Peru Ditches Educational Curriculum After Complaints of ‘Gender Ideology’
The government of Peru is withdrawing a national school curriculum that was widely criticized for employing what critics have called “gender ideology.”
The 2016 version of the Peruvian national curriculum was criticized by parents who were upset by its apparent push for progressive ideals. In response, Peru’s Department of Education decided that the 2009 version of the curriculum, which does not contain the same discussions of gender, would be reinstated in place of the 2016 curriculum. Crux reported:
“The announcement was celebrated as a ‘new victory for parents’ by a group using the hashtag #ConMisHijosNoTeMetas, which translates as ‘don’t you mess with my children.’ In March 2017, the group organized marches in Peru, drawing more than 1.5 million people to demonstrate against a progressive gender ideology.”
Parents were not the only ones who objected to the new curriculum. The 2016 curriculum version, which had been approved by Peru’s Department of Education, was met with heated objections from the Catholic Church and other Christian churches across the country. Crux reported:
“The Peruvian bishops’ conference had criticized the Department of Education for including in the new curriculum ‘concepts which do not proceed from the Constitution, but rather are taken from so-called gender ideology.’ ”
“The bishops further stated, ‘Pope Francis has warned that gender ideology denies the difference and the natural reciprocity of man and woman.’
“A lawsuit was filed against the Department of Education in August, and Peru’s Superior Court of Justice ruled in favor of the lawsuit since the 2016 curriculum was viewed as an ‘attempt to indoctrinate schoolchildren.’ “
Although Crux did not explain what elements of supposed “gender ideology” were bat work in the 2016 curriculum, an article in The Economist gave some examples:
“One of the new curriculum’s principles is that boys and girls have the same right to education. It notes that ‘while what we consider to be “feminine” or “masculine” is based on biological-sexual differences, these are roles which we construct from day to day, in our interactions.’ And ‘some of those [socially] assigned roles’ lead to girls dropping out of school to take on domestic chores.
“To many people, this is a statement of the obvious. Yet it provided fuel for a growing campaign that holds that there is a conspiracy in Latin America, known as ‘gender ideology,’ whose aim is to feminise boys, turn girls into lesbians and destroy the family. This might come as news to many in a region notorious for machismo. Nevertheless, the campaigners are scoring victories.”
While the reinstatement of former curriculum might have been a “victory” for Peruvian parents who worry about the indoctrination of their children, this is a loss for our LGBTQ+ siblings of Peru. For Sergio Burga, a researcher with the Population Research Institute’s Latin American office who is glad that the older curriculum was reinstated, the “fight” in the defense of the family “goes on.” For LGBTQ+ people, the fight for representation in the Peruvian education system goes on.
–Lizzie Sextro, New Ways Ministry, January 8, 2018
For related posts about “gender ideology,”
Gender Ideology, Transgender Reality: A Deacon Parent’s Perspective
The Many–And Wrong–Definitions of ‘Gender Ideology’
Just What Is the Definition of “Gender Ideology”?
Putting Pope Francis’ “Ideology of Gender” Comments in Context
Perhaps a good that can come out of all this kerfuffle over the curriculum is that a lot of people are involved in both the controversy and the discussion. The more people in Peru that grapple with the issues, rightly or wrongly, the more time is being spent–we hope–on looking hard at the issues, reflecting and debating all the aspects of sexuality. Out of this struggle the truth of our lived experience might begin to shine. Evolution is slow but sure.