Presentation by David S. Fishback, Board Member, Metro D.C. Chapter
of Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) to the
Montgomery County Board of Education
December 12, 2006
Two years ago, the Board unanimously voted to pilot health curriculum revisions that included basic information on sexual orientation, as understood by all mainstream health professional associations. A last-minute lawsuit by Jerry Falwell’s Liberty Counsel did not give MCPS time to adequately respond, and, as a consequence, the revisions were derailed.
So MCPS started the process anew. Fortunately, the Staff did not cave into right- wing intimidation, and it presented to the new Citizens Advisory Committee proposals that, in many respects, went deeper into the issues than had the 2004 version. While no longer a member of the Committee, I attended its meetings and followed the deliberations closely. The PFOX and CRC representatives voted against the Staff package, but the full Committee overwhelmingly endorsed it, with some useful suggestions for improvement.
The Committee’s most significant suggestion was in line with the approach taken by the Staff, which was to use material approved by the mainstream health care community. Specifically, the Committee recommended inclusion of the following statements, all of which are positions of the mainstream groups:
* Homosexuality is not a disease or a mental illness.
* The American Psychological Association states that sexual orientation is not a "conscious choice that can voluntarily be changed," and the American Medical Association opposes "therapies" that seek to change sexual orientation that are premised on the assumption that homosexuality is an illness and that people should change.
1
* Children raised by same-sex couples do just as well as those raised by heterosexuals, and are no more likely to be homosexual.1
Inclusion of this information is particularly important for the 8th Grade because, while the draft was a fine anti-bullying lesson, it did not not address significant worries that certain 8th Graders face. Even if all bullying were to cease, gay and lesbian students would still have concerns that are addressed by this information. Likewise, while the excellent 10th Grade lesson stated that having information on sexual orientation is important, it did not actually say what that information is. The statements from the medical community fill in that gap.
As a parent, I want to thank MCPS for standing up to the Dobson/Falwell forces and for following the wisdom of the mainstream health care community on these matters.2
1 At the same time, the Committee also recommended the following statements, which am not presenting in my oral presentation, due to time constraints:
* Children who have fleeting same-sex attractions may assume incorrectly that they are gay or lesbian. Mere fleeting attraction does not prove orientation.
* Homosexuals can live happy, successful lives; they can be successful parents.
2 Attached, for your information, are my November 27, 2006, and August 13, 2006, letters to Dr. Haughey discussing these and related legal issues; the American Psychological Association’s document entitled Answers to Your Questions about Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality, which is referenced by the Staff in its draft; and my November 9, 2004, testimony to the Board.
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November 27, 2006
Via E-Mail
Dr. Charles Haughey, President
Montgomery County Board of Education
850 Hungerford Drive
Rockville, Maryland 20850
RE: Health Education Revisions
Dear Dr. Haughey:
The Washington Post published this letter in last Thursday's Montgomery Extra Section:
Homosexuality as Choice? Medical Experts Say No
Your Nov. 16 article "Ex-Gay, Sex Ed Debate" [Montgomery Extra], which suggested that the debate over whether homosexuality is a choice is between "some spiritual conservatives" and the "gay-lesbian community," may have left some readers with the impression that the debate is simply between interest groups.
In fact, the mainstream American medical and mental health professional associations have concluded that sexual orientation is not a choice. And they all oppose the so-called "reparative" or "conversion" therapies touted by groups like Parents and Friends of ExGays and Gays (PFOX), which are based on the assumption that homosexuality is an illness and that people should change their orientation.
For example, the American Academy of Pediatrics states that most experts have concluded that "one's sexual orientation is not a choice; that is, individuals do not choose to be homosexual or heterosexual."
Moreover, according to the American Psychological Association, sexual orientation is not a "conscious choice that can be voluntarily changed."
Similarly, the American Medical Association "opposes the use of 'reparative' or 'conversion' therapy that is based upon the assumption that homosexuality per se is a mental disorder or based upon the a priori assumption that the patient should change his/her homosexual orientation."
So the reality is that the disagreement is between some organizations such as James Dobson's Focus on the Family on the one hand, and groups like the American Medical Association on the other.
David S. Fishback, Olney
Fishback is a board member of the Metro DC Chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/22/AR2006112201079.html
This autumn, the Board of Education's Citizens Advisory Committee on Family Life and Human Development (CAC) overwhelmingly voted (by margins of 10-3 and 9-2, respectively) to include in the new 8th and 10th Grade health lessons the same and related information from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association, and the American Medical Association. The material recommended reads as follows:
Other things to know:
Children who have fleeting same-sex attractions may assume incorrectly that they are gay or lesbian. Mere fleeting attraction does not prove sexual orientation.
