Students in a Washington school district whose parents don’t want them indoctrinated with LGBT “Pride” lessons have no other option but to hurt their academic standing.
The Olympia School District is once again denying students the choice to opt out of the lessons and will penalize any who don't attend with an unexcused absence.
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“The Olympia School District has no opt out process for Pride-related lessons as they are aligned with the standards that are required to be taught within our schools,” a spokesperson said this week. “OSD is committed to gender-inclusive schools, and we will follow the guidance of our governing agency, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI).”
While the district wouldn’t provide materials for the public to see, parents have said that the lessons involve “Pride-themed songs, books with transgender characters and gender-neutral pronouns,” according to the Daily Caller. Given that the district previously taught elementary school students about puberty blockers, it’s clear that staff consider it a goal to send some children down a path of harmful medical interventions.
If it seems as if the district has imposed a mandatory religion, that’s because it has. Parents must bring their children to pay routine homage to the god of Pride, complete with literally singing songs to it. To do otherwise would be “offensive and demeaning” to students and staff and “disruptive to the learning environment,” the superintendent declared last year, as if these activities were as vital as math and reading.
Back when traditional theology influenced education, public schools promoted in-class prayers and the Ten Commandments. In the 20th century, many argued that it was time to “get religion out of schools,” and the Supreme Court eventually forbade these practices at state institutions even if they involved no compulsion. Church and state must be separate, we were told. By now, a teacher who promotes biblical values to students would be risking his career.
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This did not end up making schools neutral because it’s impossible to do so. An institution will always teach based on a philosophical worldview, and that consensus will determine every last detail of what is considered acceptable to teach. By removing traditional values in education, America paved the way for their polar opposites to replace them. That’s why it shouldn’t surprise anyone that we've arrived at this point. In trying to fill the power vacuum, the LGBT movement was always bound to become authoritarian.
However, the Bible used to have an influence on education because it was deeply rooted in our cultural heritage as a nation. The Pride evangelists don’t have that advantage and want to get away with pushing widely controversial ideology onto the next generation, which is why some teachers do it in secret. There is still time to curb the spread of the sexual revolution and gender confusion by fighting for parental rights in education, as parents and elected officials across the country are doing.
Hudson Crozier is a summer 2023 Washington Examiner fellow.