Kindergartens and gender ideology

Children are increasingly being exposed to harmful gender ideology, but Florida's Governor Ron De Santis has pushed back to protect young school children from sexualisation by signing the Parental Rights in Education Bill into law after it recently passed both of the State’s houses. “I don’t care what corporate media outlets say, I don’t care what Hollywood says, and I don’t care what big corporations say. Here I stand: I’m not backing down” De Santis told media and a cheering crowd at the signing of HB 1557.

The new law has been a lightning rod for woke outrage over recent weeks. With the support of the corporate press, critics have labelled it the 'Don’t Say Gay' bill and characterised it as an attack on LGBTQI youth. A more serious and enduring critic of the legislation – whom De Santis also had in view in his reference to both Hollywood and big corporations – was Disney. Bizarrely, when considering the role Disneyland has in influencing the minds of young children, Disney is less than happy about it. Following the passage of the law, the Walt Disney Company’s Twitter account released a statement announcing that: 'Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting both the national and state organisations working to achieve that. We are dedicated to standing up for the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ members of the Disney family, as well as the LGBTQ+ community in Florida and across the country'.

In actual fact, the legislation says nothing about the people Disney mentioned in its statement. Instead, it shields children between the ages of 4 and 8 from sexualised content in their school curriculum. It also doesn’t mention the word 'gay' – or ban use of the word 'gay' – in schools or anywhere else. The controversial clause of the new law simply states: 'Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through to Grade Three, or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards'. Among the many other things not banned in the new law are children discussing sexuality or gender identity with their parents, with each other, or even with their teachers. The law doesn’t ban conversations, but it does prevent classroom curriculum that may promote gender ideology.

Transparency is protected too, so parents will be aware of what's being taught in their child’s classroom and the types of conversation that are taking place between their child and school staff. The principle purpose of the law, however, is to place the burden for teaching young children about sex and gender back where it belongs: on their parents.

Kindergarten to Grade Three is the main focus of Florida’s new law. For older students – whom woke activists have purportedly been defending – classroom instruction on sexuality and gender identity is allowed, so long as it is at an 'age-appropriate' level. In Ron DeSantis' view Disney crossed the line on Florida's Parental Rights in Education bill, reminding the company that California corporate executives don't run his state.

One must ask why Disney is so outraged over this legislation. It is not uncommon today for corporations to virtue-signal on woke politics, but a children’s entertainment empire stating that it is their goal as a company to make sure kindergarten-age children can learn about gender fluidity, trans rights and sex acts? We could be generous and suggest that the leadership of this $200 billion behemoth has misunderstood the bill or thoughtlessly jumped on a bandwagon, but it seems improbable. It's more likely that Disney executives comprehend the Bill perfectly well, yet they still wish for the State to step between children and their parents to introduce rainbow sexuality to kids who would otherwise be learning the alphabet, phonics and basic mathematics.

While it has been called the 'Don’t Say Gay' Bill by critics, defenders have called it an anti-grooming law – and accurately so. Why should adults be allowed to expose young minds to decadent concepts about which children of past generations knew absolutely nothing? Moreover, why would any of this need to be hidden from parents? Children are our heritage. They should be protected from the increasing sexual perversion of woke culture. This truth may be unpopular but it is one that Christians, in particular, must hold to unflinchingly.

One of the most courageous politicians in Australia to be fighting the same fight as Florida's Governor De Santis is NSW One Nation MLC Mark Latham. Although he is not a believer (to our knowledge) he is taking up the fight that every church and every Christian should be getting behind. His Parental Rights Bill has recently been tabled after sitting on the shelf throughout the duration of Covid-19. This Bill deserves to be passed, both for the children of NSW and to set a precedent for all other States and Territories.

But you may ask, what is the harm of allowing young children to learn about sexuality? Isn’t it safer for them to be learning about it at an early age so they may be prepared for real life? No. Studies show that sexualization of young girls is linked to common health problems including eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression. The fact of the matter is that we are allowing the creation of a generation of hyper-sexualised children (who arguably become hyper-sexualised adults) by bombarding them with sexual content – through schools, the media and social media. The pervasiveness of sexual and violent messages is both astounding and alarming and it is leading to life-long problems. This constant saturation of sexual and violent images, whilst highly effective in selling products, is confusing and scary to young children who are incapable of understanding and processing their meaning. It is incumbent on us – the adults in this equation – to fight for the hearts and minds of these kids because there are predators out there who are ready to devour them, right underneath the noses of their parents.