I was shocked that Rep. Peggy Bennett invited Julie Quist of the Child Protection League to speak to her constituents Monday night. The Child Protection League has nothing to do with child protective services or any other state sanctioned activity and has indeed been labeled a Minnesota-based anti-LGBTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The guest speaker promoted education on abstinence and a faith-based curriculum instead of an education based on science and facts. They took issue with teaching young kids age-appropriate concepts such as anatomy and consent, and they argued against teaching middle school children concepts like safe sex, gender identity and sexual orientation. Peggy Bennett favors leaving sexual education decisions to the local level instead of having one policy that guarantees all Minnesota children an equal education. This, of course, will have a negative effect on rural Minnesotans in terms of bullying, STIs and unwanted pregnancies, because under-educated populations are the most vulnerable.

As you are surely aware, bullying of queer and trans kids is an ongoing issue all over America, and Minnesota is no exception. According to Stopbullying.gov (a website partnered with the Centers for Disease Control, U.S. Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services, etc.), the way to reduce bullying in schools and drop suicide rates in the LGBTQ community is to teach youth sexual orientation and gender identity acceptance.

Before attending, I visited the Freeborn County Crime Victims Crisis Center and was presented with facts that I will gladly share with you now. One in four teens will have at some time already experienced sexual assault, 90% of the time at the hand of someone they know. The recommended path to reducing this number is an early education on the ideas of sexual consent and bodily autonomy (the idea that your sexuality is your own, which is vehemently opposed by Peggy Bennett and the Child Protection League). They claim comprehensive sexual education will lead to sexual anarchy where people will be able to freely love anyone they choose. I say it’s about time.

Thomas Martinez

Albert Lea