For the past 14 years, the California Teachers Association (CTA) has held an annual LGBTQ+ conference to train public school teachers how to affirm LGBTQ+ identities in their students and transform the way children of all ages view gender and sexual orientation. By all accounts, trainings like this and their implementation are having a profound effect on our culture. According to Gallup, the number of Generation Z people, born between 1997 and 2012, who identify as LGBTQ+ has doubled from 10.5 percent in 2017 to 20.8 percent in 2021.
Any parent with children in public school should understand this trend and know what is being taught to teachers at these conferences in order to protect their children. This year’s CTA “2022 LGBTQ+ Issues Conference” will be held at the Margaritaville in Resort Palm Springs, CA October 28-30. The conference is open to all CTA members, and promises to address LGBTQ+ issues involving educators, students, and the community under the theme “Connected by LOVE: The Threads of Our Community”. According to the promotional website, “Sessions will focus on diversity, inclusion & belonging and LOVE!”
The three-day conference has a busy agenda that includes a Racial Equity Advisory Committee (REAC) Forum, a Women’s Rights Committee Forum, as well as many other electives. One day alone offers 42 different sessions. We have highlighted the promised content of a few of the courses below, but you can read the full catalog of training options here.
One of the “Diversity” sessions is titled, “Breaking the Binary: Creating Inclusive Spaces in Elementary”. The goal of this session is to teach the attendees how to make elementary classrooms inclusive for all, and how to support nonbinary and trans students. According to the provided session description, “From pronoun introductions, to discussing gender stereotypes, to inclusive book reads, this workshop will give you the tools you need to go back to your classroom and apply your learning.”
One of the ‘LOVE’ sessions is titled, “Using Literature and Interactive Read Alouds to Promote an Inclusive Classroom.” This workshop teaches how to create an inclusive environment for all students by teaching the attendees how to “write an Interactive Read Aloud lesson plan that promotes literacy and inclusion.” This vague description gives little information, yet alludes to the idea of not just focusing on educating students to be literate, but to add LGBTQ+ language and stories into daily lessons. According to EdSource, data shows that California has the lowest literacy rate of any state, yet instead of hosting conferences and workshops on how to fix and improve literacy in California, a harmful political agenda is being pushed on innocent children instead.
Lastly, one of the ‘Inclusion and Belonging’ sessions is titled, “Challenging the Dominant Narrative: What Do We Talk About When We Talk About Gender?” The goal of this workshop is not only to explore the social construction of gender identity, but to “challenge the dominant narrative and begin to develop radical structures for talking about gender.” This statement alone proves that the CTA’s goal is to not just create a safe environment for LGBTQ+ students, but to challenge and tear apart the nuclear family. Part of the CTA’s mission statement is to “improve the conditions of teaching and learning.” Yet, how is tearing apart the nuclear family, taking away the innocence of children by teaching them about topics irrelevant to education, and creating “radical structures,” improving the conditions of teaching and learning?
Unfortunately, this progressive agenda being pushed by the CTA is being fully embraced by many school districts. For example, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) recently released a ‘Gender Identity Support Discussion Guide’. The document teaches that many “transgender” and “gender expansive” individuals are aware of their “identity” at a young age, thus teachers must support it, promote it, and even push them further along in the gender confusion even without parental knowledge. Many times this means introducing minors to the possibility of sterilizing transgender drugs and mutilating surgeries.
Yet, according to research done by The Heritage Foundation “easing access to puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones by minors without parental consent increases suicide rates.” Based on the facts, the LGBTQ+ programs, curriculums, and guides that are created to help children harm them instead.
The LAUSD guide also instructs teachers and administrators to teach students on how to use pronouns, and that they can choose a different name to go by, while not having to inform the child’s legal guardian of the changes. The guide lets students know they have access to restrooms and locker facilities based on their gender identity and not their biological gender. Thus, a high school senior who is biologically a male, but identifies as a female, has every right to use the same locker room as a biological freshman female.
While the California education system every day moves farther away from education toward pushing a political agenda, it is now more important than ever to pay attention to who you vote for during school board elections. It is also important to have intentional conversations with your children about their interactions in school, and teach them biblical values regarding gender, sex, marriage, and family.
