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FIRST ON FOX: A New Jersey Republican is drafting federal legislation that will require schools to tell parents if their children are being taught about “gender identity and sexual orientation.”
Following reports that the Garden State would be requiring second graders to be taught about gender identity-related topics, Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., announced on Friday that he would be introducing the bill.
“Instead of teaching our second graders about math, science, and reading, Governor Murphy and the state of New Jersey are threatening the safety and security of our school children,” Van Drew said in a press release first obtained by Fox News Digital.
NEW JERSEY TO REQUIRE 2ND GRADERS LEARN ABOUT GENDER IDENTITY IN FALL, ALARMING PARENTS
New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew is drafting federal legislation that will require schools to tell parents if their children are being taught about “gender identity and sexual orientation.” (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
“While every child should go to school and feel accepted and comfortable, we should not be compromising the safety of our young children by allowing a child to use any restroom or changing room regardless of their actual gender,” he continued. “The whole country saw late last year the terrible event that took place in Loudoun County, Virginia, where a girl was sexually assaulted in the girl’s restroom by a boy who dressed in girls’ clothing.”
Van Drew said that it’s the job of legislators “to protect our constituents and the American people” and blasted New Jersey for “doing just the opposite.”
“These children are young,” Van Drew said. “They are concerned with improving their reading and writing. Not learning about gender identity and sexual orientation.”
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has faced criticism from Republicans for his education policies. (Mark Makela/Getty Images)
The Republican congressman, a former Democrat, said that parents are rightfully “outraged” and that the state’s “policies and guidance are forcing parents out of the equation relating to their child’s education and is government overreach at its finest.”
Van Drew said that parents “deserve to have a say in what their children learn in school” and that he “would bet that does not include teaching six-, seven-, and eight-year-olds about sexual orientation” before blasting the state policies as “outrageous,” “unbelievable” and “just wrong.”
“In response to these radical policies being put forth by the state of New Jersey, I am drafting a federal response by introducing legislation that will require parents to be informed of any classroom discussion relating to gender identity and sexual orientation,” the congressman said.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy pauses during his COVID-19 update at the War Memorial in Trenton Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. ( USA TODAY NETWORK/Reuters Connect)
“This legislation will require written consent by parents and if a school who receives federal education funding fails to do so, they will lose that federal funding,” he continued. “This madness must come to an end, and we must protect our country’s children and protect parents right to make decisions regarding their children’s education.”
Van Drew’s announcement comes as New Jersey moves to implement the state’s new, more robust sex education guidelines this fall.
The standards listed “performance expectations” for second graders, which include discussing “the range of ways people express their gender and how gender role stereotypes may limit behavior.”
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Educators in the Garden State are preparing to carry out the teaching standards, which were established in 2020 but not required to be enacted until September 2022.
One school district in the state distributed sample lesson plans indicating first graders could be taught they can have “boy parts” but “feel like” a girl.