Keeping up with BOE’s

At our Fall Issues Conference on October 21st, 2023, Rev. Rosemarie Newberry delivered an urgent report on the quiet, insidious attack on New Jersey Dept. of Education guidance policy 5756 happening in local Board of Education meetings across our state.

Under the guise of “Parents’ Rights” or “Parental Rights,” this movement really represents a chipping away at trans children’s rights.

Watch Rev. Rosemarie Newberry’s “Keeping up with BOE’s” report at our Issues Conference, and view the text of her slideshow, below.  Rev. Rosemarie’s segment begins at minute 57.

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Keeping up with BOE’s

Chipping away at Trans Children’s Rights

• Parental Rights has a history:
  • underage girls wanting an abortion
  • Sex ed in schools and new rules are showing up as we meet
• Watch out for the terms Parents’ Rights, Parental Rights, etc.
• This is a concentrated effort being worked on at a national level.
  https://defendinged.org/investigations/list-of-school-district-transgender-gender-nonconforming-student-policies/

DOE guidance policy 5756

• In 2017 500 of 600+ school districts adopted the policy, now they are told that it is voluntary and not mandatory.
•  Holmdel, Sept 27th, first hearing, next hearing on Oct 25
  • Rev. Loren McGrail, UCC of Holmdel minister stated: “a new effort to undermine the rights of LGBTQ+ community”
• Freehold and Hanover, Sept 26th, repealed
• Colts Neck, Sept 13th, final hearing, vote 6-2 to repeal
• Other towns: Howell, Middletown, Marlboro, Millstone, Old Bridge
• Other towns outside Monmouth County: Sparta, Lacy, Sussex-Wantage, Roxbury, Mill Valley, Westwood, Montague, Frankford, Lafayette

Steps to take:

• Get informed.  League of Women Voters hosted a recent dialog on Transgender Students in Public Education (video recording).
• Vote and campaign for children’s rights BOE candidates.
• Ask your local BOEs about their support for Policy 5756.
• Partner with other faith groups: UCC and Rabbis are showing up at the BOE meetings.
• Partner with Garden State Equality.
• Show up at the BOE meetings; several can be on the same night.
• Read our Policy 5756 statement, by our Reproductive Justice Task Force.
• Join the UU FaithAction NJ LGBTQIA group:  https://www.uufaithaction.org/lgbtq/