‘Leave our children alone’: Gay politician begs local school board to stop sexualizing children

A Maryland school board’s “affirming” transgender policy is drawing fierce backlash from the community, including from its openly gay mayor.

“As a gay man who is looking to adopt a child, I can never send my child to Frederick County Public Schools,” said Heath Barnes at the June 14 meeting. “They will be going to a private school.”

Barnes is the Republican mayor of Woodsboro, a small town in Frederick County.

“Leave our children alone,” Barnes continued. “There’s a time and a place to be taught, but elementary children do not need to be taught the sexualization of things.”

The school board was discussing Policy 443, which was established to create “welcoming and affirming schools for transgender and gender nonconforming students.”  

The policy allows students to play on sports teams, be housed on overnight trips, and use the bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity. Most controversially, it does not require school staff to inform parents if their child identifies as transgender. 

However, only one of the seven school board members, Nancy Allen, opposed Policy 443. 

“Until a child is of age to make decisions themselves, the parents should be brought into the conversation,” Allen remarked. 

Barnes also pointed out the academic decline in Frederick County and criticized agenda-driven literature. 

“Our reading scores, our math scores are failing in the state of Maryland,” he said. “The books that are in our school, I would never allow my nephews and nieces to read some of these books. 

Although FCPS scored well compared to other public school districts, the state of Maryland’s public education overall is poor. 

According to the state’s most recent report card, 5-star – the highest-performing – schools only score an average of 54% in math proficiency. 

In 3-star schools, math proficiency is a meager 13%. 

At FCPS, complaints regarding school library books last year also prompted the creation of a new committee to resolve the complaints. 

Several of the books flagged – such as George M. Johnson’s All Boys Aren’t Blue and Judy Blume’s Forever – have been criticized for their overtly sexual content. 

“Please,” Barnes pleaded, “leave our children alone.”