Updated on May 9 with correct spelling of Tammy Tiber.

By Justin HAGER

Dozens of parents, teachers, and students packed the Glendale Unified School District board meeting on Tuesday night, May 3, to speak their minds on the application of a 10-year-old state law that mandates the teaching of contributions of persons with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people into educational textbooks and the social studies curricula in California public schools.

The controversy over the curriculum started approximately two months ago when a parent removed his/her third grade child from an online lesson that discussed sexual orientation and gender identity that included a reference to nudity and feelings of sexual attraction. Parents then filed a public records request for all of the materials in the curriculum and email communications related to the curriculum. Shortly after the public records request, 34-year veteran teacher Tammy Tiber began receiving threats over the curriculum.

The threats intensified as far-right wing extremist news outlets picked up the story and began branding the curriculum as “child sexual grooming,” leading to the mass publication of the teacher’s name, email and other personally identifiable information. One month ago, Tiber was removed from her classroom without warning to help ensure her safety and the safety of her students.

The controversy quickly escalated into a battle over far more than just the specific content of the curriculum leading Tuesday night’s board meeting to have all of the hallmarks of a culture war pitting parents with more conservative beliefs on sexual orientation and gender identity against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other non-conforming students (LGBTQ+) and representatives of the Glendale Teachers Association (GTA).

Teachers and LGBTQ+ students spoke at the meeting about the necessity of the curriculum for creating safe spaces for LGBTQ+ students. They pointed to bullying, a refusal to respect requests for proper pronoun and name usage, and the regularity with which slurs are still routinely hurled around school campuses. In interviews after the meeting, LGBTQ+ students and their parents noted that it was not their kids bringing sexual orientation into the classroom, but rather the bullies who refuse to relent in their torment of LGBTQ+ students. One student said he believes the curriculum and education is necessary, even among younger students, because they say hateful words and phrases without understanding what they mean or the impact they have on LGBTQ+ people.

Teachers noted that the curriculum is mandated by state standards such as the FAIR Education Act. They also called upon the school board to do more to address the harassment and threats against teachers trying to do their jobs, with Tiber saying that she is “heartbroken by the fact that she was ripped from her students, without warning, and without being able to say goodbye.”

Other parents, however, expressed concerns about the curriculum, its age appropriateness, whether teachers had the training or expertise to deliver the curriculum and the transparency of schools and the district in sharing the content of the curriculum so parents could make informed choices about their child’s participation. The perspectives varied based on the specific parent with several parents asking for nothing more than greater transparency and advance notification of sexual orientation and gender identity education so that they could engage in conversations with their children in advance. Other parents, though, were more extreme with one going so far as to call on the board to eliminate education on sexual orientation, gender spectrum and gender identity altogether, saying that it has no place in public schools. It should be noted that state law does not provide an opt-out option for either the district or parents with regard to FAIR Act curriculum.

For the most part the meeting was civil, although there were several instances in which advocates for LGBTQ+ people referred to the opposing parents as “biggots.” One attendee even stuck her middle finger up at the group of parents as she left the room.

This is an ongoing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.