Maryland comprehensive sex education curriculum is scrapped

The Montgomery County, Md., school board voted 7-1 to scrap a newly developed comprehensive sex education curriculum for eighth- and 10th-graders after antigay conservative groups successfully petitioned a judge to issue a restraining order preventing the curriculum from being implemented, The Washington Post reports. The curriculum included a video for 10th-graders showing how to properly put on a condom and included discussions of homosexuality for both grade levels. Antigay groups Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum and the Virginia-based Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays said the curriculum inappropriately attacked certain religious groups that oppose homosexuality and that it didn't include enough instruction on abstinence. U.S. district court judge Alexander Williams Jr. agreed with the groups and issued a temporary restraining order against implementing the curriculum. The county school board voted to create a new sex education curriculum through collaboration between education experts and consultants appointed by the county school superintendent. The school board also said it would appoint a citizens' advisory panel to review any new sex education curriculum before it takes effect in county schools.