Wauwatosa School District in process of implementing new health curriculum teaching students that they can pick their own gender and that receiving an abortion is a valid response to a pregnancy

Wauwatosa School District’s chief academic officer wrote a letter explaining that a new “Human Growth and Development Curriculum Revision proposal” will receive a vote of approval by the School Board on August 22, 2022. This proposed curriculum is on the school district’s website and has lessons that start in kindergarten and go through high school. Lessons regarding sexual orientation and gender identity start at the kindergarten level and continue through the curriculum in each grade. The following are highlights of the curriculum taught to students in each grade:

• Kindergarten: Teachers explain to students that some families have “only girl children, some only boy children, trans or non-binary children, or no children.”
• First Grade: Teachers read the book I Love My Purse to students. The book is about a boy who carries around a purse with him.
• Second Grade: Teachers tell students that “most girls have a vulva” and that “many, but not all, boys have a penis between their legs which they use to urinate or ‘pee.’”
• Third Grade: Teachers have students learn about “gender identity” using a Venn diagram. Students also learn that they can pick their own preferred pronouns.
• Fourth Grade: Teachers read the book It Feels Good to Be Yourself to students. Amazon provides the following description of the book: “Some people are boys. Some people are girls. Some people are both, neither, or somewhere in between.” The book is described as an “exploration of gender identity.”
• Fifth Grade: Teachers use the card game “Go Fish” to teach students definitions related to gender identity and gender ideology. The worksheet for one round of the game states: “On this worksheet, you have four vocabulary terms. Find the classmates who have these terms and their definitions, and copy down the definitions. YOU CAN ONLY GET ONE DEFINITION FROM EACH CLASSMATE! Good luck!”
• Sixth Grade: Teachers explain to students different forms of sexual intercourse, including anal sex and oral sex. Teachers are provided with the following dialogue to tell students: “Other behaviors include: oral sex, which is contact between one person’s mouth and another person’s genitals; anal sex, which is when a person’s penis goes inside a person’s anus; and vaginal sex, which is when a person’s penis goes inside a person’s vagina.”
• Seventh Grade: Teachers guide students to create an action plan to promote LGBTQ issues at their schools to promote “advocacy” among these students.
• Eighth Grade: Teachers tell students that abortion is a valid response to a pregnancy. The plan appears to guide teachers in a manner that encourages students to support abortion: “Encourage students to return back to the statement that the person who is pregnant gets to make the choice because it is their body.”
• High School: Teachers promote “mutual masturbation” for couples as a way for students to avoid catching sexually transmitted diseases. Teachers are provided with the following guidance: “Be sure to clarify that ‘mutual masturbation’ refers to two people touching each other’s genitals.”

Kindergarten

• The first lesson in the “Human Growth and Development Curriculum” for kindergarten students has students “discuss your family structure” and “identify different kinds of family structures.”
  • This lesson is accompanied by a plan for teachers to use in class. The lesson explains that “it would also be helpful to be aware, to the extent possible, of the different family configurations that may be represented in the classroom.” One example of a family to discuss with children is a family “with same sex parents.”
  • The lesson also explains to children that some families have “only girl children, some only boy children, trans or non-binary children, or no children.”
  • The lesson has teachers ask children: “Is it okay if some children have two mothers or two fathers?” The lesson then gives the correct answer as “yes.”
• The second lesson for kindergarten students is to “understand gender role stereotypes and define gender.”
  • This lesson is accompanied by a plan that has teachers read the books Sparkle Boy and Not All Princesses Dress in Pink. The book Sparkle Boy is about a young boy wearing dresses. The book Not All Princesses Dress in Pink appears to be a book that encourages girls to adopt male interests.
  • The plan has teachers ask students: “Do we always know if someone is a man or a woman by the clothes they wear or the job they have?” The answer given for the question is “no.”
  • The plan also encourages teachers to ask students: “What might make a boy decide not to put on toenail polish even though he wants to?”

