New sex education guidelines for middle school students includes defining what gay relationships are as well as knowing the difference between sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity, according to a report from the Associated Press.
The recommended guidelines state that by the end of fifth grade students should know that sexual orientation is “the romantic attraction of an individual to someone of the same gender or a different gender.”
The guidelines were established by such groups as Advocates for Youth, American Association of Health Education, the American School Health Association, the National Education Association – Health Information Network, the Society of State Leaders of Health and Physical Education, and the Future of Sex Education Initiative.
Socially conservative activists are not happy with some of the new guidelines.
“This should be a program about health, rather than agendas that have nothing to do with optimal sexual health decision-making,” said Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association.
“Controversial topics are best reserved for conversations between parent and child, not in the classroom.”
By the end of second grade, students should use the proper names for male and female anatomy, according to the guidelines, and by the time kids leave middle school they should know the difference between “gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation.”
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