Burnt Orange Report

Only in Texas...

By Byron LaMasters

Ok, maybe in Kansas, Utah or *insert your favorite Jesusland state here*, but in case anyone had any doubt before, we have complete morons on our state board of education. I missed this last week amid my avoid-everything-political mini-hiatus, but Roman Candles covered the details of their latest moves. Take a look at some of the textbook changes proposed by Texas State Board of Education member Terri Leo (R-Spring):

A State Board of Education member stalled a vote to approve middle school health textbooks Thursday by saying the books should condemn homosexuality and make clear that marriage exists only between men and women.

Board member Terri Leo, R-Spring, called for about 30 changes to teachers' and students' editions of proposed health books in grades six through eight.

[...]

Leo said that three of the 10 middle school books up for approval would not conform to a state law banning the recognition of same-sex unions as marriages. She said they endorse same-sex marriage by referring to the heads of families as couples or adults instead of husbands and wives or fathers and mothers.

"We're considered a state agency, and we need public acts and records recognizing that marriage is between a man and a woman," she said.

Some of her suggestions, however, go beyond the marriage issue.

One passage in a teachers' edition says that "surveys indicate that 3 to 10 percent of the population is gay. No one knows for sure why some people are straight, some are bisexual and others are gay."

Leo wanted to replace those sentences with: "Opinions vary on why homosexuals, lesbians and bisexuals as a group are more prone to self-destructive behaviors like depression, illegal drug use and suicide."

"This is an effort that is both ridiculous and hateful, to essentially try to eliminate homosexuality from health textbooks," said Samantha Smoot, president of the Texas Freedom Network, an Austin group that monitors social conservatism in government.

State law says the board can judge textbooks for their factual accuracy and compliance with state curriculum guidelines. George Rislov of the Texas Education Agency's curriculum division said the guidelines for middle school health classes do not define marriage.

Perhaps worse than gay-bashing though, is some board member's insistance that the effectiveness of condoms be deemphasized:

Gail Lowe, R-Lampasas, asked that the books not stress the effectiveness of condoms in fighting sexually transmitted diseases. Patricia Hardy, R-Fort Worth, asked for a teachers' edition to include a chart about contraceptives.

One word: Morons. Of course condoms aren't 100% effective, and that ought to be stressed, but tell kids the truth. Terri Leo's interest in the increased "depression, illegal drug use and suicide" of gays and lesbians only serves to scare kids that may be unsure of their sexual orientation, and encourage discrimination against openly gay or lesbian students.

Let me put it this way. Here's a minor twist on Terri Leo's comments regarding homosexuality in coming up with a definition for a heterosexual sexual orientation:

"Opinions vary on why heterosexuals as a group are more prone to self-destructive behaviors like unwanted pregnancies, abortion, child abuse and molestation."

Sarah has the final update on the textbook situation. In a rare moment of sanity, the board excluded Leo's request, but they still failed to include comprehensive information about birth control and preventing STD's:

From the Texas Women’s Coalition:

The State Board of Education (SBOE) voted 13-1 today to approve all four high school health textbooks. Due in large part to the efforts of the Protect Our Kids Coalition, Glencoe/McGraw-Hill added to its two Teacher’s Editions a chart listing information about birth control and methods of preventing sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). (The Holt Teacher’s Edition already contained this information.) Unfortunately, publishers did not add this life-saving information to their Student’s Editions. The 4 million high school students who will rely on these books for up-to-date, accurate information will be left to learn from friends, television and the Internet.

The SBOE also voted to add to the Holt middle school textbooks a definition of marriage as between a man and a woman. The publishers did not make other changes about homosexuality proposed yesterday by religious-right SBOE member Terri Leo.

So, sorta good news. I don't care about the marriage issue as much as I do about contraceptive information and homophobic language. Texas law defines marriage between a man and a woman, and I disagree with it, but I respect it as the law of the land. But Leo's proposed langauge was solely based on right-wing ideology and pseudoscience. Not including information about contraceptives is a pure failure of protecting the public health by the state. Teaching kids proper use of contraceptives prevents unwanted pregnancies, prevents abortions and saves lives. It's that simple.

Posted by Byron LaMasters at November 8, 2004 11:19 PM | TrackBack