First Grade

• The first lesson for first grade students is also to “discuss your family structure” and “identify different kinds of family structures.”
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan that also discusses that “some families may have only girl children, some only boy children, trans or non-binary children, or no children.”
  • The plan also has teachers ask children: “Is it okay if some children have two mothers or two fathers?” The lesson then gives the correct answer as “yes.”
• The second lesson is designed to teach students to “understand gender role stereotypes and define gender.”
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan that has teachers read I Love My Purse to students. The book is about a boy who carries around a purse with him.
  • The plan also has teachers ask students: “Do we always know if someone is a man or a woman by the clothes they wear or the job they have?” The answer given for the question is “no.”

Second Grade

• The first lesson for second grade students is how “gender role stereotypes may limit behaviors and therefore opportunities.”
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan that has images of toys including dolls and helicopters. The plan states: “After showing the pictures, explain that anyone could play with each of these toys. For example: Some people say only girls should play with dolls, but boys can play with dolls too.”
  • The plan additionally guides teachers to explain to students that “telling someone they should play with a toy or participate in an activity based on their gender is called a gender stereotype.”
• The second lesson is to teach students to “identify the medically accurate names of external body parts including the genitals.”
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan that explains only “most girls have a vulva” and that “many, but not all, boys have a penis between their legs which they use to urinate or ‘pee.'”

Third Grade

• The second lesson for third grade students is about “reproductive anatomy.”
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan that states the reproductive anatomy of people don’t determine if they are boys or girls: “While we use the terms ‘male’ and ‘female’ when referring to particular anatomy (the ‘male’ or ‘female’ reproductive systems, for example), it is important to remember that someone can have a penis even if they don’t identify as a boy or a vulva even if they don’t identify as a girl.”
• The fourth lesson plan is to teach third grade students to “define gender identity and understand the use of pronouns around gender identity” and to “understand the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity.”
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan that uses a Venn diagram to teach children about gender identity. The diagram has “girls” and “boys” on the sides with “anyone” in the middle.
  • The plan has teachers explain to students that “gender identity” is how they feel on the “inside.”
  • The lesson plan is also accompanied with a document that has definitions for “gender identity,” “sexual orientation,” and “pronouns.” The following definition is then provided for pronouns: “The pronoun or set of pronouns a person uses to refer to themselves when they are not being addressed by name (examples: she/her, he/him, they/them).”

Fourth Grade

• The second lesson for fourth grade students is also about “reproductive anatomy.”
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan that states the reproductive anatomy of people don’t determine if they are boys or girls: “While we use the terms ‘male’ and ‘female’ when referring to particular anatomy (the ‘male’ or ‘female’ reproductive systems, for example), it is important to remember that someone can have a penis even if they don’t identify as a boy or a vulva even if they don’t identify as a girl.”
• The fourth lesson teaches fourth grade students to “define cisgender, transgender, gender non-binary, gender expansive, and gender identity” and to “explain that some people may question their gender.”
  • The lesson encourages teachers to read the book It Feels Good to Be Yourself to students. Amazon provides the following description of the book: “Some people are boys. Some people are girls. Some people are both, neither, or somewhere in between.” The book is described as an “exploration of gender identity.”
  • The lesson is also accompanied by a document that includes the definition of the term “gender expansive.” The following definition is provided for the term: “People who live their lives showing that there are many ways to be a girl, boy, both, or neither. Beyond breaking gender role stereotypes; Gender expansive individuals may wear clothing that is stereotypically attached to a particular gender.”
• The fifth lesson teaches students to “define sexual orientation” and to “understand the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity.”
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan that teaches students the perceived differences of “liking” and “loving.” After explaining to students what “love” is, the plan tells teachers to say: “Sometimes, we will feel this way about people who are a different gender than we are. This is called being ‘heterosexual.'”
  • The plan then has teachers explain: “Sometimes, we will have these feelings for people who are our same gender. This is called being ‘gay.’ Some gay women will call themselves ‘lesbians.’ And sometimes we might have feelings for people of all genders. This is called being ‘bisexual.'”

