By Linda Murphy

If you think that sex education in schools is for the older students and will just cover basic anatomy and normal bodily functions … If you think sex education is purely a scientific approach to informing students about what they need to know as teens … think again.

It has become routine in programs for Sex Education or “Puberty Education” to include much more controversial material and often at young ages.

In a letter to parents, Oklahoma’s Mid-Del Schools described their program for 5th graders as a video about “physical and emotional changes which occur during puberty.” That sounds fine to many parents, but the accompanying Instructor’s Guide includes (on page 24) a section entitled “Sex, Gender & Society” which states – “Gender Identity: This is about how a person feels and how he/she thinks about themselves when it comes to gender. Everyone’s gender identity is unique to them and should be respected.” The complete section is copied below.

Sex, Gender & Society

Let’s start with a few definitions:

Biological sex: A person’s biological sex is based on the genitals they’re born with and the chromosomes they have. At birth, most people are either male or female.

Gender identity: This is about how a person feels and how he/she thinks about themself when it comes to gender. Everyone’s gender identity is unique to them and should be respected.

Gender roles and stereotyping: These are socially constructed – they relate to characteristics and behaviors that are typically thought to go alongside a person’s biological sex. They can often stereotype girls and boys. They might have started to notice that people expect them to look, act or behave in a certain way just because they’re a girl or boy. We call this stereotyping.

Don’t let society limit what they can do!

Their biological sex shouldn’t define what they can or can’t do – and stereotyping someone because of their gender, or thinking that someone is better or worse because of their gender, can be very harmful. Reinforce with your students – they don’t have to let these norms limit them. Girls and boys can be whoever they want to be! Encourage them to stay strong and believe that they can achieve anything!

They’re great, just the way they are.

We are all different and that’s what makes us beautiful. Imagine if we all looked the same – how boring would that be? If someone teases them about how they look, they can try to ignore it. There is no right or wrong way to look. Instead, they need to try and focus on staying healthy and happy, be proud of their uniqueness and be supportive of those around them.

(Proctor & Gamble’s, Always Changing and Growing Up – Puberty Education Program, Instructor’s Guide, Pg. 24)

Sex Education has been controversial from the beginning, but today the political forces set on forcing societal change through our children are even more aggressive. In the early 90s the Oklahoma State Senate voted unanimously to send the newly developed “Oklahoma Learner Outcomes” back to the State Department of Education. Sex Education in lower elementary was part of the highly controversial outcomes that had been sent to schools statewide following HB1017.

The Outcomes were openly opposed on the floor of the State Senate by Democrats and Republicans. Today we have a State Superintendent who has encouraged the LGBTQ agenda to be followed in the public schools and even sent out a memorandum that implied it was required in all K-12 schools. The Superintendent used the LGBTQ promotional materials straight from the Southern Poverty Law Center ( SPLC), well known for extreme positions and open disdain for Christians and conservatives.

The agenda to change the minds and lives of students and all Oklahomans is easily seen in an earlier article I wrote in this column. You can find it online on the Oklahoma Constitution newspaper website. It is entitled “Oklahoma City’s LGBTQ+ Pride Alliance and K-12 Grade Students Curriculum.” Here is just a portion of the article with quotes from the organizers of an award ceremony held in Oklahoma City, during Gay Pride Week:

“Dr. Shauna Lawlis…. an OU physician who’s doing incredible work with their Roy G. Biv program, and they basically help trans (transgender) kids with any kind of medical stuff they have.”

“Lawlis, who works in adolescent medicine at OU Medicine, said the Roy G. Biv program provides patients 10-25 years old with affirming treatment. While undergoing her pediatric residency training, she came to enjoy her rotation in adolescent medicine so much that she decided to pursue a fellowship in that area with an LGBTQ+ component.”

“I have a lot of family members that are LGBTQ (said Lawlis) and I really felt that (if they) had an affirming adult in their life when they were younger, it would have really had a positive impact. I felt like if it can’t be your parents, maybe it can be your doctor,’ Lawlis said. ‘The program existed for several years before I came, and they were seeing transgender patients for several years before I came and started here at OU. We provide productive health counseling, such as testing equipment for STDs, birth control, we deal with menstrual issues, we provide puberty blockers and gender-affirming hormones when appropriate. We have a link with various therapists in the community and we also have two therapists within our own group who are LGBTQ-affirming providers to help get patients the help they need. We work with a statewide network to help provide care to these kids.’”

The momentum to push for far more comprehensive sex education in public schools is very clear. This goal involves some if not all of the people in the Oklahoma City-County Health Department and no doubt at OU Medicine.

(www.oklahomaconstitution.com – “Oklahoma City’s LGBTQ+ Pride Alliance and K-12 Grade Students Curriculum”)

EVERY PARENT…. Must take on the full responsibility for their child’s education. They should look carefully at what is coming into their child’s classroom through video, computer and printed curriculum. I know many teachers and school nurses do not support teaching children they can choose their gender identity, but there are others who do. Oklahoma parents and communities must look closely and take a stand against an agenda that is in opposition to their beliefs, common sense and science. Local school board members need to be informed when parents are concerned about what their child is being taught. They may not know when controversial curriculum is introduced. It is each parent’s right and responsibility to speak up about issues that effect their own child, and to remove their child when material they know is harmful will be presented.

Linda Murphy was Oklahoma Governor Keating’s Education Advisor, Deputy Commissioner of Labor for Workforce Education and Training, Administrator of the Eastern Oklahoma Department of Labor, Member of the State Job Training Coordinating Council, and the Governor’s School-to-Work Council. She was a candidate for State Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1994, 1998 and 2018. Murphy was appointed by Governor Keating as Secretary of Education but denied confirmation by the majority Democrat Education Committee, following her 49.5% statewide vote in 1994. She also served on the Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women. You may contact Linda at: lindalearn1@yahoo.com