A recent wave of bills requiring public schools to teach students about the historical contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender people has made its way to Illinois, which recently joined California, Colorado, New Jersey, and Oregon, in enacting such a mandate. These lessons might sound innocuous enough, but even as a gay man, I think they’re actually an affront to our freedoms.
The agenda here is pretty blatant: Liberal legislatures and educators hope to push students toward a liberal view on LGBT issues, even though those values and sexual practices might fly in the face of their family’s worldviews. Even if you, like me, believe in LGBT acceptance and tolerance, this isn’t something you should support.
This initiative violates the freedom of far too many religious people. Parents should feel they can safely pass their spiritual convictions to their children without government interference. As of 2019, 31% of adults are still not in favor of same-sex marriage. There is no better way to make an entire group of people more bitter toward LGBT people than stomping on their beliefs and parental rights in the name of furthering your agenda.
That’s exactly what these states are up to.
It’s just another education initiative that over-prioritizes identity, and that doesn’t do the LGBT community any real favors. In fact, the proposal just undercuts individual achievement by placing sexuality at the forefront of historical education — even though it’s, in many cases, irrelevant to the actual accomplishments of the LGBT people in question. Identities don’t achieve things, people do, and that’s far more interesting than who they are attracted to.
Plus, there are plenty of ways to organically change culture without a government-mandated program. In some ways, organizations like GLAAD Media Institute are leading that charge. They prepare LGBT people and allies to be effective storytellers across a variety of platforms, providing resources to news outlets, businesses, the TV, and film industry on best practices in marketing strategies, fair reporting, and authentic LGBT character casting. According to their website, GLAAD wants to equip people to “effectuate positive cultural change.”
Of course, the organization makes clear errors when they advocate for heavy-handed LGBT rights legislation like the Equality Act. But when they focus on what they’re actually good at, they acknowledge that people provide the best route to changing the culture for the better. That’s exactly who should be trying to sway public opinion — the private sector, not government.
We’re already seeing this to be true. Even without these educational mandates, some of these states have already become some of the more LGBT-friendly states in the nation. Why, then, are these classes necessary?
Even if some LGBT activists continue to insist on this curriculum, why couldn’t the classes at least function as an elective? Students genuinely interested in hearing praise of the LGBT lifestyle would flock to it, while others could politely decline. That would leave those parents with religious convictions happy and keep some measure of liberty intact.
Christian Watson (@OfficialCWatson) is a political writer based out of Georgia.
