“Acceptance Week”: Raising Awareness For the LGBTQ Community Prompted Parents Backlash

A middle school in San Ramon, California created an "acceptance week" to raise awareness and promote safety for the LGBTQ community. However, parents did not take this news too well and have planned to boycott the said event.

Acceptance Week

The controversial LGBTQ Acceptance Week in Windemere Ranch Middle School has proceeded with its "Acceptance Week" despite heavy opposition from parents, reports ABC 7 News. The week-long celebration will raise awareness about the LGBTQ community through different activities and curriculums that students leadership committee had created, reports Education Week. The lessons and activity materials were reviewed and approved by Windemere Ranch Principal Dave Bolin.

Acceptance Week was created last year by the student leadership committee and has resulted to a "Day of Silence", which will be the highlight on April 15. Each day for the week-long celebration, the school will dedicate less than 30 minutes to discuss LGBTQ issues that will promote acceptance and respect for everyone.

"What we are talking about is four days for about 10 or 15 minutes each day, not talking about all day long. It's probably less than an hour that we are talking about this. We are talking about acceptance and respect for everyone," Bolin said.

Parents Opposition

 A number of parents have expressed their opposition towards the "Acceptance Week" celebration, citing that the students may be a little too young for the LBGTQ subject.  "We talk about things pretty openly, I have my views. He's going to develop his views. I kinda figure, well, I wish it was maybe a little later into high school period of time but it's here, it's what it is," parent Phil Lim said.

However, Bolin emphasized that the curriculum is optional, and their kids can still opt out of the lesson. This was decided after a meeting with a dozen of parents were held last April 1. There were some revisions made on the original lesson taking the parents' comments, reports Mercury News.

Earlier this month, these parents have launched an online petition against the event. Aside from the being inappropriate for their age, the LGBTQ curriculum is said to undermine parental guidance, indoctrinate students and humiliate religious groups.

The parents who heavily oppose the "Acceptance Week" are just 10 percent of the overall population. Bolin believed in the leaders who saw the issue and a need to address the issue so the celebration proceeded as planned. To know more about LBTQ rights, check out the video below: