100,000 Panamanians march against UN-style sex ed
A hundred thousand Panamanians took to their
capital city’s streets to oppose a new national bill that would introduce both
sexuality education and gender ideology into their schools.
“This law is a colonization attempt. It was
written and imposed on Panama by UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and it is not the
fruit of our legislature’s will,” Juan Francisco de la Guardia told the Friday
Fax. De la Guardia is president of the Panamanian Alliance for Life and Family
and one of the march organizers.
Despite the protest, the President of the
Panamanian Parliament, Rubén de León Sanchez, said that the law will advance to
the health committee and then discussed, once again, by the state’s
legislature.
The bill, introduced by deputy of the
Democratic Revolutionary Party Crispiano Adames, is modeled after the
“Comprehensive Sexuality Education” (CSE) sponsored by UN agencies. The
programs, whose biases have already been exposed by several
commentators, are based on the recognition of
minors’ entitlement to “sexual and reproductive health and rights.”
Panamanians object to the way the programs
promote children’s sexualization, endorse their sexual activity, invite children
to experiment with homosexual relationships, and denigrate “traditional” social
roles as “sexist” stereotypes.
Whereas the CSE advocates see abortion as a
“right,” Panama protects unborn children from abortion in its laws except if
the mother’s life is endangered, or if she is the victim of rape or incest.
While the law does not criminalize homosexual
intercourse, the code of private international law, approved in 2014, prohibits
same-sex marriages in the country, and it explicitly excludes the legality of
same-sex marriages performed abroad. Panamanians view these laws as a
legitimate expression of their sovereignty and a reflection of the most
profound values of its people.
Following the march, de la Guardia made an
official statement on behalf of all the organizers, including several prolife
and pro-family NGOs, joined by the Catholic Church and by other Christian
confessions. Speaking before a commission of deputies, he emphasized parental
rights, freedom of religion and belief, and the right to conscientious
objection and condemned the bill’s “ideological character.” He urged a return
to more effective programs of education, such as the “School for Parents” that the
state adopted in the past.
The Panamanian Conference of Bishops also
asked the Parliament to reconsider its promotion of the law, saying “We cannot
accept experiments that failed in other places.”
Recent studies have shown that the UN model of
CSE has indeed
proven ineffective where adopted. Opponents
have pointed out that it did not alleviate problems it was designed to address,
such as teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. Recent studies have
also shown the comparative effectiveness of programs based on abstinence that
have often led to good
results.
While rejoicing for the success of the march,
the parents of Panama are keeping their eyes wide open. Many fear that the
ministerial guidelines that accompanied this bill, because of their executive
character, may be applied in the country even if the law is not approved.
