The Michigan State Board of Education approved new health standards last week that embed “gender identity” and “sexual orientation” instruction into schools’ sex-education curriculum, passing the measure 6-2, according to local media reports.
Many parents across the state pushed back sharply, arguing the board is inserting ideology into classrooms and sidelining parental rights.
By eighth grade, students should be able to “define gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, and explain they are distinct components of every individual’s identity” under the new guidelines.
The standard also instructs teachers to teach that “romantic, emotional, and/or sexual attractions can be toward an individual of the same and/or different gender(s), and that attractions can change over time.”
While Board President Pamela Pugh defended the changes — saying they create “safe spaces for students,” according to Michigan Advance — more than 1,600 parents signed a petition urging the board to reject the proposal.
The public also submitted 1,388 surveys to the board, with 924 opposing the change and only 250 supporting it, the outlet reported. A separate 30-day comment period showed divided public opinion. The Michigan Department of Education reportedly received more than 2,000 emails: 896 opposed and roughly 1,100 in favor.
John Grossenbacher, who submitted the parent-led petition, argued that parental rights must be at the forefront of the debate.
“The only thing that matters is the parents,” Grossenbacher said, according to Michigan Advance. “They are against this.”
U.S. Parents Involved in Education (USPIE) condemned the board’s decision, portraying the new standards as part of a broader ideological push in public schools.
“This is indoctrination, pure and simple,” Melanie Kurdys, UPSIE’s Michigan board member, said in a statement. “The state is at war with nature and nature’s God, imposing a perverse idea of sexuality on children while pretending to give parents viable options.”
While Michigan law allows parents to opt out of sex-education classes, Kurdys said the process is “highly impractical.” She argued that students who leave class are stigmatized, “sometimes by LGBTQ-identifying teachers who disparage the kids’ parents.”
“Think about this,” she added. “If the schools were distributing mind-altering drugs but offered an opt-out, would that make it okay to foist this on the rest of the kids who cannot opt out?”
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