Pro-family activism that makes a difference!
 
 

Major parents' rights bill in public hearing Tuesday

Also at hearing: Planned Parenthood bills to force sexuality/ homosexuality into schools!

POSTED: Sept. 17, 2011

See posts below on Tuesday's public hearing:

1. Public hearing Tuesday, Sept. 20, in State House.

2. MassResistance introduces "The David Parker Bill" H1060 - powerful parents' rights bill that will REALLY protect parents and kids!

3.Liberals file 5 bills to force Planned Parenthood sex-ed/ homosexuality agenda into public schools!

4. Alternative parents' rights bills fall short of full protection -- being supported by "moderate" pro-family groups.

5. Should you go to Tuesday's public hearing? Is there a better way to be heard?

1. Public hearing Tuesday, Sept. 20, in State House on sex-ed / homosexuality bills affecting schools.


This Tuesday, September 20, the Joint Education Committee of the Massachusetts Legislature is holding a public hearing on critical bills regarding the sex-education agenda and homosexual agenda in the public schools.

Joint Education Committee Public Hearing
Place: State House, Room A2
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 20
Time: 10:00 am

See the hearing schedule HERE. The general topic is "Health". This includes three pro-family bills, five bills pushing the Planned Parenthood sex-ed/homosexuality agenda.

There are also several other "health" bills on various topics such as lunches, physical education, etc.

Seeking to change previous MassResistance accomplishments

The bills we are concerned with all aim to change two things that MassResistance accomplished several years ago (at that time we were known as Parents' Rights Coalition):

1. In 1996 we wrote, lobbied and got passed the current Parental Notification Law (Ch 71, Sec. 32A) which is still state law. It allows parents to "opt-out" their kids on "human sexuality issues". At the time it seemed reasonably sufficient. But it's terribly out of date, the text allows for many unforeseen loopholes and, and unfortunately is now virtually useless. We want to update that and make it stronger.

2. Before 1998, "health" (sex ed, homosexuality, etc.) was required by the Department of Education's as part of every school's curriculum. But in 1998 we worked with the State Board of Education, particularly Chairman John Silber, and got that requirement removed. The liberals were livid. It's currently optional. Now the sex-ed and homosexual lobby want to get it back by pushing it through the Legislature, where a future family-friendly Board of Education couldn't remove it again. They've files several bills to do that - and more.

Thus, we must pay attention to these bills. We'd like to see people come to the hearing and testify. But also, see item #4 below!

2. At hearing: MassResistance introduces "The David Parker Bill" H1060 - powerful parents' rights bill that will REALLY protect parents and kids!

We're fighting back!

This year in California and other states parents are scrambling to fight their legislatures' forced onslaught of homosexuality and sexuality in the public schools.

But here in Massachusetts, we're being proactive. MassResistance has filed one of the strongest parents' rights bill in the country to stop those agendas and give power back to parents.

David Parker case made it official: Parents have no power under current law

In April 2005, David Parker, a parent in Lexington, was arrested and taken to jail after he peacefully but unyieldingly insisted on being able to opt-out his 6-year-old son from lessons on homosexuality and transgenderism in Kindergarten -- and school officials had adamantly refused. Parker was also told by school officials (and state officials) that the current parental notification law does not apply to those issues.

Parker sued the school system in federal court over his civil rights as a parent. After a nationally publicized hearing federal judge Mark Wolf dismissed the lawsuit. Wolf ruled that under current Massachusetts law parents have no right to opt-out their children from lessons in homosexuality or related behaviors, nor do they even have the right to be informed about it! Something definitely needs to be done.
 


David Parker after arrest.    

"Opt-out" doesn't work

The current Parental Notification Law (Ch. 71 Sec. 32A) is an "opt-out" bill, which seemed to make sense in 1996 when it was passed. But schools routinely do a poor job of notifying parents, if at all, and purposefully make the opt-out process difficult for the parent and often humiliating for the child.

The outrages against vulnerable kids continue

Meanwhile, the public schools and the State have continued pushing these agendas on children without regard to parental rights.

Just a few of the major problems include:

  • Schools encourage kids to join homosexual "Gay straight alliance" clubs at school.
  • Schools hold school-wide gay and transgender awareness days and numerous other homosexual-related activities in classrooms.
  • Schools promote off-site homosexual and transgender activities for students, including "Youth Pride Day" activities, the transgender prom, GLSEN conferences, etc., where youth are given explicit homosexual material, and interact with adult homosexual activists.

    Parents need protection from this. A lot of people don't realize how hideous these "off site" activities for schoolchildren are. Here just one example of what was given to kids at this year's state-sponsored "Youth Pride" day. Read the pamphlet here . . .

  • High schools and middle schools across Massachusetts regularly have kids answer unscientific, psychologically intrusive surveys about sexual and homosexual activity, drug use, family relationships, suicide and other explosive issues. These include the infamous "Youth Risk Behavior Surveys" as well as GLSEN "school climate" surveys, and others. Parents currently have virtually no rights regarding this.
  • Earlier this year a mother in Fitchburg made national news when she was outraged that her eighth-grade daughter was asked questions on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey about having oral sex and using birth control and condoms. In this case the school claimed the mother had been sent a "permission slip" but she said she had never seen one.

This bill closes the loopholes!

The David Parker Parents' Rights Bill - H1060 - was written by MassResistance and filed by Rep. Marc Lombardo (R-Billerica). It is the only bill that closes all the loopholes and gives parents and students real power against the homosexuality and sexuality agendas targeting them. Among other thing:

  • It's a strong opt-in rather than opt-out, like virtually every other elective.
  • It covers a broad range of issues, not just general "sex ed" or "sexual orientation," which courts can ignore.
  • It covers all school-sanctioned activities, not just classes.
  • It is not restricted by having to be the "primary" focus of a class or an activity.
  • It gives teachers a conscience clause not to participate in any such activity.
  • It covers surveys over a wide range of disturbing topics.

This bill - H1060 -- needs everyone's full support! As you can imagine, it is being viciously opposed by the homosexual lobby. But then again, the current law was opposed just as hard back in the 1990s.

Read the bill for yourself . . .

TEXT OF "DAVID PARKER BILL" H 1060

SECTION 1. Chapter 71, Section 32A of the General Laws is hereby amended, and Section 32B added, to be the following:

Section 32A. Parental Notification and Consent.

A. Definitions. As used in this section -

1. The term "alternative sexual behavior" means homosexuality, bisexuality, lesbianism, transsexuality , transgenderism , cross-dressing, pansexuality , promiscuity, sodomy, pederasty, prostitution, oral sex, anal sex, masturbation, polygamy, polyandry, sex re-assignment treatments, "bondage and discipline", sado -masochism, bestiality, and similar behaviors. It also includes issues and relationships deriving from those behaviors, including but not limited to "sexual orientation", and alternative family, parenting, and marriage constructs.

2. The term "school program" means any school sanctioned activity, or portion thereof, whether on or off campus, whether during or outside school hours, whether organized, presented or directed by school employees, agents of the school, students, volunteers, or others. This shall include, but not be limited to classes, curriculum, assemblies, outside speakers, workshops, clubs, exhibits, private or non-private counseling sessions, 'teachable moments', reading assignments, videos, posters, displays, and handouts.

B. Requirements for parental notification and consent.

Every city, town, regional school district or vocational school district presenting, implementing, or maintaining a school program which involves human sexual education, human sexuality issues or alternative sexual behavior shall adopt and implement a written policy ensuring parental/guardian notification of such school programs and a description of their content.

All such school programs shall be offered only in clearly identified non-mandatory elective courses or activities in which parents or guardians may choose to enroll their children through written notification to the school, in a manner reasonably similar to other elective courses or activities offered by the school district.

To the extent practicable, instruction materials and related items for said school programs, including access to related extra-curricular events, shall be made reasonably available to parents, guardians, educators, school administrators, and others for inspection and review.

No public school teacher or administrator shall be required to participate in any such school programs that violate his religious beliefs.

Section 32B. Surveys regarding personal or private issues.

No student in any public elementary or secondary school, without the prior written consent of the parent or guardian, shall be requested or required to submit to a survey, analysis, or evaluation that reveals information concerning: (1) political affiliations; (2) mental and psychological problems potentially embarrassing to the student or his family; (3) sexual behavior and attitudes; (4) illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating and demeaning behavior; (5) feelings of victimization; (6) suicide or self-abuse; (7) birth control or abortion; (8) critical appraisals of other individuals with whom respondents have close family relationships; (9) legally recognized privileged or analogous relationships, such as those with lawyers, physicians and ministers; or (10) income.

All such surveys, analyses, and evaluations shall be made reasonably accessible to parents, guardians, educators, school administrators, and others for inspection and review.

3. Also at hearing: Liberals file 5 bills to force Planned Parenthood sex-ed / homosexuality agenda into public schools!

The Planned Parenthood sex-ed and homosexual lobbies have filed several bills to force their brand of "comprehensive sexuality education" and homosexual programs even further into the public schools than they already are.

In the past three Legislative sessions the Planned Parenthood and homosexual lobby have attempted to push two basic goals into the state's school system. All three times they have been defeated by an outcry from parents generated largely by MassResistance. Now they're back for a fourth try, apparently stronger than ever.

The basic goals of these bills are:

  1. Make sexuality/homosexuality education mandatory. As mentioned aboveIn 1998 we worked with the State Board of Education, particularly Chairman John Silber, and got that requirement removed. The liberals were livid. Now the sex-ed and gay lobby want to get it back by pushing it through the Legislature, where a future family-friendly Board of Education couldn't remove it again.
  2. Force the radical Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Curriculum to be written into law as the official guide for teaching "health". This extremely offensive document was written in 1999 by some of the most radical activists in the state. It delineates required learning "goals" for all students on a range of "health" subjects starting in 5th grade, including acceptance of abortion, homosexuality, sexual activity, and others. See our full report on it HERE. It is now an optional guideline for schools. Forcing this document into state law has long been the holy grail of the Planned Parenthood and the homosexual movement.
     

