From the Boston Globe:
A federal judge today dismissed a lawsuit by two Lexington couples who claimed the local public school district violated their constitutional rights by teaching their young children about different types of families, including those headed by same-sex couples.
This is profoundly good news for those of us living in the Commonwealth (straight or gay), who want children taught reality rather than somebody else's fantasy. Religious or otherwise.
Furthermore, Judge Wolf said that the couples — the Parkers and the Wirthlins — have no right to prescribe what the school district teaches.
This is a victory for reality (with its well-known liberal bias). And it bodes well for our upcoming fight to keep the anti-marriage equality bill off the ballot.
Now, mind you, parents have every right to disagree with what the public schools teach. They can agitate, run for school board themselves, support candidates who agree with their views. But they can't be insisting that the school support their personal beliefs in contradiction to the facts on the ground.
The bitter truth (in Lexington as well as throughout the Commonwealth) is that — in any classroom — there is likely to be a classmate with a non-traditional family structure. And if the school is to defuse any bullying about this, they have to start as soon as they have kids together in a classroom. So a kindergarten teacher reading "My Two Mommies" or a first grade bookbag containing "Prince and Prince" is part of a curriculuum that is absolutely appropriate to Massachusetts. And Canada. And Spain. And the UK. And the Netherlands. And South Africa. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. It was just as appropriate in the late '60s for my classrooms to contain stories about black and mexican children (since we were the first generation in my hometown to be schooled together).
Now, mind you, while this particular case has been decided, it will be appealed. And both in the ConCon and out here in the world, the fight is not over. I invite everyone to keep an eye out at MassResistanceWatch (since I won't ever link you to MassResistance/Article8/MFI) to see what craziness Brian and Amy come up with in response. Or feel free to contribute to MassEquality; we have a long, ugly fight ahead.