Tag: indoctrination

California Ordered to Cut ‘Gender Ideology’ From Sexual Education

The Trump administration has given California 60 days to remove all references to transgender or non-binary gender concepts from its federally funded sex education curriculum—or risk losing millions of dollars in federal funding.

In a letter sent on June 20, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said California’s Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) materials include “gender ideology” content not permitted under federal law.

Citing multiple lesson plans and teacher guides, the agency said the state’s curriculum teaches that gender identity is distinct from biological sex—something ACF says is outside the program’s statutory scope.

“The Trump Administration will not tolerate the use of federal funds for programs that indoctrinate our children,” ACF acting assistant secretary Andrew Gradison said in a statement. “The disturbing gender ideology content in California’s PREP materials is both unacceptable and well outside the program’s core purpose.”

Among the flagged material are lessons describing transgender, non-binary, gender-fluid identities, as well as references to social and medical gender transitions, including hormone therapy and “gender-affirming” surgeries.

ACF stated that these subjects fall outside the statutory framework of the PREP program, which is designed to educate youth on abstinence, contraception, and select adulthood preparation topics such as healthy relationships, financial literacy, and job readiness. Teaching about gender identity does not qualify, the agency says.

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How ‘Equity’ debases education

In the current backlash against DEI, most criticism is focused on the “D” — diversity — which replaces the principle of meritocracy with racial criteria in hiring, admissions, and promotions. Notorious examples of implementation include police and fire departments lowering requirements for education and physical fitness, or aviation authorities adopting  biographical assessment in place of traditional skill-based hiring evaluations.

The “E” — equity — is more complex. Equity has replaced the concept of equality, which progressive ideology in the U.S. deems discriminatory because of its emphasis on individual effort that may result in unequal outcomes. A symbolic definition is that the educational equity must provide every child with what he needs to achieve his full academic and social potential. This vision resembles Karl Marx’s idealistic communism that provides resources “to each according to his needs.” Although formulated in the Marxist sense, equity is more restrictive because it is supposed to benefit children from only “underprivileged” backgrounds. But, beyond empty reasoning, equity’s actual goal is absolute equality in the educational outcomes regardless of individual ability or effort. To accomplish this, curricula and teaching methodology are being drastically rewritten in many parts of the country.

The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields have come under increased scrutiny. Critics argue that these disciplines have historically been tools of nationalism, colonialism, and systemic inequity. As a result, some school districts across the country are scaling back advanced curricular offerings. Mathematics has especially faced pressure due to its perceived role in perpetuating discrimination and cultural dominance. Many equity-focused proposals aim to reduce the emphasis on mathematics in school programs.  Common suggestions include eliminating accelerated mathematical tracks in middle school, removing early-entry algebra for gifted students, and consolidating high school algebra and geometry into an “integrated math” course.

Aligned with these equity principles are significant changes in teaching methodology. Traditional grading practices are increasingly viewed as inequitable and are being reconsidered or eliminated in some districts. Proposals often include removing homework deadlines and allowing late work without penalty. In subjects such as reading and mathematics, achievement levels are being abolished, with all students placed in honors classes regardless of academic performance.

In terms of student discipline, many schools have adopted “restorative justice” approaches as an alternative to traditional punitive measures. This model focuses on mediation and rehabilitation rather than suspension, emphasizing support not only for the victim, but the offender too. More than 20 states have already enacted policies introducing restorative justice in schools. These practices involve allowing misbehaving students to avoid traditional consequences and even receive incentives such as snacks or breaks in quiet spaces. The restorative justice programs let misbehavers blame factors outside their control, that is, typically societal injustice.

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Trans kids: the must-have accessory for A-list celebs

There are some points a society gets to on various issues and you think: ‘Yes! This is just right! This bit could stop right here and it would be perfect!’ And then some bright-spark no-mark goes and thinks: ‘I know what – let’s take it a bit further and see what happens…’ The results are invariably rubbish.

‘Anti-racism’ goes from colourblindness to DEI. ‘Equality of the sexes’ becomes lots of simple-minded babble about Strong Women who shout ‘Yas, Kween!’ at random intervals. The labrador and the poodle become the labradoodle, just for the hell of it. (The man who invented the breed has since noted that healthy labradoodles are ‘few and far between’ and most are ‘crazy or have a hereditary problem’.)