Fifth Grade

• The second lesson for fifth grade students is about “reproductive anatomy.”
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan that states the reproductive anatomy of people don’t determine if they are boys or girls: “While we use the terms ‘male’ and ‘female’ when referring to particular anatomy (the ‘male’ or ‘female’ reproductive systems, for example), it is important to remember that someone can have a penis even if they don’t identify as a boy or a vulva even if they don’t identify as a girl.”
• The fourth lesson teaches fifth grade students to “explain cisgender, transgender, gender nonbinary, gender expansive, and gender identity” and to “understand the use of pronouns around gender identity.”
  • The lesson encourages teachers to read the book It Feels Good to Be Yourself to students. Amazon provides the following description of the book: “Some people are boys. Some people are girls. Some people are both, neither, or somewhere in between.” The book is described as an “exploration of gender identity.”
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan that has a goal to ensure students can define the terms “sex assigned at birth,” “gender identity,” “cisgender,” “transgender,” “gender nonbinary,” and “transgender.” Another goal is to ensure students can “differentiate between a person’s gender identity and gender expression.”
  • The plan guides teachers to ask students: “Gender stereotypes have also been used to limit people, mostly those who do not identify as cisgender boys or men. Can anyone think of examples of when they or someone they know were told they couldn’t do something because of their gender identity or expression?”
  • The plan includes playing the card game “Go Fish” with students to teach them definitions related to gender ideology. The worksheet for one round of the game states: “On this worksheet, you have four vocabulary terms. Find the classmates who have these terms and their definitions, and copy down the definitions. YOU CAN ONLY GET ONE DEFINITION FROM EACH CLASSMATE! Good luck!”
• The fifth lesson teaches students to “define sexual orientation” and to “understand the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity.”
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan that teaches students the perceived differences of “liking” and “loving.” After explaining to students what “love” is, the plan tells teachers to say: “Sometimes, we will feel this way about people who are a different gender than we are. This is called being ‘heterosexual.'”
  • The plan then has teachers explain: “Sometimes, we will have these feelings for people who are our same gender. This is called being ‘gay.’ Some gay women will call themselves ‘lesbians.’ And sometimes we might have feelings for people of all genders. This is called being ‘bisexual.'”

Sixth Grade

• The first lesson for sixth grade students covers the issues of “reproductive systems” and “sexual health.”
  • The lesson explains that teachers should avoid referring to students as “male” or “female” and provides an example of calling female students as “a person with a vulva” to be more “inclusive.”
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan titled “Change is Good!” The plan states: “You may notice language throughout the curriculum that seems less familiar – using the pronoun ‘they’ instead of ‘her’ or ‘him’, using gender neutral names in scenarios and role-plays and referring to ‘someone with a vulva’ vs. a girl or woman. This is intended to make the curriculum inclusive of all genders and gender identities.”
• The second lesson teaches students to “understand how to access medically accurate sources of information about gender, gender identity, and gender expression” and to “define sexual identity and explain a range of identities related to sexual orientation (e.g., heterosexual, bisexual, lesbian, gay, queer, twospirit, asexual, pansexual).”
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan titled “Gender Roles, Gender Expectations” that has the same statement on gender as the previous lesson’s plan. The plan recommends teachers refer to girls as “someone with a vulva.”
  • The plan encourages students to pretend to be the other gender and to write down “one thing I’d do that I can’t do now” as a student’s current gender.
  • The plan promotes a video from AMAZE titled “Expressing Myself. My Way.” The video encourages children to transition to another gender if they feel like it.
  • The plan has a homework assignment for students on the AMAZE video. The assignment appears to leave parents out altogether and asks for a signature from a “trusted adult.” The plan asks this adult: “For the adult, how is this different or similar to how you were raised to understand gender, gender roles and gender expression?”
• The sixth lesson teaches sixth grade students to “define vaginal, oral, anal sex and other forms of sexual activity (masturbation).”
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan that explains students may have a girlfriend or boyfriend when they are older that they want to have “sexual intercourse” with. The plan then has teachers list and explain the perceived forms of sexual intercourse: “Other behaviors include: oral sex, which is contact between one person’s mouth and another person’s genitals; anal sex, which is when a person’s penis goes inside a person’s anus; and vaginal sex, which is when a person’s penis goes inside a person’s vagina.”

