A protest letter was published by the Polish Episcopal Conference, in which the Polish bishops call on parents not to allow their children to go to a new subject called the government, which is part of sexual education and some elements of gender theory. According to bishops, the object is anti -family, destroys gender balance, has a morally destructive effect on children, and does not support children in accepting their biological gender, instead “opens the way for girls to identify themselves as a boy and the boys as a girl.”
As they wrote in their letter, “this path can ultimately lead to gender transformation surgeries, that is, the irreversible mutilation of the body of young people, which can be a tremendous tragedy for them and their families.”
The government, which defines health as “physical, mental, sexual, social and environmental dimensions,” is introduced by the government from September, fourth grade next school year. Originally, health education was made mandatory, but due to the Polish conservative groups and the strong protest of the extreme right, it would eventually be an optional object. The new subject replaces the program called “Family Life” program, which, like this, was also optional. Parents who do not want to enroll their children for the lesson can signal their intention to their school until September 25th.
According to protest bishops, sexuality is interpreted outside the context of marriage and family in health education. “Marriage is almost completely missing, the family, which is made up of father, mother and children, is completely overshadowed. When it comes to it, it appears in a negative context, while motherhood is presented as a danger,” they wrote. The letter of the Polish Episcopal Conference continues: “According to the concept of the new subject, students are subjected to eroticization from their age. Sexual activity is being separated from marriage and presents as all limits, including age limits and responsibility.”
According to bishops, sexuality and not a not -in conception of health education is not consistent with the Polish legal system and, in the long run, seeks to change it in a negative direction. According to them, because of the constitution, marriage, family, motherhood and paternity are protected by the state, and Polish law recognizes male and female sex. “You cannot allow the regular impulses of your children, which you want to introduce under” health education. “For the education and salvation of your children, please do not give permission to attend your children during these destructive hours,” reads the letter in the shortcut of the letter.
The letter of the bishops was emphasized by Deputy Minister of Education Katarzyna Lubnauer. In his view, “typical false news” that the Episcopal Faculty claims in the letter, and the curriculum of health education “contains the opposite of what was described in the letter”. Like Lubnauer, Tomasz Terlikowski journalist accuses the Episcopal Conference of the spread of “obvious false details”. In his view, the accusation of encouraging the curriculum to reject traditional gender identity is unfounded.
The importance of health education has previously been emphasized in a statement by Minister Barbara Nowacka, saying that the subject is particularly important for young people because they can gain the knowledge needed to maintain their health and rejected conservative criticisms. Nowacka had previously been in the crossfire of conservative groups because it reduced the number of religious lessons and ordered the average of the subject to be calculated at the end of the year.