Groups in Glendale battle over LGBTQ+ education
The national debate over how gender and sexuality identity should be taught to children, and protected in schools, has come to the Glendale Unified School District and is likely to draw a contentious crowd at today's school board meeting.
Conservative groups and LGBTQ+ advocates are urging their supporters to be heard at the 5 p.m. meeting. The call to action comes on the heels of a heated Friday protest at Saticoy Elementary School, a Los Angeles Unified School District campus in North Hollywood where Armenian and conservative parents and LGBTQ+ advocates clashed over a Pride-themed assembly at which children learned about types of families, including families with same-sex parents.
Days before the assembly, a transgender teacher's Pride flag was burned at Saticoy Elementary. The Los Angeles Police Department is investigating the incident.
In the Glendale school district, some parents and conservative activists oppose how the district teaches students about gender and sexuality, as well as its policies on pronoun usage and transgender students' rights. In a post online, the group GUSD Parent Voices urged parents to attend today's meeting and “join the fight against indoctrination in our schools.”
“Many of these people (parents) do not agree on what is being taught in the school, let alone being told that their children can choose what gender they want to be,” said Jordan Henry, a father of a 1-year-old and 3-year-old and a member of GUSD Parents Voices. “The district discriminates against Christian, conservative religious parents.”
Other parents and LGBTQ advocates support the Glendale school district's curriculum and policies and are alarmed by what they see as anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric from groups online and at school board meetings.
“I am so appalled by the situation,” said Maria, a lesbian mother at GUSD who did not want to give her last name because of safety concerns. “I feel an absolute disgust for these people and their unnecessary hatred. I don't want to show my face at the meeting, because I don't want to become a target.”
In a May 28 post, the GUSD Parent Voices group shared the name, photo and gender identity of the transgender teacher whose Pride flag was burned at Saticoy Elementary School. In a Friday post, the group referred to a transgender woman and member of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council, Maebe A. Girl, as a man, calling her “maybe not a girl.”
Several parents have created a new group, GUSD Parents for Public Schools, to promote their views on inclusion.
“We appreciate the curriculum not only because it is following the laws of the state, but because it's the right thing to do, to have an inclusive curriculum that makes all students feel welcome,” said Deborah Pasachoff. “It shouldn't be controversial to say something like `some kids have two mommies,' because literally some of the kids in our classrooms have two mommies.”
Conflict over gender policies has been brewing at GUSD. In May 2022, outrage broke out after a public records request filed by then-Glendale City Council candidate Jordan Henry showed that in 2021 a third grade teacher showed students a video about gay pride and coming out. The teacher was subsequently reassigned within the district and no longer appears in the staff directory.
The past two GUSD school board meetings have been heated and included about four hours of public comment on topics related to gender.
In the wake of rising tension, GUSD Superintendent Vivian Ekchian published an online article intended to fight misinformation and clarify the school's curriculum and policies.
According to the document, elementary school students are not taught specific information about LGBTQ+ or gender identity, but are taught about lessons on diversity and different types of families. Students in secondary school are taught about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans in social studies classes as required by the state in Senate Bill 48.
“In Glendale Unified, we are committed to providing a safe, inclusive environment where every child can learn and thrive,” stated Ekchian. “We follow all laws and policies established by the California legislature and Department of Education.”
The district also follows state laws when it comes to policies regarding LGBTQ+ students. They include allowing students to be addressed by whatever gender pronoun they choose and using the locker room of the gender with which they identify.