Activists try to block lessons on homosexuality

Friday, Sept. 7, 2007

Activists try to block lessons on homosexuality

Groups ask court to stop lessons; hearing set for January

by Marcus Moore | Staff Writer

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Three groups of critics want the county’s Circuit Court to halt the Montgomery County school system’s sex-education lesson plans before they are taught in all middle schools and high schools this fall.

In their request, Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, and Family Leader Network claim that the school system released inaccurate information and did not put material out for public review before approving the curriculum earlier this year. They also claimed the lesson plans violate students’ constitutional rights.

The critics are asking the court to throw out only lesson plans that discuss homosexuality, said Michelle Turner, a spokeswoman for the Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum.

The lessons include a video in 10th grade on how to properly use and discard a condom and two 45-minute lessons on sexual orientation in the eighth and 10th grades.

The groups filed two appeals with the Maryland State Board of Education this year — one in February to have the curriculum thrown out before it was piloted in the spring and another in June to have the lessons scrapped before the beginning of the school year. In March, state schools Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick allowed the sex-ed pilot to move forward. In June, the state school board upheld the approved curriculum.

The request for a stay is expected to be heard in January.

The state board has already rejected the critics’ claims, said Brian K. Edwards, a Montgomery schools spokesman.

‘‘It appears that a small group of opponents is intent on forcing Montgomery County Public Schools to spend thousands more in taxpayer dollars to argue the same points all over again,” he said.