NJ Elementary School Shows Video Depicting Gay Families - Parents Get Nasty

There is a huge controversy going on in Evesham, NJ right now. Turns out the school district decided to show the award-winning film, That's a Family!, to 3rd graders. The film was intended to be part of the District's commitment to diversity, which includes showing diverse families as part of their mission to be inclusive of all children in the district. It has, however, turned into displays of bad behavior and, frankly, a lot of intolerance on the parts of many parents in the district.

First we need to be really clear - we have not viewed the film in question. We have reviewed articles and various commentary on the subject. Our views are based on what we have read and clips we have seen of the video.

The School District released a comment on its website which states in part, "...the video does not discuss marriage or advocate any particular lifestyle. As part of our Health curriculum, the Evesham Township School District does include teaching of the many varieties of families that represent our community. The concept is taught from the perspective of accepting and respecting all of our children. Its main focus is to encourage children to understand the diversity of family backgrounds, and to note that the roles and responsibilities in families are similar. This unit aligns our curriculum with the state of New Jersey's Core Curriculum Content Standards in Comprehensive Health and Physical Education."

But apparently, parents have missed the point. While many types of families were depicted in the film, it's the lesbian and gay families that have caused quite a stir in the community and seems to have landed the District smack-dab in the middle of a national debate on the issue of same-sex marriage.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported earlier this week that after parents viewed the video, the ensuing four-hour meeting "frequently erupted into shouting, accusations and name-calling." According to first-hand accounts of parents who attended the meeting, the general feeling was the same - parents behaved badly, were acting as poor role-models for their children and epitomized the need for such a video to be shown.