“Locals want parental rights.”
The New Jersey Education Board last week adopted an equity policy that replaces “female and male” with the gender-neutral “all” when referring to students.
The board approved the equity policy in a narrow 6-5 vote on Wednesday, New Jersey Spotlight News reported.
The new policy replaces the phrase “minority, female and male” with “all” students.
Parental rights advocates packed into Wednesday’s board meeting to protest the changes and urged the board to vote against the equity policy, the outlet reported. One group that showed up, Protect Your Children, says that it has 5,000 members across New Jersey.
After the policy was adopted, some parental rights advocates reportedly threatened lawsuits.
At one point during the meeting, board member Mary Beth Berry said “locals want parental rights,” prompting cheers from the audience.
More than 850 people submitted a public comment on the equity policy, some expressing support while others expressed their disapproval.
One commenter quoted C.S. Lewis, writing, “a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive,” and called the changes to the equity policy “anti-biology.”