Community Response to Austin ISD Radical Sex-Ed Grows
Austin, Texas – Adding to the growing list of pushback against Austin ISD’s radical sex education – two new developments were announced recently.
First, The Catholic Diocese of Austin recently encouraged its followers on social media, through a specific website, and during church services on March 7th and 8th, to opt out of the radical sex education scheduled to be taught in Austin ISD this year. Bishop Joe Vásquez, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Austin, said in a letter to parishioners that the new curriculum “misinforms students regarding human sexuality, promotes grave immorality, and exposes children to unwarranted risk of harm.”
Secondly, Stand Up for Children – ATX, a coalition of parents and community leaders as well as Texas Values had planned a series of town halls across Austin ISD to educate more parents about the curriculum and equip them with resources to opt out, and join a planned sit out on May 19th. In light of new rules surrounding the spread of Coronavirus, the coalition is exploring options to turn those town halls into livestream events before the sex education lessons are scheduled to be taught in May. The town halls or similar efforts will be available in both English and Spanish.
This adds to the growing movement of parents who are choosing to opt their children out of the radical sex education Austin ISD passed in October of last year, and join a sit out on May 19th. Many legal and transparency questions, in addition to possible parental rights violations have been raised since the curriculum’s passage. The Stand Up for Children – ATX Coalition had previously announced a sit out on May 19th in response to these concerns. More information can be found on their website https://standupforchildren-atx.com/
Jonathan Saenz, President of Texas Values said: “As more parents opt their children out of this radical sex education, and the world struggles with the effects of the Coronavirus causing Austin ISD schools to close for an extended period, we are calling on Austin ISD to scrap their sex education program for this year. Austin should be focused on teaching their students basic education, not about sexual content that could cause danger to their health and safety.”
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