The infamous "Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Curriculum Frameworks" was written in 1999, under the Cellucci administration.  The state has posted a PDF version of it HERE.


"Shotgun" approach

This year they're apparently trying a "shotgun" approach. They've filed a number of different bills with variations in text. Most of these also attempt to placate criticism by repeating topt-out language in the current law, which in reality is weak and ineffective.

Here are the bills being heard at Tuesday's pubic hearing. They basically all accomplish the same two objectives listed above (click on bill number for text of bill):

H179 / S184 - [Identical bills filed in House and Senate.] Very similar to their bill filed last session.

H1063 / S190 - [Identical bills filed in House and Senate] Even worse than bills above. Also forces schools to report to the state various data about hours spent, numbers of students taught, etc., to presumably help state be more "effective" pushing this.

S259 - Slightly different language but just as bad.

In addition, this bill should also be stopped:

H1085 - Forces schools to conduct a comprehensive report of students currently taking various "health" related teaching that are identified in the Massachusetts comprehensive health curriculum frameworks.

These bills MUST be vigorously opposed. As in the previous sessions, we'll be doing that! Your testimony is encouraged!

4. Alternative parents' rights bills fall short of full protection -- being supported by "moderate" pro-family groups at Tuesday's public hearing.

There are two other bills that also seek to "update" our Parental Notification Law. Ch. 17, Sec. 32A. by changing the "opt-out" to "opt-in." But neither of them are sufficient, in our opinion:

H1934 (Rep. Brad Jones, R-North Reading). This is the same bill that MassResistance wrote and introduced in 2005, with a few minor text changes. But we soon saw that this bill also needed improvement. Its major flaws are (1) it only covers school activities where the "primary" involvement are certain issues, and (2) it does not cover surveys.

H155 (Rep. Elizabeth Poirier, R-North Attleborough) We like Rep. Poirier. But this is an absurd bill that actually weakens the current language. It shrinks the coverage to merely "sex education" and completely ignores the other "human sexuality" and "sexual orientation" issues, and also does not cover surveys.

But the "moderate" pro-family and pro-life groups in Massachusetts -- and you know who they are -- are backing these bills and NOT backing the David Parker Bill H1060. Why is that? We pretty sure they've been told by legislators that these moderate bills are more "politically possible" than H1060.

But in these culture war issues, that kind of compromising approach never works. Whatever you put forth, the other side will oppose with equal fervor. Being principled works much more often. Back in 1996 we were told by "experts" that the notification bill was "impossible" but we forced the issue and got it passed anyway.

Sometimes people on our own side can be more aggravating than the other side.

Do the right thing! Don't compromise on core principles. Help us fight for you!

5. Should you go to Tuesday's public hearing? Is there a better way to be heard?

MassResistance has been testifying at public hearings in the Massachusetts State House for over 16 years. We used to encourage everyone to go to public hearings that involved important bills. But now we have a lot of second thoughts about that.

How the Massachusetts Legislature sees public hearings

In many states around the country, the Legislature actually values input from the public. But in Massachusetts, the politicians already know what's "right" and they don't need the hoi polloi to bother them. In our experience, legislators here consider public hearings an insufferable but required nuisance. And they make the public uncomfortable and inconvenienced so they'll be reluctant come.

Most of the time, less than half of the committee even shows up -- often just two or three members. There are usually more bills scheduled than can be heard in a reasonable time, so hearings with critical bills sometimes go on all day and into the night. The order of the bills, the rules, and who gets called up are completely at the whim of the committee chairman (always a liberal), and are usually inconsistent. "Important" people and liberals can generally talk as long as they want. Regular people are held to 3 minutes. Pro-family people are usually called on last and they are often treated rudely.

Other legislators are considered more important than anyone else, and can just show up and testify immediately, while regular people may have to wait for as many as 10 hours to testify and are treated like subjects groveling before a king, lucky to be heard at all.

On top of that, the hearing rooms are poorly ventilated and often become steamy as people get packed in like sardines. The other side can usually get more people because they tend to have state-subsidized jobs, union jobs, etc; and many don't have families to take care of. For most people on our side it's a pretty obnoxious experience. And after the first hour of so, it's pretty clear that most of the committee members aren't interested anymore, anyway.


Scene from a similar Education Committee hearing a few years back.

Should you go this time?

For those reasons, we now generally recommend at least a few hearty souls go down and make the case at the hearing. But for the average person it's probably not worth it.

We can use a few people this time. Please contact us right away if you can come down on Tuesday.

Consider submitting written testimony instead

We've found it's actually more effective to submit written testimony, which can often be done even weeks after the hearing. More of the committee members tend to read that than come to the hearings! But the real persuasion happens in other ways, usually old-fashioned political pressure.

For this public hearing you can send written testimony here:

   Joint Education Committee
   Massachusetts State House, Room 473G
   Boston, MA 02133
   Tel:(617) 722-2070

And we'll keep you up to date on what else you can do!