Parents Reject Sex, LGBTQ Education In New Lacey Curriculum

LACEY, NJ — Parents, grandparents and students voiced their disagreements with the controversial sex education standards that involve teaching gender and sexuality in Lacey.

The Lacey Township School District held a "Listen and Learn" forum to explain the new health and physical education curriculum, hosted by Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction William Zylinski.

The purpose of the forum was to show how the controversial standards would be implemented and allow the public to voice their thoughts on it. He specifically wanted comments on what people did not like in the curriculum. Zylinski filmed the comments to take them back to the curriculum team and make adjustments as needed, he said.

While Zylinski wanted the evening to be "civil discourse," the hour-and-a-half forum was filled with arguments between parents and guardians, some of whom frequently shouted over others while they were speaking.

The topic was been repeatedly discussed in Lacey over the past several months, with parents voicing their disapproval of the content. Read More: 'Say No,' Lacey Parents Tell Board Of Ed About Sex Ed Standards

Zylinski's explanation of the curriculum was, essentially, that the most controversial topics in the standards would be left out, such as topics of masturbation. These can be taught at home, he said.

He stressed that the standards set by the state were merely guidelines and examples, and that it is left up to the schools to figure out how to implement them.

"We don't control standards, we control our curriculum," Zylinski said.

For those still concerned, parents will be able to opt-out their students. In Lacey's online system, students will be unable to view their schedules until the opt-out form is reviewed, Zylinksi said.

This was called a "compromise" by Zylinski for the parents who repeatedly called for the curriculum to be an "opt-in" as opposed to opting out.

In the coming weeks, a sample lesson plan will be available for review. Zylinski also encouraged parents to connect with their children's health teachers to learn more about what that teacher will specifically share in class.

In spite of this, parents still said they did not like the content being taught. Many individuals seemed to take issue specifically with LGBTQ topics. On the topic of gender identity and sexual orientation, a woman who said she was a grandmother, said this was "normalizing immorality and perversion." She also called the standards "propaganda," and others also called it pushing an agenda.

"Stop accepting sickness as normal," she called out early in the meeting. "Don't force it down my grandchild's throat."

Richard Bidnik, a frequent voice at school board meetings, said that normalizing LGBTQ topics is the downfall of society. He emphasized the topic of transgenderism, suggesting that transgender people have mental issues and saying that it was "not normal and not real." He added that the only reason these topics were in the standards were to "satisfy the woke agenda" and cautioned of the effects of them on children.

"Once you open the Pandora's box, there's no going back," Bidnik said.

Another parent shared concerns about transgender issues being taught in the curriculum, voicing a fear about transgender students being allowed in the locker room with her daughter, referencing the notion that people are unsafe when sharing a locker room or bathroom with a transgender person. A 2018 study said that there is no link between gender identity nondiscrimination laws and increased safety and privacy violations.

Lacey Township School District policy allows transgender students to use different pronouns and a chosen name differing from their birth gender, and the school is not required to tell their parents. Transgender students in Lacey are also allowed to use whatever facilities, including bathrooms and locker rooms, that they feel appropriate based on their gender identity, according to the policy.

The lone voice that explicitly spoke in favor of the standards, a woman who identified herself as a case worker, said that kids already know more than parents think due to social media. She asked if parents wanted them to learn these things from social media or instead in a classroom. Not every child has parents that will explain these topics at home, she said.

"Things are happening, sexually, to these kids younger and younger, and they need to know how to handle it," she said, speaking of LGBTQ topics.

"I've seen things you can't even imagine happen to kids," the woman said. She asked parents to consider what students are going through, as kids are committing suicide for not feeling accepted.

"It's not our place to judge a child," she said. She said by not educating kids about gender and sexuality, students who identify those ways will feel not accepted by their community, and those who do not identify that way will not understand what others are going through and possibly harass students about it.

The topic of making healthy decisions about sex by the end of eighth grade was another controversial topic. One current high school student said that when she was in the eighth grade, she did not want to learn about sex.

"Most teenagers do," Zylinksi responded.

Some parents said that no sex should be taught at all; that "the schools shouldn't be teaching sex."

Another concern was about if the parents wanted their children to learn, but the children themselves did not. Zylinski addressed this, saying that they would work with guidance counselors to determine the best course of action.

Any more controversial aspects still left in the curriculum will not be taught in classes until after the curriculum is approved by the Board of Education in September, Zylinski said.

You can view the health and physical education curriculum for all grades online on the Lacey School District website.