Parents Sue School over Mandatory Homosexual Indoctrination Course

While one group of parents press the Alameda Unified School District (Calif.) in court for the right to opt out their kids from the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender studies, another group, called SERVE Alameda, works to recall three school trustees.

-- From "Alameda organization working to recall trustees says it's not a 'hate group'" by Lucinda Ryan, Correspondent, San Jose Mercury News 9/3/09

SERVE (Seeking Equity and Respect for all Viewpoints in Education) said Neil Tam, Tracy Jensen and Ron Mooney conducted their duties undemocratically because they ignored parents' requests to opt out of anti-bullying curriculum for kindergartners through fifth-graders. In particular, SERVE objects to the addition of an anti-bullying lesson on lesbian, gay and transgender families and individuals.

The Rev. Dion Evans said lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people deserve love and respect. But, he said, schools are "not for socializing and they're certainly not for indoctrination."

The group's brochure states that young and impressionable minds must be protected to preserve their innocence. The Lesson 9 plan includes a vocabulary list, which, at grade four, includes the words gay, lesbian and the acronym "LGBT."

Aside from the recall effort, 20 parents have filed a lawsuit against the district for declining opt-outs for parents who don't want their children to take the course. The parents are being represented by the Pacific Justice Institute, a nonprofit legal defense organization specializing in the defense of religious freedom, parental rights and other civil liberties.

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From "Parent and lawyer say lawsuit against district is question of parental rights" by Keith Gleason, Correspondent, San Jose Mercury News 8/22/09

Kevin Snider, chief counsel for the Pacific Justice Institute, a nonprofit, conservative legal defense organization in Sacramento, said he filed the lawsuit on behalf of the 20 Alameda school parents to protect the parents' rights to opt out their children from the new Alameda Unified School District-approved supplemental curriculum that will teach about gay alternative families to all elementary students.

Since the district adopted the curriculum in late May, numerous parents have sent letters to Superintendent Kristen Vital, requesting that their children be allowed to opt out of the instruction. The district recently sent form letters denying the parents' requests, which prompted the suit.

Vital declined to comment on the lawsuit. The district's attorney, Danielle Houck, was out of town and unavailable for comment.

School board president Mike McMahon, who voted against the curriculum because of the lack of an opt-out option for parents, said parents have a right to sue the district.

If the lawsuit goes to trial in Alameda County Superior Court, it has the possibility of being a precedent-setting case. "There isn't a precedent for it in case law," said Snider.

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From "Angry Parents Suing California Schools Over Mandatory Gay-Friendly Classes" FOXNews 9/3/09

The parents say they are concerned about "indoctrination" in the schools, but administrators say the course is needed to protect against sexual discrimination - and that the lessons are protected by laws in California and 10 other states.

Those states, which stretch from Washington to Maine, will now be eyeing the court results in California in a case that warring sides say pits parents' rights against a schools' responsibilities.

The contested California curriculum includes an annual 45-minute LGBT lesson taught to kids from kindergarten through the fifth grade. The kindergartners will focus on the harms of teasing, while the fifth graders will study sexual orientation stereotypes.

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