Think of reproduction. What could have been a better idea for couples having trouble reproducing than adoption, whereby a child languishing in an orphanage would be chosen by an infertile couple and, in the best version of outcomes, told every day how ‘special’ they are to have been picked from all those other orphans. But then some greedy and maybe mad scientist invented surrogacy. Suddenly, the orphans could go hang. Narcissistic rich people started seeking babies who look like them. Then the gays got in on it. So, women are good for something, after all!

Gay surrogacy reached critical mass some years back when a storyline in the Archers had the resident Lovely Gay Couple, Adam and Ian, hiring a Bulgarian fruit-picker to have a baby for them. Lexi, the surrogate mother, has two children she is separated from due to economic circumstances. At this point, she is in the early stages of a relationship with a man who was once a racist but now understands that love sees no passport. After initial hostility to the fact that his lover would be renting out her womb to a pair of polenta-bothering ponces, former racist Roy saw the light and came to believe that there should be no just impediment to a Lovely Gay Couple’s right to Complete Their Family.

One becomes immune to headlines like the one in the Daily Mail this week: ‘Scott Mills reveals why he “can’t imagine” ever having children as he discusses life with husband’ – the ‘reveal’ obviously being that the Radio 2 presenter is a gay man married to another gay man. There is something risibly mimsy about men who can’t bring themselves to have sex with women but want to enjoy the benefits of reproduction. Can’t they just grit their teeth and do it the traditional way, as the late Paul O’Grady did? ‘People ask me how I’ve got a daughter and I say: “The same way your mum and dad had you!”. Someone held your chips and you cracked on with it in the bus shelter.’

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Report: Judge Allows Iowa to Keep Restricting Gender Identity Teaching in Schools

A federal judge said Thursday that Iowa can continue to restrict teaching on gender identity and sexual orientation in elementary schools, per a report.

The restrictions affect children through sixth grade but the state must permit non-mandatory programs related to those issues, according to the Associated Press (AP). The outlet said it was a split decision by U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher.

He recently temporarily blocked part of the law that would bar school libraries from keeping books on their shelves that depict sexual acts. In response, the state requested the decision be overturned.

The AP article continued:

Republican majorities in the Iowa House and Senate passed the law in 2023, intending to reinforce what they consider to be age-appropriate education in kindergarten through 12th grades. It’s been a back-and-forth battle in the courts in the two years since. The provisions of the law that are being challenged were temporarily blocked by Locher in December 2023, just before they became enforceable. That decision was overturned in August by the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, meaning the law has been enforceable for most of the current school year.

Locher’s recent split decision partially sided with an LGBTQ advocacy group who, along with some educators and students, sued Iowa over the issue.

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Now woke schools teach pupils that Stonehenge was built by black people… while Waterloo and Trafalgar go untaught

Children are being taught that Stonehenge was built by black people and the Roman Emperor Nero married a trans woman as woke narratives increasingly infiltrate schools, according to an education think-tank.

They are also being told – in pro-transgender resources – that genital mutilation of slaves was a form of ‘gender transition’.

But landmark British victories such as those at Waterloo and Trafalgar go largely untaught – with as few as one in ten pupils learning about them.

A Policy Exchange investigation has warned that schools have ‘taken it too far’ as they adapt history curriculums in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests.

The prestigious centre-Right unit found that George Floyd’s death in 2020 led to schools hastily including material about ethnic minorities to appear ‘anti-racist’.

Former history teacher and chairman of Campaign for Real Education Chris McGovern said it was ‘clear that the subject has been captured by the Left’.

The report added that some resources, such as the book Brilliant Black British History, push ‘contested narratives’ – such as black people building Stonehenge.

The book is marketed as ‘a must-have in any school library’ but its claim that early black Britons built the world-famous Neolithic stone circle is ‘hotly contested and outside mainstream historical thinking’ yet ‘presented as fact’, according to the think-tank.

While in some cases these initiatives have a ‘positive effect’, such as exposing pupils to ‘wider world history’, the report flagged serious concerns about replacing facts with biased narratives.

It warned: ‘In too many cases this process has gone too far, leading to the teaching of radical and contested interpretations of the past as fact, or with anecdotes of interesting lives replacing a deeper understanding of the core drivers of history.’

One resource, from the Classical Association’s ‘Queering the Past’ project, claims the Roman Emperor Nero married a trans woman called Sporus but omits the fact that they probably underwent a forced castration rather than consensual gender reassignment. 

