LA Times columnist: Parental rights in education laws ‘puritanical anti-sex, anti-birth-control, anti-woman’

A Los Angeles Times opinion column Wednesday claimed that "puritanical" Republicans are using parental rights in education laws and "conflating sex ed with encouraging sexual behavior" as a "scare tactic to rile the base and raise money."

According to columnist Robin Abcarian, "they [children] are sexually active" and GOP lawmakers have no right to prevent their sex ed at a young age. 

Abcarian began her column with the question, "Why is the GOP so hellbent on linking discussions about sexual preference and gender identity to pedophilia and child molestation?"

She also asked why many Republicans have adopted the word "’groomer’ as a slur for people who think it’s important for educators to be able to talk about those issues at school, even with young kids."

In her opinion, it is simply "a scare tactic to rile the base and raise money."

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The L.A. Times columnist dismissed the indoctrination reported by some parents and concerned citizens as "frank discussions about sexuality and gender." 

She went on to say, "Conflating sex ed with encouraging sexual behavior is one of the oldest tricks in the GOP’s puritanical anti-sex, anti-birth-control, anti-woman playbook." 

Abcarian’s next point involved claims of child sexual activity at a very young age, as if that should open the door to schools discussing it. 

"As any observant parent knows, children do not have to be taught to be sexually active, they are sexually active, even our youngest little angels. And there’s not much parents can or should do about it," she insisted.

Members and supporters of the LGBTQ community attend the "Say Gay Anyway" rally in Miami Beach, Florida, on March 13, 2022. (Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images)

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She then recalled how, "Twenty-five years ago, when my daughter was a toddler, I would sometimes walk into her bedroom and see her humping away on a pillow or a blanket."

"No one taught her that touching herself felt good; like most kids, she discovered that all on her own," Abcarian declared. Left unexplained is why, if a hands-off approach was good for her own daughter, she is advocating differently for today's young children.

"There is a wealth of resources out there for parents and educators interested in learning how to discuss sexuality or gender identity in age-appropriate ways," she said before torching laws like Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Bill, describing their role as "muzzling" teachers. She claimed that "may be great for revving up the base, but it’s a lousy way to treat kids and teachers."

Florida's law bans "classroom instruction" on "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" with children in K-3 "or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards," which seems to allow for Abcarian's previous call for "age-appropriate" discussions.

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Abcarian advocated for schools being more involved because "[m]iddle-school kids, after all, are famous for experimenting with different identities. Now that gender and sexuality are discussed so openly, it’s no wonder that some kids might try on the idea that they are bisexual, transgender, gender-fluid or non-binary."

She is fine with the fact that "My 12-year-old niece attends school with kids who openly and unabashedly identify as bisexual and/or non-binary," and even acknowledged, "I have no doubt that in the zeal to be allies, some educators may overstep."

She also claimed "children have legal rights of their own, including the right to privacy about their sexuality or gender identity" and that schools "cannot ‘out’ a child to a parent without the child’s express permission."

She concluded conservatives "are in a panic about gay and trans rights" and slandering "people who actually care about the healthy sexual development of children."