NJ parents express opposition to ‘gender-neutral’ transgender education policies

Parental advocacy groups have threatened lawsuits following a recent equity policy adopted by the New Jersey Education Board that replaces language referring to students as male and female with gender-neutral or trans terms.

During last Wednesday’s state board meeting, parental rights advocates protested the board’s decision to add trans language to the code. Members of various parental rights groups, including Protect Your Children and Team PYC, showed up to express disagreement with the changes, and more than 850 people sent comments to the state board. 

In comments provided on the proposed policy, some parents expressed concern that the changes to the equity policy would “confuse children, erase gender, strip parental rights, and silence religious liberty.” Opponents of these changes also voiced fears that the “deletion” of gender will prove harmful to female students, with others calling it “irresponsible” to teach children that they can change their sex.

Following the adoption of the policy, several members of parental rights groups threatened lawsuits, with some arguing that the proposed level of change could only occur through the state legislative process. 

The board is required to approve its equity code every seven years, with the recent policy passing by a 6-5 vote on Wednesday. The new policy had several language changes, such as replacing the words “minority, female and male” with “all” when discussing students. 

According to New Jersey Spotlight News, the board had until Aug. 29 to approve the changes before the current code expired.

New Jersey Democratic Gov. Chris Murphy’s office stated that the equity code has contained policies centered around trans-identifying students since 2003, Spotlight News reports.

The board members that voted in favor of the readoption include: Arcelio Aponte, Elaine Bobrove, Fatimah Burnam-Watkins, Nedd Johnson, Sylvia Sylvia-Cioffi and President Kathy Goldenberg. Board members Mary Beth Berry, Jack Fornaro, Mary Elizabeth Gazi, Joseph Ricca and Vice President Andrew Mulvihill voted against it. 

The New Jersey Education Board did not respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment.

The issue of parental rights in New Jersey previously made headlines in June when New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin filed lawsuits against three school districts for having policies that required schools to inform parents if their child expressed a desire to socially transition or identify as the opposite sex. 

As The Christian Post previously reported, Platkin filed complaints against the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District, the Marlboro Township Public Schools and the Middletown Township Public Schools in the Superior Court of New Jersey. 

Platkin’s office contended that the policies violated the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, warning that they would “result in significant and irreversible harm to students if not enjoined.” 

According to the state, these policies defy the guidelines developed by the New Jersey Department of Education, which declare that “there is no affirmative duty for any school district personnel to notify a student’s parent or guardian of the student’s gender identity or expression.”

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