It comes as the Government conducts its curriculum review to ‘reflect the issues and diversities of our society’ – which the report says may be unnecessary as schools already do it.

Backed by former education secretaries Lord Blunkett and Nadhim Zahawi, it also calls for pupils to be impartially given a better overview of British history.

A Classical Association spokesman said its teaching resources were ‘complicated and nuanced’ where ‘more than one interpretation is possible’.

A Department for Education spokesman said: ‘The curriculum and assessment review is considering how to ensure young people have access to a broad and balanced curriculum.’

Meanwhile, Mr McGovern warned history is ‘seen as a vehicle for undermining and destroying British national identity’.

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‘Predatory Indoctrination’: Parents Outraged Over Museum Of Natural History’s New Video Aimed At Kids

Although the Trump administration has made significant inroads toward eradicating the taxpayer-supported spread of transgender ideology across America’s youth, some examples of the insidious practice still remain.

Most recently, New York’s Museum of Natural History began drawing harsh criticism from parents and others who oppose an eight-minute video being played on a loop inside the museum.

“Dragfox,” a stop-motion-animated production, tells the story of a fox who takes a “magical journey” with a cross-dressing boy wearing his sister’s dress.

The thinly veiled pro-trans message wasn’t lost on a slew of parents and children’s advocates, as the New York Post reported:

De-transitioner Oli London rejected the film’s sentiment that transitioning magically brings happiness.

“Children should not be exposed to gender ideology in any format,” said London, who’s 35 and detransitioned two years after beginning the grueling process.

He railed against the animated film aimed at “targeting” youngsters by including a character with a “cute, friendly-looking fox . . . encouraging them to become confused with their gender identity and become trans. Children should be off-limits from radical gender ideology.”

Parents accused the museum of straying from its mission to “discover, interpret, and disseminate —through scientific research and education — knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe.”

Instead of understanding science, they’re “ignoring” it by “presenting something that’s ideological as scientific fact,” said Natalya Murakhaver, an UWS mom-of-two and documentary filmmaker, who blasted the screening as “predatory behavior for young, impressionable children.

“I think we have activists running the museum who are trying to portray their idea of reality as fact, when it’s actually ideological,” she added.

But “Dragfox” director, Lisa Ott, exulted during a 2024 BAFTA award acceptance speech that the short “celebrates drag queens and trans joy.” The singular goal of the film was to “have one little queer kid or trans child out there feel a little bit less alone.”

The festival is a way to “step beyond your comfort zone to listen, feel, and see yourself reflected in the stories presented on screen,” insisted Jacqueline Handy, the AMNH Director of Public Programs.

It’s more insidious than that, said downtown mom of two, Jacqueline Toboroff. Showing a loaded film aimed at kids is “predatory indoctrination” meant to sow chaos, she said.

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Three Rogue Judges Block Trump Admin Efforts To Eradicate Discriminatory DEI From Schools

The attempted judicial coup continues apace as three federal district court judges issued directives to stop the Trump administration’s ability to halt federal funding for schools that participate in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) discrimination.

Thursday saw district judges in Maryland, New Hampshire, and Washington, D.C., issue separate sweeping orders to stop some of the major education reforms President Donald Trump was elected to enact.

“Unelected judges, keen to disrupt the President’s efforts to remove color-consciousness from American education have forgotten that the judiciary is the only non-political branch of our tripartite system of government,” Sarah Parshall Perry, vice president and legal fellow at Defending Education, told The Federalist. “Judges that prohibit the Department of Education’s enforcement of its ‘Dear Colleague Letter’ and related civil rights compliance form forget that both are constitutional and a plain-text application of longstanding federal civil rights laws like Title VI.”

“That law specifically conceives that institutions which do not uphold race neutral policies can have their federal funding revoked,” she continued. “Judges are bound to interpret the laws as they read — not as judges wish they read.”

The cases, brought by far-left teachers unions, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and others, were decided by two Trump-appointed judges and one appointee of President Barack Obama. They also came just one day after Trump signed yet another executive order trying to rein in the DEI-caused destruction in schools.

New Hampshire District Judge Landya B. McCafferty, the Obama appointee, claimed that the Department of Education did not properly define DEI in a Feb. 14, 2025, “Dear Colleague Letter,” despite the fact that, as McCafferty herself acknowledges, the letter exhaustively described the insidious ideology.

