On Monday, elementary schools in Los Angeles are set to engage in a weeklong celebration in honor of ‘National Coming Out Day,’ involving students as young as five.
The celebrations will include various activities, such as an ‘Identity Nap,’ advertised to encourage students to explore and think critically about identity and intersectionality.
The Los Angeles Unified School District’s Board of Education has dispatched a ‘Week of Action Toolkit – Elementary’ to elementary teachers, outlining lesson plans pertinent to LGBTQ+ topics for young students.
The week is structured with each day dedicated to a different LGBTQ+ celebrity, such as Jazz Jennings and Elliot Page, with activities and discussions about their journeys and identities.
For instance, Monday, dubbed Jazz Jennings Day, will see kindergartners engage in activities like ‘Which Outfit’ and ‘Which Hairdo,’ while Wednesday, named Elliot Page Day, will involve third-graders in an ‘I Am Me’ activity, which includes guessing the gender of Willow Smith.
The toolkit also encourages kindergartners to ‘Take a Pledge to Be An Ally’ on Friday, dedicated to Carl Nassib, the first openly gay active NFL player.
The pledge involves commitments to use kind language and to stand up for others in a supportive manner.
“This is nothing short of gay grooming youngsters into a lifestyle replete with depression, suicidal thoughts, drug addiction, and sexually transmitted diseases,” said Martin Mawyer, president of Christian Action Network.”
“It’s more of the same from a growing number of public schools that have a mission to alienate kids from God’s glorious plan for their future lives,” he said. “They want nothing more than for kids to grow up thinking God is fallible, cruel, mischievous, and a psychopath.”
The celebration comes amidst a backdrop of contrasting approaches to LGBTQ+ discussions in schools across the nation, with some areas, like Florida, significantly restricting such conversations.
The Los Angeles Unified School District initiative also follows less than two months after a significant clash between a pro-LGBTQ group and a parental rights group over whether schools should notify parents if their child identifies as transgender.
The district’s approach to LGBTQ+ education and celebration has been met with varying perspectives, especially considering the academic challenges faced by students, such as a significant percentage not meeting the state’s standards for English and math competency.
The toolkit and its implementation have sparked discussions about balancing academic focus and social, identity-related education in the school environment.
