Catholic Church leaders told parishioners at masses in Austin this weekend that they should not allow their children to take part in Austin public schools’ sex education lessons this spring.
The directive comes after the trustees of the Austin Independent School District (AISD) approved a human sexuality curriculum that church leaders opposed.
The Catholic Church teaches that there are two genders, male and female, created by God. AISD’s new lessons instead teach that gender is fluid and not binary.
Churches now are disseminating flyers in English and Spanish explaining how parents can fill out an opt-out form, and a letter from the Catholic Bishop saying the new curriculum “misleads children” and “promotes grave immorality.”
“Parents are the primary educators of their children, particularly in the area of human sexuality,” says the flyer. “Fill out the opt-out form and return it to the school as soon as possible.”
Joe Vásquez, the Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Austin, said in a letter to parishioners that the new curriculum “misinforms students regarding human sexuality, promotes grave immorality, and exposes children to unwarranted risk of harm.”
“With the far-reaching impact of education in the area of human sexuality, it is critical that our children receive formation rooted in objective truth.”
Vásquez is the head of all Roman Catholic churches in central Texas. He had sent another letter to the trustees in October, prior to a unanimous vote to approve the new curriculum. In it, he said, “I am not asking the public school district to propose tenets of faith to their students. Rather, my request concerns the common good, which the proposed curriculum threatens.”
Some parts of the curriculum, he added, are “based on unproven and controversial theories. For example, in the lesson summary entitled, ‘Identity,’ the proposed curriculum reflects the promotion of a gender theory – namely, that gender identity is unrelated to one’s bodily sex – which remains an unproven hypothesis.”
The bishop added, “The growing acceptance of this theory has dramatically increased the desire for experimental interventions to address gender dysphoria despite the lack of convincing evidence that such interventions are beneficial.”
“In reality, the overall failure of hormonal and surgical interventions to address gender dysphoria effectively, and the harmful side effects of such interventions (including increased risk of suicide), present strong reasons to view such a theory with suspicion.”
AISD’s new curriculum includes lessons for 3rd through 8th grade students that cover topics like healthy relationships, personal safety, gender identity, anatomy, puberty, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases.
Under the approved lesson plans, 6th graders will learn to “differentiate between gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation” and “recognize injustices and plan ways to denounce inequality.”
Using a matching activity, 7th graders will learn terms like “gender identity,” “transgender,” “cisgender,” “transphobia,” and non-binary.”
