The state board approved the new health education guidelines, which include radical gender ideology, in a 6-2 vote, according to Eileen McNeill, president of Citizens for Traditional Values.
“We are not discouraged and we are thankful to them,” says McNeil. “In one sense, they really rallied the parents.”
How much did the state board rally parents? More than 100 parents signed up to speak before the vote only to witness their views go ignored.
“It’s clear the process was never about listening to parents or respecting our concerns — the decision was made in spite of us,” Monica Yatooma, a Republican candidate for secretary of state, wrote on X. “But that’s okay. We’re not going anywhere.”
According to McNeil, only four people in the crowded school board meeting expressed support for the guidelines.
The state board’s vote also drew unwanted national attention, including a Fox News story and comments on X from Fox New host Laura Ingraham.
A post by Libs of TikTok, the popular X channel, had garnered 2.4 million views by Monday for a post that simply announced approval of the gender-based guidelines.
A second, related post shared by Libs of Tiktok shows Sue Carnell, the deputy state education superintendent, being asked by a state lawmaker to name the number of genders.
“How many genders are there?” the lawmaker, Rep. Jay DeBoyer, asks.
“Different people have different beliefs on that,” Carnell replies.
“You can believe all you want but science says there’s two,” the lawmaker informs her.
Yatooma, the GOP candidate, is running in a purplish swing state where Democrats control a slim majority in the state Senate and the GOP controls the state House. All of Michigan’s statewide offices are currently held by Democrats.
Donald Trump narrowly won Michigan in last year’s election, defeating Kamala Harris by 1.4% of 5.5 million votes cast.
McNeill says the liberal state board is forcing teachers to spend class time on radical gender ideology at the same time Michigan’s public education is in the bottom 10 states for proficiency in reading, math and English.