Seventh Grade

• The fifth lesson for seventh grade students teaches them to “define sexual identity and explain a range of identities related to sexual orientation (e.g., heterosexual, bisexual, lesbian, gay, queer, twospirit, asexual, pansexual).”
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan that is designed to teach students to “define the terms sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.”
  • Part of the plan is an assignment for students to complete by answering “myth” or “fact” to specific statements. The following are the questions asked to students with the perceived correct answers:
    • People can choose their sexual orientation. – Myth
    • People can choose their gender identity. – Myth
    • People can choose their gender expression. – Fact
    • You can usually tell a person’s sexual orientation just by looking at them. – Myth
    • A girl who is really athletic is either a lesbian or transgender. – Myth
    • A person can look like a boy or a man and feel on the inside like they are a girl or a woman. – Fact
• The sixth lesson teaches students to “identify how to access medically accurate sources of information about gender, gender identity, and gender expression.”
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan that has teachers play videos for students titled “What are pronouns” and “Pronouns: How do you ask?” Teachers then encourage students to ask other students their preferred pronouns. The plan states: “Never assume you know someone’s pronouns.”
  • The plan then includes websites from known political organizations for students to visit that include GLAAD, The Trevor Project, and Gender Spectrum.
• The ninth lesson teaches seventh grade students “advocacy” and how to be political activists.
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan to guide students to “develop an action plan for their school to promote dignity and respect for everyone.”
  • The plan explains the following to teachers: “Tell the students that you are going to be talking about respect in class today – particularly as it pertains to respecting people whose gender or sexual orientation may be different from yours. Remind the students about the differences between gender and sexual orientation.”
  • The plan encourages students to become political activists for LGBTQ issues in their schools.

Eighth Grade

• The first lesson for eighth grade students focuses on “gender identity and expression” and “sexual orientation and identity.”
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan that provides teachers with the following dialogue to provide to students: “Today we are going to be talking about sexual orientation and gender identity and our school environment to see how well we make school feel like a welcome place for people of all orientations and genders. We’ll also look at where we see room for improvement; and how we would propose making some changes.”
  • The plan also has teachers walk students through what “schools are like for students who identify as either lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer.”
  • The plan additionally states: “In many schools, it’s not just about students not harassing other students. It’s about the school making a strong statement that harassment and bullying won’t be tolerated. And the school has a responsibility to have policies in place that specifically make students of all sexual orientations and gender identities feel equal.”
  • As an assignment, the plan has students answer the following questions regarding if their schools have specific policies and curricula in place:
    • Anti-bullying lessons and efforts include LGBTQ students.
    • Dress code allows people of any gender to dress anyway they want that is appropriate for school.
    • There are gender-neutral or private bathrooms or changing areas, not just “Boys” and “Girls” rooms and locker rooms.
    • We talk about LGBTQ people in at least some of our classes.
    • The library has resources for and about LGBTQ people.
    • Assignments include LGBTQ people or issues.
    • There is at least one LGBTQ identified or friendly teacher/staff in the school.
    • There are posters or other visuals that reflect LGBTQ people or couples in the classrooms, offices or hallways.
  • The assignment also encourages students to advocate for LGBTQ issues by asking:
    • Which of the things listed above do you think our school could do better on?
    • What steps could you, as students, take to make these changes happen?
• The eighth lesson teaches students about “birth control basics and using condoms effectively.”
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan that discusses a 17-year-old girl using birth control so that she can wait until she is 21 to have children.
  • The plan then provides the following explanation of birth control options: “The birth control pill, the patch and the ring all contain hormones that are very effective at preventing pregnancy. The patch and the ring work for a month at a time and then have to be replaced. The patch you replace once a week and the ring you replace once a month. The pill needs to be taken once a day, at the same time every day. A pack of pills lasts one month and then you need to start the next pack. These are called short-acting methods that you can get from a clinic.”
  • The plan then explains: “Most IUDs, the shot and the implant contain hormones that are very effective at preventing pregnancy for anywhere between a few months (3 months for the shot) and many years (up to 10 for some IUDs). These are called long-acting methods that you can get from a clinic too.”
• The eleventh lesson for eighth grade students teaches them to “describe pregnancy testing, the signs of pregnancy, and pregnancy options, including parenting, abortion, and adoption.”
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan promoting girls have three options if they become pregnant that are “parenthood, adoption, and abortion.” The plan has teachers tell students: “For example, with the option of abortion a person should consider if abortion is available in their local area or would require them to travel.”
  • The plan appears to guide teachers in a manner that encourages students to support abortion: “Encourage students to return back to the statement that the person who is pregnant gets to make the choice because it is their body.”
  • The plan later describes abortion as “when a pregnant person decides to end the pregnancy by accessing a safe medical procedure or mediation to remove the pregnancy from the person’s uterus.”
  • The lesson is also accompanied by an AMAZE video titled “So, You Think You’re Pregnant.” The video promotes the idea of teenagers having an abortion.

