Rep. Alice Wolf’s (D-Cambridge) bill to make health class part of the core curriculum of Massachusetts public schools seems as straightforward as they come, but anti-gay activists are convinced that it is a scheme to indoctrinate children into the pro-gay agenda. At a packed Jan. 31 hearing on the bill, H.1641, before the Joint Committee on Education activists from anti-gay organizations like the Article 8 Alliance and the Massachusetts Family Institute argued that the bill would circumvent parents’ rights to opt their children out of sexually explicit curricula, particularly curricula dealing with sexual orientation. The bill was also strongly opposed by anti-abortion activists.
“This bill is viciously undemocratic. Our founding fathers would have taken up arms because of this,” said Lexington parent David Parker, who made headlines last April for refusing to leave school grounds after he demanded that his son be opted out of any discussion in his kindergarten class on LGBT topics, including discussions of families with gay parents. Article 8 championed his case, and both Parker and Article 8 have argued that pro-gay curricula in school are in part a by-product of same-sex marriage. Referring to the children in Massachusetts Public Schools, Parker said, “You are playing with the fire of our passions.”
Throughout the hearing, opponents made repeated reference to sexually explicit material that would supposedly be taught under the new law, prompting committee member Rep. Geraldine Creedon (D-Brockton) to remind those testifying that there were children in the room. Alice Slatterly, a former teacher from Framingham, described one comprehensive health curriculum that gave instruction on “use of dental dams, masturbation, mutual masturbation,” and other acts including anal sex. Dr. Gilbert Lavoie, an East Boston physician who unsuccessfully challenged Sen. President Robert Travaglini in the 2004 election in large part due to his own opposition to same-sex marriage, attempted to make his diatribe on the dangers of anal sex more kid friendly by saying that in his testimony, “‘A’ will equal anal and ‘V’ will equal vaginal.” He then argued that the health bill would force schools to teach that “A” intercourse was just as safe and healthy as “V” intercourse.
According to proponents of the bill, parents will have all the same rights to opt their children out of sex education as they do presently and schools will still have local control over health curricula. The bill would amend the state’s laws around education to add health education as part of the core curriculum alongside subjects such as mathematics, English, history, science and technology, and foreign language. Schools are expected to develop their health curricula using the Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Curriculum Framework, a document developed by the Department of Education in 1999 that has guidelines for teaching a variety of topics including nutrition, physical fitness, mental health, substance abuse, violence prevention, and — the hot-button issue for opponents of the bill — reproduction and sexuality.
http://www.baywindows.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications::Article&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=B639C3EAE8FA40F6BBB08DC6F867FA63Ah, yes ... the fundie obsession with "A" intercourse.
Obviously they call it that because that's the highest grade they can give it. :rofl:
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