Oregon’s Portland Public Schools is defending its decision to teach kindergartners that boys can have vulvas and girls can have penises in a PowerPoint presentation on transgender ideology shared by conservatives on social media.
The school district is using a grade-by-grade curriculum to teach children starting at age 5 about transgender ideology, sexual orientation and the role of “white colonizers” in marginalizing LGBTQ people, according to presentation slides that conservative Manhattan Institute fellow Christopher Rufo posted on Twitter last week.
In one PowerPoint slide for kindergartners, the curriculum labels a cartoon image of male and female genitalia as “person with a penis” and “person with a vulva,” instead of “boy” and “girl.”
“Any kid can have any type of body,” the presentation states, adding that boys can have vulvas and girls can have penises.
A spokesperson for Portland Public Schools told The Washington Times in an emailed statement that the district’s health education, gender and sexuality curricula “are aligned and consistent with anti-bias education and Oregon law.”
“We make certain that our curriculum is LGBTQ+ inclusive for students who identify as transgender, gender non-conforming, gender-queer, and queer to create a safe and inclusive environment for all of our students,” the spokesperson wrote, adding that families have the legal right to “opt-out” of any part of a sex education class.
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.
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