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Supreme Court likely to rule for parental opt-out on LGBTQ books in schools

The Supreme Court on Tuesday was sympathetic to a group of Maryland parents who want to be able to opt their elementary-school-aged children out of instruction that includes LGBTQ+ themes. The parents argued that the local school board’s refusal to give them that choice violates their religious beliefs and therefore their constitutional right to freely exercise their religion. During nearly two-and-a-half hours of oral argument, a majority of the justices seemed to agree with them, with several justices questioning whether there would even be any harm to simply allowing the parents to excuse their children from the instruction. 

The parents in the case have children in the public schools in Montgomery County, which is in the Washington, D.C., suburbs and is one of the most religiously diverse counties in the United States. The parents include Tamer Mahmoud and Enas Barakat, who are Muslim, Melissa and Chris Persak, who are Roman Catholic, and Svitlana and Jeff Roman, who are Ukrainian Orthodox and Roman Catholic. 

In 2022, the county’s school board approved books featuring LGBTQ+ characters for use in its language-arts curriculum. One book describes the story of a girl attending her uncle’s same-sex wedding, for example, while another book, Pride Puppy, tells the story of a puppy that gets lost during a Pride parade. 

The following year, the board announced that it would no longer allow parents to excuse their children from instruction using the LGBTQ-themed storybooks. That prompted the parents in this case to go to federal court, where they argued that the board’s refusal to allow them to opt their children out violated their rights under the First Amendment to freely exercise their religion because it stripped them of their ability to instruct their children on issues of gender and sexuality according to their respective faiths and to control how and when their children are exposed to these issues. 

The lower courts refused to temporarily require the school board to notify the parents when the storybooks would be used and give them a chance to opt their children out of instruction. A federal appeals court reasoned that on the “threadbare” facts before it, the parents had not demonstrated that exposing their children to the storybooks compelled the parents to violate their religion. 

Several justices had questions about what it means for children to be “exposed” to the storybooks. Justice Clarence Thomas asked Eric Baxter – who argued on behalf of the parents – whether the LGBTQ-themed storybooks were merely present in the classroom, or instead actively used as part of the curriculum. 

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Showdown Looms Over Trump’s DEI Ban in Public Schools

Several blue states have joined New York in resisting federal efforts to end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in public schools.

Leaders in California, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Wisconsin, and Washington said they wouldn’t provide a signed statement to the federal government by an April 24 deadline to certify compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive order prohibiting practices such as diversity training, affinity groups by race and gender, preferential hiring practices by race, and classroom curricula that include progressive ideologies such as critical race theory.

The federal correspondence sent to state education agencies asked leaders to report back on behalf of all their school districts. New York was the first state to dismiss the request, and the other states followed suit last week.

“There is nothing in state or federal law—including Title VI—that outlaws the broad concepts of ‘diversity,‘ ‘equity,’ or ’inclusion,’” David Schapira, California Department of Education deputy superintendent, wrote in an April 11 letter to school districts.

States and districts that don’t comply risk losing federal education funding in accordance with Civil Rights law and a 2023 Supreme Court decision banning racial preferences in college admissions, the federal letter states.

It’s unclear where other states stand in this process. The Department of Education informed The Epoch Times that Puerto Rico, a U.S. commonwealth, had complied with the order, but the agency had not reported updates by state.

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The Prussian Model and the failure of personal ethics

The system of education that we use in the United States (and many other nations) is called the Prussian Model. Born of Prussia’s military failings in the Napoleonic Wars, the German kingdom developed an “education” system designed to indoctrinate children, year-by-year, from age 6 to 16, into full compliance with the state and its military leaders. The point was, bluntly, to ensure that “no German soldier would ever disobey an order again.”

The system worked. To the world’s horror, German soldiers and citizens — despite growing up in what seemed like a liberal democracy — a socialist liberal democracy at that — committed any atrocity asked of them during World War II.

The Prussian Model largely explains why American and British schools are so often staffed by compliant rule followers and petty tyrants.

“But I hope that the irony of the phrase helps to justify my decision to let students climb into school through the window. Who was I to judge their reasons for being late? What if they were taking care of a sick sibling? What if they were traveling a long distance because they’d been camped out on someone’s couch last night? What if they planned to skip school, then had a change of heart at the last minute? The inherent message of penalizing kids for being late, instead of just getting them into the classroom as quickly as possible, is Dude, if you’re going to be late to class, don’t even bother. Just stay home.”

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