Will County Gazette

A Bolingbrook middle school is instructing its teachers on how to be more pro-LGBT, demanding that they stop using terms like "boys" and "girls," use LGBT adult role models in their lessons and put gay pride rainbow flags on their desks.

That's according to emails and a 25-page Powerpoint presentation delivered on Wednesday to Brooks Middle School teachers as part of paid in-service training, the Will County Gazette reported. 

The presentation was produced and presented by Kristin and Peter Shulman of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), an advocacy group for queer ideology, which argues that biological sex doesn't actually exist. The organization says it provides "education to enlighten the public."

The Shulmans, of Naperville, lectured Brooks teachers on "truths about being LGBTQIA+" and offered suggestions for how they could demonstrate their support of PFLAG's position on political issues.

"We recognize & accept diversity of ethnicity & race," read a slide titled, "Getting to Acceptance." "Gender identity, and expression, and sexual orientation are also diverse. It’s a scientific and medical fact; they exist on a spectrum."

"We can’t impose identities (and roles) on our children that are based on our beliefs that are inconsistent with their reality," the Shulmans wrote. "We have to let them be themselves."

"Let the child tell you their name and pronouns," read a slide titled "Pronouns, Going beyond He/Him, She/Hers." “Use your own pronouns to signal that you are an ally. Using the wrong pronouns imposes our assumptions on another individual."

The Shulmans told teachers they should include LGBT adult role models in curriculum and discussions whenever possible, arguing it is now illegal not to do so. Peter Shulman cited House Bill 246, signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker in 2019, which requires public schools to instruct students on the accomplishments of LBGTQ people. 

Teachers should eliminate the use of the words "boys" and "girls" and instead refer to students as "kids," "class" or "scholars," the deck said. And they should also stop using "moms" and "dads," replacing them with "families and caring adults." 

To identify your classroom as a safe space, the Shulmans said teachers should put a small rainbow flag on their desk or in their pencil holder, and "wear an Ally button." And they should never use the word "gay" as it might be offensive.

"No! We don’t say 'that is just so gay,'" the Shulmans wrote.