Opt-Out of Pride Month Activities at School!

Use This Letter to Opt Your Child Out of “Pride Month” Activities in School

Last week we encouraged you to be aware that businesses and government entities will be pushing LGBTQ+ ideology during so-called “Pride Month,” especially at public schools through lessons and events.  We were informed by our SpeakUp! Charlottesville team that the administration and some faculty at Johnson Elementary School in Charlottesville, VA, conducted an outside assembly last week comprised of students in pre-k through 4th grade, to kick off “Pride Month.”

During the assembly young children (ages 4 to 10) were exposed to presentations from students reading out loud from ABC Pride which teaches kids “letters and words in a fun and engaging way, while also learning more about the LGBTQIA+ community and how to be inclusive.” Click the image below to watch a video of the assembly.

And it is our understanding that parents were not afforded the opportunity to opt-out their child from this event.

It is beyond the pale that grown adults – a principal, vice-principal, and teachers – would conduct this event to indoctrinate young children about sexual lifestyles and undermine the fundamental rights of parents to instill in their child values based on their faith or just basic biology. In fact, it’s quite Orwellian to see young kids in this assembly listening to their classmates reciting passages that express their unknowing allegiance to the LGBTQ+ agenda.

Even though there are only a few weeks left in the school year, we want to provide you with a resource to use at your child’s school.  While under Virginia law there is a formal “opt-out” provision for Family Life Education (i.e., Sex education), there is no formal provision for lessons that involve LGBTQ + topics.  However, Virginia law makes it very clear that parents have the fundamental right to direct the health and education of their child.  Parents must take proactive steps to ensure their child does not participate in any events or assemblies that present sexual messages contrary to what they are teaching at home. 

For this reason, the Founding Freedoms Law Center has created a specific out-out form for LGBTQ+ lessons and events that violate your family values.  We encourage you to submit this form as soon as possible, and then be sure to submit the form again at the start of the 2023-2024 school year. 

This form will put your child’s school on notice that they cannot intentionally violate your right as a parent, and they need to exempt your child from these kinds of lessons.