All mainstream medical and mental health professionals have concluded that homosexuality is not a disease or a mental illness.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says that most experts have concluded that “one’s sexual orientation is not a choice; that is, individuals do not choose to be homosexual or heterosexual.” Moreover, according to the American Psychological Association, sexual orientation is not a “conscious choice that can voluntarily be changed.” Similarly, the American Medical Association opposes “therapies” that seek to change sexual orientation that are premised on the assumption that homosexuality is an illness and that people should change.
Homosexuals can live happy, successful lives; they “can be successful parents.”
Children raised by same-sex couples do just as well as those raised by heterosexuals, and are no more likely to be homosexual.
When CAC member Richelle Meer presented her recommendation that these and related statements from the mainstream groups be included in the 8th Grade lesson, she noted the following:
The 8th Grade Lesson Plan is fine anti-bullying lesson. But it does not address significant worries that 8th Graders – particularly, but not exclusively, those who happen to be gay or lesbian – are facing. Even if all bullying were to cease, gay and lesbian students (or those who think or “fear” they are gay or lesbian) would still have health concerns must be addressed at this age (if not sooner, as the AAP experts told Dr. Weast last winter).
They may be afraid that if they are homosexual, then they are “sick.”
They may think they can somehow “will” themselves to be an orientation that they are not.
They may be afraid that they can never be happy.
They may be afraid that they can never have families.
In addition, children of gay or lesbian parents may be afraid that other children will think them “weird” or “dangerous.”
Finally, children who have fleeting same-sex attractions may assume, perhaps incorrectly, that they are gay or lesbian.
The CAC's recommendation that the statements of the mainstream medical and mental health professional associations be included in the excellent 10th Grade lesson should also be incorporated. While the Staff-proposed lesson asked the question, "Why is it important for society to be educated about sexual orientation and homosexuality?", the lesson does not actually state what that information is. Inclusion of the information recommended by the CAC would provide the answer. In this regard, it is noteworthy that the question provided by the Staff comes directly from a document of the American Psychological Association entitled "Answers to Your Questions About Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality," which may be found at http://www.apa.org/topics/orientation.html#society. That same document covers the information the CAC recommended.
There is certainly no legal impediment to the inclusion of the CAC recommendations. Indeed, last summer the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit made it crystal clear that when it comes to curriculum the "public forum" analysis is irrelevant: See Child Evangelism Fellowship of Maryland v. Montgomery County Public Schools, 457 F.3d 376 (4th Cir. 2006), where the Fourth Circuit stated unequivocally that "when the government alone speaks, it need not remain neutral as to its viewpoint. See Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of the Univ. of Va., 515 U.S. 819, 833 (1995) ( 'When the University determines the content of the education it provides, it is the University speaking, and we have permitted the government to regulate the content of what is or is not expressed when it is the speaker or when it enlists private entities to convey its own message.' )." The PFOX/CRC people are ready to sue anyway because the "ex-gay" viewpoint is not included. MCPS stood up to them last year when it insisted upon language in the settlement agreement reaffirming its right to decide what would be in curriculum. I am confident that MCPS will continue not to be intimidated by PFOX/CRC and their backers from Dobson and Falwell groups.
Hopefully, the Staff will include these important and useful recommendations from the CAC in what it proposes to the Board in January.
Sincerely,
David S. Fishback
4913 Continental Drive
Olney, Maryland 20832
301-924-1791
Cc: Board Members-elect Shirley Brandman and Judith Docca
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The Honorable Charles S. Haughey, President
Montgomery County Board of Education
850 Hungerford Drive
Rockville, MD 20852
This is a knotty problem involving the limited public forum which could be deemed as being created by the backpack flyer system. What is significant for the issues surrounding the MCPS health education curriculum is the Court's explicit distinction between public forums created by public educational institutions -- which may not discriminate based on viewpoint -- and educational content in the classrooms. As noted above, the Fourth Circuit, in setting forth the framework for its analysis, explicitly recognized the distinction between, on the one hand, situations in which the government (including a school system) has created a public forum subject to First Amendment viewpoint neutrality and, on the other hand, "the content of education," which does not require such neutrality So whatever problems the CEF ruling presents to MCPS regarding its backpack flyer policy, the decision reiterates the rule of law that demonstrates that Judge Williams' "viewpoint discrimination" ruling in May 2005 was simply incorrect and, if ever asserted again, would be summarily reversed on appeal.
