1. Sex ed, in general, needs to be taught age-appropriately. Second graders, in general, do not have a concept of what sex is and cannot understand it in its full capacity (the emotional ties that come with it, etc). Is it okay for them to be taught general anatomy, etc at that age? Absolutely.
2. I see no problem with teaching little Susie that child 1 may have a mom and a dad while while child 2 has stepparents, child 3 has foster parents, child 4 is from a single parent household, child 5 has grandparents raising him, and child 6 has two moms. I see no issue with educating kids of any age that every household is different and that who raises a child (whether it's any of these situations or another) doesn't matter as much as how much the child is loved and cared for.
3. I see no problem with including education on different sexual preferences in sexual education at an age-appropriate level. In fact, I think it's appropriate to discuss the fact that different people have different preferences. I absolutely agree that it teaches tolerance and an understanding that different people think differently.
4. While I can see the point of those that say "sex education should be taught at home," I am also concerned about the kids that wouldn't get that education. Statistically speaking, sex ed being taught in schools has helped kids be more educated on the topics that their parents might feel uncomfortable discussing. What I can hope is that the teachers discuss it and then the kids go home and discuss it with their parents and get a balanced view of the educational portion vs the personal views portion. Most of my reason for hoping this, though, is that the children are developing an open atmosphere with their parents to discuss freely what they're thinking about.
5. I think the side of the argument that is so concerned, on the whole, is fearful of what they don't understand. Here's the thing: they're not going to be showing lesbian porn to teach the kids anything any more than they use straight couple porn to teach kids (just to be clear, they don't use any porn...that's my point). This isn't an issue of purity in our kids. This is an issue of people that aren't fully educated on the topics and haven't fully sat down with members of the LGBT community to hear their stories. This is an issue of fear of the unknown.
6. Finally, let's be frank. If this is an issue of "purity" or "religious preference" (i.e. I don't want my kids hearing about homosexuality because the Bible forbids it) than you are the worst kind of hypocrite. Open your eyes to the world. No matter what your religious preference, homosexuality and transgenderism exist and they are going nowhere. People that have hidden in the shadows for years out of fear are finally finding their voices and they deserve to be heard because they are beautiful souls. Choosing not to educate kids on topics that you "don't like" or "don't believe in" is ridiculous. How will your child feel, then, if they want to tell you that they're gay? Condemned? Ashamed? Is that more healthy than what you're against?
I think that people need to stop assuming that education is a bad thing. Education is education and you can absolutely add to it at home, and should. If you choose to home school over issues like this, fine. I hope you still teach your kids that the world is so much bigger than the 1950s perspective of what a family looks like or what courtship looks like. The world has all kinds of people with all kinds of preferences and that's what makes it such a beautiful place. You don't to agree to love.
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