One of the most powerful governmental institutions is the public school system, which, along with its private branches, controls the lives of almost every American for about 12 years, or, in the case of those of us who attend public colleges, 16 or more. “Free and compulsory” education has, from a governmental perspective, one huge advantage over private schooling: government education is able to get away with a great many things that privately operated schools could not. Like instituting compulsory cross-dressing for 3-rd grade boys.
A school in Pennsylvania, an elementary school, decided to celebrate women’s history by hosting a “women’s fashion show” for which compulsory dressing-up was required of all students. Yep, that’s right. All students–not just girls.
But don’t worry, says the school. Your kid can dress up like a woman without wearing a skirt or dress:
“If your child is a young man, he does not have to wear a dress or skirt, as there are many time periods where women wore jeans, pants and trousers,” the letter reads. “However, each child must be able to express what time period their outfit is from. Most of all, your child should have fun creating their outfit and learning about how women’s clothing has changed!”
That’s sparse consolation to people whose conscience requires them not to cross-dress, such as, for example, Jews or Christians who believe Deuteronomy 22:5 applies to us today:
A woman is not to wear what is designed for a man, nor is a man to put on a woman’s clothing–for all who do this are an abomination to Jehovah your God.
Nevertheless, the school was planning compulsory cross-dressing for boys. And as if to goad the religious with an extra sharp stick, the date of the fashion show just so happened to coincide with a major “Day of Silence” protest put on annually by supporters of gay, bisexual, and transgendered life-styles that disrupts school classrooms every years.
The disrespect for religious people also showed itself in the hostile tone of supporters of the, um, fashion show:
“Your son is not instantly going to turn gay if he’s involved in a women’s fashion show,” [a fellow-parent] said.
Contrast the narrow views of those who seek to hijack a history class with cross-dressing to the far more balanced tone of the woman who is being attacked as a “moron,” to quote one school father:
“The school doesn’t get it,” she said. “I’m not a right-winger. I’m not a radical, but I believe in the Constitution and I believe in my parental rights.” . . . She said that she’s open to “alternative lifestyles” and has male friends who dress as women, but that it’s not something third- and fourth-grade students can handle, particularly her son, who has Asperger’s syndrome. “I’m not freaked out by alternative lifestyles. It’s just the fact that the school system is trying to introduce alternative lifestyles in a sneaky way,” she said. “At 9 years old, I’m not ready to have the conversation with my son about homosexuals, lesbians and cross-dressing. When he’s ready, he’ll come and ask me.”
The school, in response to pressure from outraged parents, has closed down the fashion show. It’s a good move. But it’s shocking that this nonsense was ever allowed to go on in the first place. Public schools must always remember that they are institutions backed by the full power of the government forcing people’s children to attend, and that for that reason they must stick to actually teaching and not give in to the temptation to attack the vast number of parents who would prefer not to have their children made to cross-dress.
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