgomery County’s school board, welcomed the ruling.

“The state board rejected each and every legal challenge brought by the opponents and determined that there was no valid reason to overturn our decision,” she said. “It is my hope that the litigation in this matter will finally come to an end as we move forward with the lessons that teach that all people deserve to be respected regardless of their sexual orientation.”

Christine Grewell of Teach the Facts, a coalition of curriculum supporters, also hailed the decision.

Grewell said she “would have been utterly surprised if the state board of education had overruled” the local board’s decision, and that “all students will benefit from learning these lessons on tolerance and respect.”

The lessons, titled “Respect for Differences in Human Sexuality,” explain concepts such as sexual identity and orientation using nonjudgmental language.

Students in eighth grade are taught to recognize healthy relationships and how to define human sexuality, gender identity and other terms. Students in 10th grade receive a more robust curriculum, including an examination of topics such as coming out. It also asks students to consider the challenges a transgender student might face.

Students in 10th grade also are taught how to use a condom. No special instructions are given to gay students.

The curriculum represents the district’s second attempt in recent years to rewrite its sex education program.

An earlier rewrite triggered a courtroom showdown in 2005 when conservative groups objected to the new content. To settle the lawsuit, school officials agreed to restart the process.

Revised lessons were tested this spring at schools in Bethesda, Gaithersburg, Rockville and Silver Spring. Curriculum opponents noted an estimated 10 percent of students chose not to participate in the lessons.

Officials last month approved the curriculum for use throughout the district this fall. At that time, officials also decided to let teachers tell students who ask that homosexuality is not a psychiatric disorder or mental illness.

Objections persist

John Garza, an attorney and president of Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, said he was disappointed by the state board’s decision.

“I disagree with their reasoning, but I don’t think it’s completely irrational at all,” he said. “I’m respectful towards their decision.”

Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, Parents & Friends of Gays & Ex-Gays, and Family Leader Network had sought to stop the district from teaching the new lessons by appealing to state officials.

They argued the lessons violated laws protecting free speech and religion. In their petition, they alleged the curriculum violated the Free Exercise of Religion Clause, the Equal Protection Clause and the Maryland Constitution, among other laws.

Garza, during a March 8 meeting of curriculum opponents, said he expected the petition would spur state officials to resolve the dispute in a procedure similar to a court trial.

“This trial could last six weeks or more,” he said then. “There’s going to be 50 witnesses or more that need to be called to the stand.”

But those hopes were dashed, Garza said, when state officials chose to handle the petition legislatively rather than judicially.

In their ruling, state officials noted the curriculum decisions were legal, made by locally elected representatives and could not be properly overturned.

“They said this is the kind of thing that’s not tried,” he said. “This is the kind of thing that should be handled by the voters.”

Garza said curriculum opponents would soon meet to decide whether they would appeal the ruling. The case could be appealed to local or federal courts.

“Quite frankly, I don’t know what our next move is,” he said. “As soon as we’re able to meet and talk, we’ll be able to come up with our plan.”

Regina Griggs, director of Parents & Friends of Gays & Ex-Gays, said Tuesday she had yet to see the ruling and declined to comment on it.