Empowering Parents: Unveiling Legislation Changes and Decoding Comprehensive Sexual Education

Welcome to another episode of Parents' Rights in Education with your host, Suzanne Gallagher.

In our first segment, we're touching base with the state of education around the country. Highlighted events include The Great Northwest Awakening and our regular Zoom calls and trainings - don't miss out! Visit our website for more details. We are also tracking critical legislation like Virginia's SB 1072, aiming to better address bullying, and Texas' controversial SB 14, which deals with youths' access to transgender medical treatment. In organizational updates, we've introduced a new feature to select your affiliate group and celebrate the addition of 5 new affiliate leaders in Oregon and Washington.

Returning to our second segment, we've got good news - our movement is making strides! In 2022, 85 parents’ rights bills were introduced across 26 states, while 2023 has already seen 62 bills in 24 states. All of these efforts aim to increase parental involvement and transparency in education. This shows we're making an impact and will continue fighting for parents’ rights.

In our final segment, we delve into a topic of much debate - Comprehensive Sexual Education. Promoted as an inclusive and age-appropriate approach, it is being seen by many as explicit and incentivizing early sexual activity. Organizations like Planned Parenthood, the WHO, and the ACLU are backing this. As an example, programs like EXCLAIM! suggest that young people need varied sexual experiences for their health. This raises concerns about parental involvement and when a child should learn about sexual activity.

As we wrap up, remember that joining our cause ensures you have a say in your child's education. Become a member today and join the fight for parents’ rights in education. Until next time, stay strong and engaged. Thank you for tuning in.

Visit parentsrightsineducation.com to learn more and to get involved.

Transcript

Suzanne Gallgaher:

Hey everybody, it's great to be with you today. Oh my goodness, we've got some amazing events coming up. I don't want you to miss them. So I'm gonna just list these, okay? Our first one is the Great Northwest Awakening. That is taking place on Saturday, October 21st in Ridgefield, Washington. You wanna get your tickets early, get those in because they're going fast. Okay, the next one is updates from National. Now I'm talking about National Parents' Rights and Education. These are Z or Zoom calls and they're every other Monday. Everybody's invited to join us on this one. Now, if you're an affiliate or you just wanna dial up your skills, you won't wanna miss the Parents' Rights and Education Z training calls. So these are training calls and they are every Saturday starting August 12th. There's more detailed event information available on our website, parentsrightsineducation.com. So go to the home page and scroll down. You know, we can miss a lot if we don't scroll down. Super. Thank you so much. Looking forward to seeing you on all those calls and at the event on October 21st. Now, I want to get into some legislation that has been passed recently, way, way. worth our applause, a high five, cheers, you name it. So Senate Bill 1072 was passed in Virginia. And this law requires each local school board to require the principal of each public school or his designee, in other words, somebody he's appointed, to notify the parent of any student who is involved in an alleged bullying incident of the alleged incident within 24 hours of learning of such an allegation. So what this does is it really does require then that parents are notified and that's what we want. Now the previous law only required the principal to notify parents about the investigation within five school days of the, when the principal had knowledge. So this law is going into effect on July 1st. of this year. And then in Texas, we have Senate Bill 14. Senate Bill 14 was passed and goes into effect on September 1st of this year. And it opposes any efforts in Texas to validate transgender identities. This would prohibit trans Texans under the age of 18, we're talking about minors here, from accessing transition-related medical treatments, including puberty blockers, hormone therapies, and surgeries. Those surgeries are really performed on minors. Well, that's in the state of Texas, not so in Oregon. Anyway, this would require that trans youth who are already getting this care to be weaned off in a medically appropriate manner. which is a good thing because I don't know that there's any state that actually addresses this issue. So this law goes into effect on September 1st, 2023 and thank you Texans for taking that step. I want to bring you up to date also on some organizational news and updates. The new site, our new site, that's parentsrightsandeducation.com, has a feature that you are going to love. You can now select your affiliate. We have affiliate groups nationwide, and now within our updated membership form, you are able to select which affiliate group you would like to join. Even if you are already a member, hey, guys, make sure that you go and update your membership and select your affiliate. You're going to find there are a few more affiliates than were there even just a month ago. So guys, here's the thing. We exist because of our affiliates, really. As an organization, our existence is dependent upon boots on the ground in every single school district in the country. We need a point person in your school district, someone who we can contact and let them know that, hey, There's somebody else in your school district who wants to join you. This is what's so cool about our program is that we will help you do this. You don't need to spend five hours a week organizing your group. And also we will help train you and show you how you can have that voice in your local area. How you and others like you can go to the school board meeting and testify why you have concerns about your local school district and what's happening in your school. But also, as I mentioned earlier, we need to know what's happening there in your particular district. Our issue is not just a local issue though. This issue is national. It is a national crisis affecting everyone all across the country. And we begin to learn that immediately after we launched our website in, what, 2018. We got calls from all over the country, not just where we were located in Oregon, but all over the country. It was amazing. in rural areas as well as, you know, urban, big urban school districts, people would say to us, oh, that's not happening in my district. We live out, you know, in remote or some place like that. Actually, it is happening all over. And so we can win this if more of us step up and talk about what's going on. And we're here to give you a voice.  Last week, five new affiliate leaders applied and were accepted to represent parents' rights in education throughout Oregon and Washington. Our affiliate leaders are so important to us as they report firsthand knowledge of what's going on in their local areas. People believe us when we report on an incident identifying the state, the district, the school district, and the school. where that incident took place. Because, you know, most people will say, oh, come on, that would never happen. Oh, not in my school. Oh my goodness, I live in such a rural area. Well, we want to tell them about what's going on in their school. So if you or someone that you know anywhere, anywhere in this country is interested in becoming a pre-affiliate leader, check out our website under the leadership menu option titled Start. An affiliate, that's pretty straightforward, isn't it? Start an affiliate and access our affiliate application. I'm looking forward to seeing how many applications we're going to have within the next 24 hours. Okay guys, sign up today. Our movement is growing stronger every day, and that means we're winning. Okay, I'm gonna share some exciting things that have been happening. Okay, last year in 2022, 85 parents' rights bills were introduced in 26 states. That's more than half of the states in the union. That is a good sign. And so far in 2023, 62 parental rights bills have been introduced in 24 states. Amazing. That is great news. You know, we need to hear good news every now and then, don't we? This is kind of a deep, dark, dark subject, but actually it's getting to be more fun because more of you are coming on board and you get it. You know what's going on and you know what to look for. Now, the intent of all these bills is to provide parents more transparency. and influence in what their children are taught in school. These laws literally echo federal law requiring, number one, parents' ability to view curriculum. We need to see the curriculum, don't we? We want to read it ahead of time. We shouldn't be intimidated by our local school that doesn't want to show us what they're going to teach our kids. Number two, these laws require parents' ability to opt out of any controversial or offensive curriculum that we don't want our kids to be presented with, right? A lot of the schools are saying now that they won't allow you to opt out, so this is what these bills are doing. Number three, they require that schools notify parents of students' desire to go by a different name, pronoun, or gender. In other words, let's not have any more secrets being kept from parents about what their kids are thinking, doing, saying in school. They need to be notified. And number four, these laws are requiring that school boards allow public comment time for parents and residents. How many of you have gone to a school board meeting and they say, oh, well, we could only take three comments, you know, with a minute and a half each? Uh-uh, no. They need to be hearing from the community. And if your school boards aren't listening to you, well, you know what to do. Find somebody else. Okay, these laws that are being passed are so important. And it's because it shows that we're making a difference. Okay, we are winning. If we're influencing change in the law by speaking out, We are winning. We are making it known that we're fighting for parents' rights, and we will not stop. So I'm sure that a lot of you are aware of this, but we just need to make sure that we're all on the same page here about what's happening in your child's school. Probably one of the most basic things that we began following early on was comprehensive sexuality education. In some places, they're calling it comprehensive sexual education. It's all the same. It doesn't make any difference. It's all about. sexuality and it is comprehensive. Now the public description of this is that it teaches adolescents and young people about the cognitive, emotional, physical, and social aspects of sexuality. That sounds pretty high level, doesn't it? Gee, who wouldn't want that? Well, what's really being taught? Okay. Buckle up, sit down. If you don't know, you're going to find out pretty soon. Maybe you're the parent of a kindergartner. Uh-huh. Starts really young, guys. We'll call this CSE for short. I know I hate acronyms too, but a lot easier to say CSE. So what does CSE do? Well, it holds the view that children, regardless of age, from birth are sexual beings. It also teaches that even though it's branded as an educational experience for students to explore their thoughts, feelings, and bodies, what is it really doing? Well, it's a cover. It's a cover to teach minors explicitly graphic images and content, including students are desensitized by exposure to graphic images and instructions of sexual acts. Well, sure, we got to show them everything, right? Arrows pointing at it, you know, with the names of all the body parts, even at age five. So they're incentivizing sexual activity and exploration for children. And again, I'm telling you, this is as young as five years old. Now, if you don't have children, or it's been a while since your kids were five, I want to remind you, what are they doing at five? They're learning how to ride a bike. They love popsicles, okay? They don't even know how to tie their shoes barely, okay? That's where Velcro comes in. Anyway, proponents claim that children can and should explore their sexuality even earlier than five. Remember I said that they're sexual beings from birth. That's what some of these people think. Of course we don't, we know that's not the case. Now, big name. national and international organizations, and you know who I'm talking about, Planned Parenthood, World Health Organization, that's WHO, the ACLU, American Civil Liberties Union, they all support comprehensive sexuality education for children, beginning at five years old. So here's an example, and you can look this up on the internet, it's called exclaim, E-X-C-L-A-I-M, exclamation point. a sex education program distributed at the United Nations. Yep, United Nations International teaches children that they are not healthy. Not healthy? Unless they are having various sexual experiences. Oh, good grief. Okay, young people are taught that they are, quote, entitled, oh, this is where their rights come in, guys. Oh, they're entitled to sexual pleasure. and how to experience different forms of sexual pleasure is what is important for their health. I'm gonna close the quotes right there. Oh, come on. More importantly, comprehensive sexual education is a cultural mechanism to subvert parental involvement in how and when their child learns. about sexual activity. So make no mistake, this is not for our children. We want to be the ones talking to them when they're ready. And by the way, that is one of the requirements in most law that these instructions are age appropriate. Who decides when the kids are age appropriate? We do. Our parents do. Not. a bureaucrat, not even a teacher, and definitely not the administrator or the counselor. Thanks for listening.