Public School Committee Rejects Ex-gay Materials

Montgomery County, Maryland board of education Committee approves gay advocacy materials for schools while denying ex-gay materials

NEWS RELEASE November 5, 2004
Contact: Regina Griggs at 804-453-4737, PFOX executive director,

Montgomery County, MD – Regina Griggs, executive director for Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX), called on the Montgomery County, Maryland Board of Education to reject the final recommendations by its Citizens Advisory Committee on Family Life and Human Development (“Committee”). The Committee advises the School Board on school curriculum dealing with family life, which now includes sexual orientation. The School Board will meet on November 9, 2004, to vote on the recommendations.

According to Jackie Rice, PFOX’s local representative on the Committee, the Committee has approved materials for students and teachers published by gay activist groups, yet rejected ex-gay materials. Said Rice, “The Committee approved a student video demonstrating condom use that encourages fruit flavored condoms for oral sex, even after being told to delete this phrase by the School Board. Yet the Committee rejected any mention of ex-gays in the school curriculum and resources unless it was something negative about us. As an African-American and a representative of the ex-gay community, I resent the Committee’s refusal to recognize diversity or an individual’s right to self-determination.”

Added Griggs, “The Committee’s decision to censor ex-gay materials while approving anti-ex-gay references hurts us and our families, and subjects the ex-gay community to hate and ridicule. For example, the Committee approved Just the Facts, a pamphlet published by the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Educational Network (GLSEN), a gay advocacy group. This pamphlet instructs school administrators to ignore any other point of view concerning homosexuality – even from parents whose children are students at the school.”

According to Griggs, the Committee is violating state law by censoring ex-gay speech. Said Griggs, “The Board’s own policy states that citizen advisory committees are required by Maryland law in order ‘to ensure that local school boards will be informed by a variety of opinions from citizens.’ The School Board placed a PFOX representative on the committee in order to receive viewpoints from all segments of the community, yet our input to the Board is continually blocked by gay activist groups and others who serve on this Committee and deny equality for ex-gays. The Committee has failed to serve its purpose.”

The Committee is chaired by David Fishback. As the father of two gay sons, Mr. Fishback uses his position as chair to engage in hostile remarks about ex-gays to the Committee and promote gay advocacy materials while urging the rejection of ex-gay materials. “It’s unconscionable that in this age of civil rights, the Board allows its committee chair to be openly hostile of ex-gays,” said Griggs. “Having gay family members does not mean that we have to deny that ex-gays exist. We must promote inclusion and tolerance of everyone, both gay and ex-gay. Favoring homosexuality over another sexual orientation is discriminatory and hurts our schools.”

Ms. Griggs also calls on the Board to accept PFOX’s separate list of ex-gay materials for inclusion in the school curriculum. Explained Griggs, “The Board cannot make an informed decision when information about a minority group in its community is deliberately withheld from the Board. The Committee’s phobia of ex-gays demonstrates why the Board must include ex-gays in the school's educational curriculum on sexual orientation. Ex-gays are part of our community and should not be discredited or excluded. Inclusive information is in the best interest of students and teachers, and affects the safety of our children."

The Board will vote on the Committee’s recommended homosexual resources for the schools on November 9, 2004.

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