Opposing Sex Education: “They’re Sexualizing Children!”

Giving kids language for things that were once unspeakable in their own childhoods can trigger discomfort, shame, or panic for some parents.

Deep Dive #4: Opposing Comprehensive Sex Ed in Schools

Across Canada, politicians and parent groups are pushing back against sex education, especially when it includes topics like consent, gender identity, pleasure, healthy relationships, or 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion.

They claim they’re “protecting children,” “preserving innocence,” or “keeping education age-appropriate.”

But let’s be clear: This isn’t about protecting kids. It’s about controlling them.

What’s being said?

“Kids are too young to learn about sex.”

“This curriculum is grooming children.”

“Parents should be the only ones teaching this.”

“Teaching about gender and sexuality is ideological.”

“It’s inappropriate in schools.”

What’s actually happening?

The push to oppose sex ed has led to:

• Curricula being rewritten to remove 2SLGBTQIA+ content, gender identity, and pleasure-focused education

• Teachers being censored or disciplined for answering honest questions

• Students being denied accurate information about their bodies, boundaries, and choices

• A rise in disinformation campaigns targeting queer educators and safe spaces

• Fear and stigma replacing evidence and empathy

This doesn't protect kids; it leaves them uninformed, unsafe, and vulnerable.

Why can’t parents just opt their kids out?

Because the people opposing sex ed often don’t just want choice. They want control over everyone’s education. This isn’t about individual values, it’s about using fear to remove access for all children, especially the most marginalized.

What they say is: “Let me raise my child with my values.” But what they do is: Try to make sure no one else's child learns a different truth.

It’s not about age-appropriateness. It’s about erasing diversity of experience and shutting down conversations that challenge dominant cultural norms.

What are they really afraid of?

For many parents, especially white, Christian, socially conservative ones, comprehensive sex ed challenges everything they were taught about:

• Authority

• Gender roles

• Sexuality

• Power

• Autonomy

It gives kids language for things that were once unspeakable in their own childhoods. And that can trigger discomfort, shame, or panic.

So instead of facing that discomfort, they try to remove the source. “This isn’t how I was raised.” becomes “This isn’t how anyone should be raised.” But kids deserve better than inherited silence.

Who’s pushing this and why?

Far-right political parties and religious lobby groups have made sex ed a battleground issue because:

• It’s emotionally charged and easy to exploit

• It creates a moral panic that drives voter turnout

• It rallies people around "family values" without offering material improvements to families

• It can be used to target and erase queer, trans, and gender-diverse communities under the guise of “protection”

This is strategic. It’s not random. It’s part of a global movement to roll back progress and restrict bodily autonomy.

Who benefits?

• Politicians who want cheap political wins

• Conservative religious institutions

• Anti-2SLGBTQIA+ hate groups

• Schools and boards trying to avoid controversy, not center care

• Far-right movements looking to radicalize through fear

What’s the danger if it succeeds?

• Students won’t know how to name or report abuse

• Young people won’t understand consent, coercion, or healthy boundaries

• Queer and trans kids won’t see themselves reflected in their education

• STI rates rise. Unplanned pregnancies increase. Shame deepens.

• Generations grow up thinking silence = safety

The result? More trauma. More confusion. More harm.

Who gets hurt?

• 2SLGBTQIA+ youth who are erased and left isolated

• Disabled youth who are often excluded from any sex ed and disproportionately targeted by abuse

• All children who don’t learn to name their needs, desires, or boundaries

• Survivors who never learned what happened to them wasn’t their fault

• Teachers who can’t answer questions without risking their jobs

• Parents who think silence will protect their children, only to find out later it didn’t

And yes, this hurts the very families demanding the bans. Because when your child:

• Experiences abuse and doesn’t know how to tell you

• Becomes sexually active without understanding consent

• Is queer or trans and grows up thinking they are broken or unsafe to love

The damage is already done.

Where is this happening in Canada?

• Ontario: Sex ed was rolled back by the Ford government in 2018, removing LGBTQ content and pushing back content on consent and anatomy

• Alberta: The UCP government removed gender identity and consent-focused content from curriculum drafts

• New Brunswick: Parents pushed for opt-out policies for any “values-based” learning, including sex ed and gender education

• Across Canada: There is a growing movement using “parental rights” language to remove sex ed and health curriculum access, often mirroring U.S. religious right strategies

The takeaway?

You can’t protect kids by keeping them ignorant. You can’t prevent harm by pretending it doesn’t exist. You can’t teach self-respect without teaching about bodies, boundaries, and belonging.

Sex ed done right isn’t just about sex. It’s about consent, care, confidence, and connection.

And if your fear of discomfort means other children stay confused, ashamed, or unsafe - then it was never about protection. It was about power.

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