'Zero evidence, really scary scenarios that don't exist.'
THOSE, again, are the fundamental drivers for Trumpanzees on this issue no less than they are with Covid anti-vaxxers. They don't know jack shit on the issues and their default responses are fear and hysteria.
Wash, rinse, repeat on a host of issues.
Florida: When sexual orientation is taboo in schools
"There is zero evidence that what you learn in school can change your sexual orientation or change your gender identity," she said. "It doesn't work that way. So they're basing it on really scary scenarios that don't really exist.
Right to shape the curriculum
In that context, it's worth noting that critical race theory — an academic concept centered on the idea that racism is systemic in US institutions — is not necessarily explicitly taught in most places.
Likewise, sexual orientation and gender identity have never been part of the curriculum in kindergarten and elementary school in Florida. What, then, are conservative forces in the state fighting to protect?
Many people suspect Governor DeSantis wants to make a name for himself within the Republican Party and among voters.
"All of this is designed to help whip up right-wing fervor, to help him bypass Donald Trump to the right of the party, to win reelection in 2022 and go off and run for president in 2024," said Wolf.
In a recent survey by polling firm Ipsos, nearly two out of three US respondents opposed laws like the one in Florida that ban the teaching of sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary schools.
The many thousands of people who took to the streets to protest the bill, including many students, certainly do not want the law. Parents, who are being promised they will have more of a say, actually appreciate having someone who will teach such subjects, said Goldfarb, adding that most parents are not experts, and they value having sex education in schools.
"Every state probably has an opt-out option for sex education, so if you don't want your child to participate in sex education, they don't have to," she said.
In fact, some states — including Arizona — since last year is among five states that only offer an opt-in, meaning parents must actively elect for their child to take part in sex education classes.
'It doesn't work that way'
Even if sexual orientation and gender identity are openly discussed in kindergartens and elementary schools, the fear conservatives harbor that it would encourage children to become gay, lesbian, transgender or queer is utter nonsense, Goldfarb pointed out.
"There is zero evidence that what you learn in school can change your sexual orientation or change your gender identity," she said. "It doesn't work that way. So they're basing it on really scary scenarios that don't really exist.
In fact, not addressing sexual orientation with this generation of kids is bizarre — "like it's not even a thing to be gay, to be straight, to be trans," Goldfarb said. "We're going backwards by decades and decades and decades."
While some states seem to be moving in that direction, others are moving in a decidedly different direction. Legislation in Colorado requires public schools to provide "comprehensive human sexuality education," and California and New Jersey have similar statutes.
Goldfarb hopes the current reactionary mood will die down in view of real existing social problem such as high abortion rates, discrimination and violence against sexual minorities.
"These bills may give Republican politicians political benefits in the short term," asserted Wolf. "But that's not the direction the country is headed in the long run."
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