Presentation by David Fishback, Chair, Citizens Advisory Committee on Family Life and Human Sexuality, to the Montgomery County Board of Education, November 9, 2004
I am pleased to present the CACFLHD 2003-2004 Annual Report.
1. We have received the results of the piloting of the Condom Demonstration Video you approved in March, and now recommend that it be used system-wide.
2. We present to you our recommended 8th and 10 Grade Health Education curriculum revisions pursuant to your November 2002 instruction to include information on sexual variation.
The emotional and physical health of our children is the highest priority of everyone in our community. That is why we have health education classes, in which we seek to help our children grow into healthy, happy, responsible adults. That is why the Board made the wise decision two years ago to include matters regarding sexual orientation in the 8th and 10th grade health education curriculum.
More than 30 years ago every mainstream American medical and mental health organization concluded that homosexuality is not a disease, and that people who happen to be homosexual can live healthy and happy lives without denying who they are. In the mainstream scientific and medical community, this is not a point of dispute.
Yet, children who happen to be gay (or think they might be gay) have been left in limbo, in a system in which they feel they must hide to be accepted, in which they may fear that they are somehow diseased. And other children, receiving signals that everyone must be heterosexual to be accepted, too often act cruelly to those who are or appear to be different.
The Staff and the Committee acted very carefully in revising the proposed curriculum in line with the Board's instruction. At the outset, we closely examined all the literature and consulted with professionals in the field; the Committee itself includes a number of health care professionals. Then we were careful to revise the curriculum to simply add pertinent material that we had learned. There are a lot of misconceptions floating around, and we wanted to make certain that we got things right. The additions to the existing curriculum are minor -- there is no separate "gay" unit.
I would like to highlight the key elements, which are based upon the mainstream medical and scientific learning.
First, the curriculum notes that sexual orientation is the "persistent pattern" of attraction. In other words, just because someone has an occasional attraction to a person of the same sex does not mean that he or she is gay. This is an important fact, and one which children need to learn, so that they do not get confused. Children are exposed to all sorts of media and all sorts of misconceptions on the playground and elsewhere. The Health Education Curriculum is designed, in part, to correct such misconceptions.
Much as many of us might like to shield our children from all thoughts of sex until they find the person with whom they will build a family, we also know that that is not the way the world is. So we need to provide them basic information. A person's sexual orientation is not changed by hearing such information.
Second, the curriculum states what the medical science has learned: That homosexuality is not a mental disorder, that "[m]ost experts . . . have concluded that sexual orientation is not a choice; it's a natural response." This is important because in the past, and indeed today, children in late adolescence and the teen years who happen to be homosexual go through horrible trauma fearing that they are diseased and can never be happy. Years ago, the mental health profession came to understand that a large amount of substance abuse, reckless self-destructive behavior, and suicide resulted from the agony afflicting gay youth believing they were defective and would never be accepted in society. It is wise to learn from this experience, and to act to help ALL of our children become happy, productive citizens.
This is also important because there are children growing up in same sex families, with parents who are fine, upstanding members of their communities. Sexual orientation that is not heterosexual is a part of life. Thus, it is an appropriate and necessary part of the health curriculum dealing with human sexuality. The Board has recognized this, and the Staff and the Committee, I believe, have developed revisions that will responsibly enable all of our children to become healthy and responsible adults.
Of course, parents have the choice of having their children opt-out of the human sexuality portion of the health education class. I strongly believe, however, that parents who may have concerns will find those concerns satisfied when they examine the curriculum. The curriculum speaks of respect and caring -- and recognizes that different religious traditions have differing views on sexual behaviors. Of course, the curriculum does not make theological judgments on such matters. But what it does do, and has always done, is to stress the need for people to treat each other with respect. That is the Golden Rule, which is followed by all religious and secular traditions in this country.
I know that you have examined the proposed curriculum changes, so I will not take up your time going through each of them now.
3. I have one comment on the proposal to permit schools to offer the High School Health Class in 9th Grade. The Committee's disagreement with this proposal was based principally on our view that education in this area should not end in the first year in high school. Students have a very good unit in 8th grade. If they then immediately take the High School course, and never have it again, they may well be missing guidance later when they most need it. In essence, we view the High School course as, in part, a booster shot for the education provided in middle school. We do not want the booster shot to come too early, when it likely will be needed later.
Thank you
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