High School

• The fifth lesson for high school students teaches them to “differentiate between sex assigned at birth, gender identity, and gender expression.”
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan explaining that sometimes “what a person sees in the mirror doesn’t match how they feel on the inside” and that this person “may call themselves ‘transgender.'” The plan further explains that what “we feel on the inside” is called “our gender identity.”
  • The plan includes an assignment for students that discusses someone with a transgender friend from an AMAZE video titled “My Friend Is Transgender.” The assignment has questions that push students to take certain stances on transgender issues:
    • Cassie goes to the store to buy clothes for her friend Glenda who is embarrassed to buy for herself. What are some other activities that a transgender person might be embarrassed or uncomfortable to do? Why do you think these activities would be challenging?
    • Jim thinks that gender identity is very simple: If you have a penis you’re a boy, if you have a vagina you’re a girl. What are some suggestions you would have for helping Jim understand more accurately about gender identity and having a transgender identity?
• The ninth lesson features discussions on sexually transmitted diseases (STD).
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan that promotes “mutual masturbation” as a method to avoid catching a STD. The plan states: “Note to the Teacher: Be sure to clarify that ‘mutual masturbation’ refers to two people touching each other’s genitals.”
  • The plan appears to promote keeping a possible STD a secret from parents: “You do not need parental permission to get tested for STIs. There are some other sexual health services that may need a parent or guardian’s permission – so you always want to ask before going into a clinic or when you make an appointment.”
• The twelfth lesson teaches high school students how to access “medically accurate and credible information about pregnancy options, including parenting, abortion, and adoption.”
  • The lesson is accompanied by a plan that has an assignment for students titled “Why Would Someone Choose to End a Pregnancy?” The assignment tells students to “list as many reasons why you think a teenager who discovers they are pregnant might choose to have an abortion, and why they might choose not to.” The assignment then has two columns for “reasons a teen might choose to have an abortion” and “reasons a teen might choose NOT to have an abortion.”

School District’s History

The Wauwatosa School District has a history of implementing gender ideology into the curricula taught to students. Parents Defending Education previously reported that a teacher in the district taught first grade students about using preferred pronouns. The district has also pushed for elementary students to read books on “transgender” issues and “gender expression.” In 2019, the district even adopted a policy that mandates for teachers to use the preferred pronouns of students.