Following public questions raised principally by this newspaper on the rationale of a manual sponsored by the U.S. Embassy and Peace Corps for the Government’s Health and Family Life Education curriculum, which includes content teaching, among other things, that sex and gender are separate roles and a matter of choice, the Ministry of Education and Youth has insisted that there is no hidden agenda in the manual’s content.
We have sought direct comment from Minister of Education Patrick Faber, but he directed Information Officer Arlette Gomez today that the content of the release and a speech made at Friday’s meeting of the House of Representatives (which effectively repeated that content) would be the only public comment he would make on the matter.
Pastor Louis Wade, Jr., a member of the Christian leadership organization Belize Action and journalist with PLUS TV of Belmopan, first raised questions in light of the ongoing debate over homosexuality ignited by the challenge of the United Belize Advocacy Movement (UNIBAM) to section 53 of the Criminal Code, which criminalizes carnal intercourse “against the order of nature” with any person or animal, at a public rally sponsored by Belize Action on December 3.
A preliminary hearing on the matter has been adjourned to January 30, 2012.
Two pages of the manual seen by Amandala make references to four “aspects” of gender, namely “assignment,” that is, the gender given to us at birth that is “prescribed by society;” “role,” “the set of behaviors” and “other traits that society says we should express as part of our assigned gender,” “identity,” “…what we think our gender should be at any given time. Many people do not question their gender and let their assigned gender function as their identity,” and “attribution,” “… the gender we assign people when we first meet them and is based on set cues that differentiate from culture to culture.” (Quotations are directly from the extract of the manual provided to Amandala.)
A set of small group discussion questions offer a series of hypothetical situations related to gender roles: a boy questioning whether he should assume the dominant role in a budding relationship after a girl asks him to go out to a specific event to which he does not feel like going; an uncle who wants to buy his male nephew a doll for Christmas despite the objections of a friend because he thinks his nephew “needs to learn how to take care of babies;” and a female who prefers to be an automotive mechanic and wants to learn that trade, but also does not want to hurt her parents, who prefer her to be a secretary.
The Ministry maintains that the curriculum addresses and responds to the need for the student’s personal development in light of the risks of social factors such as “violence, peer pressure, family challenges and health issues (including early sexual activity and risk of HIV/AIDS)”.
The release goes on to insist that the curriculum “does not seek to advocate any alternative lifestyles or behaviors but rather promotes healthy practices and well-being.” However, there is no discussion of how the need for the manual came about, and whether there were any consultations with members of the community and particularly parents.
The release closes with a note that Minister Faber has discussed the issue with Pastor Wade and invited him to put his concerns in writing, with a further meeting scheduled for sometime in January.
Amandala sought comment from the leadership of the Belize National Teachers’ Union (BNTU), but at press time, neither President Luke Palacio nor General Secretary George Frazer was available. Mr. Frazer told us today that he and the BNTU’s officers were in a conference in Cayo and asked us to get in touch with him later.