A big kiss for today at 11 in front of the school, against "homophobia and the indoctrination of young people."

The parents filed a complaint against the school with INADI.

Silvina Campos, INADI's national delegate in Entre Ríos, He confirmed to Presentes that yesterday complaints were received from parents of students at the Baptist InstituteIn these cases, the first step is to convene a conciliation hearing. If no agreement is reached, the complaint is sent to the INADI's panel of evaluators. "Within the framework of the complaint, we will certainly summon the CGE authorities to find a comprehensive solution to the case," Campos said. Photo: Students from the Manuel Dorrego school, Morón (Bs As).  The organization condemned the use of the manual "for being stigmatizing of the LGBTI community" and having discriminatory content regarding Law 23.592 and also uses concepts full of prejudices that reproduce stereotypes by speaking of "normality" for heterosexual people and "abnormality" in the case of homosexuals," the organization's statement said.

The Board of Education issued a warning to the school

Following the public outcry, the General Council of Education (CGE) of Entre Ríos not only ordered the school to remove the material from circulation but also issued a warning "for non-compliance with Resolution 240/2013," that is, with current regulations regarding sex education in schools. The discriminatory material began circulating after students requested comprehensive sex education classes from the school, as established by the National Comprehensive Sex Education Program (National Law 26.150). The General Council of Education agreed with the school authorities to develop a comprehensive sex education training plan, according to a statement released by the Council. release from the Provincial Secretariat of Communication. Following this, today there will be an institutional day for all three school levels with the CGE's Comprehensive Sex Education team and a training cycle for teachers in education.

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“Young people are demanding a comprehensive education every day”

“As soon as we learned that this disciplinary and highly homophobic material was circulating in the school, we came out to condemn it. We believe that these practices violate children's right to receive comprehensive sex education,” Mariana Giorda, a member of the Inter-School Network of Educators in Defense of Comprehensive Sex Education, told Presentes. She added: “It is important to make these cases visible. Here, the demand for CSE originated with the students themselves. It is no coincidence that this happened.” Young people demand comprehensive sex education every day in every school. It is a space where they feel supported and empowered to speak, as subjects of rights, something that is not common in secondary schools.”

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Kisses against homophobia

Ramiro (17) and Sol Jonson (19) are two of the young people who organized the kiss-in in front of the Baptist Institute to condemn homophobia. “I belong to the LGBTQ+ community, I’m 17 years old, and what’s happening has hit me hard. When an act of violence is justified with the word of God, it goes from being a religious stance to becoming a crime,” Ramiro told Presentes. “I know students from that school who told me that this isn’t the first time that kind of content has been distributed. Some of them have been threatened with disciplinary action for speaking out against it.” “I’m a lesbian, and talking with my friend Ramiro, we felt that we couldn’t stay silent and had to defend our rights. What’s happening is a matter of love. While we respect religions, we feel that this has crossed the line, that it has become discrimination. That’s why…” On International Kissing Day, we will peacefully demonstrate against homophobia."Sol told Presentes."

“The Education Council is responsible”

“We hold the General Council of Education (CGE) responsible for allowing homophobia and lesbophobia, which stigmatizes and inflicts violence,” said Soledad Henares of the Dissident Sexualities group. She added, “The failure to implement the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (ESI) Law is a political decision.” She recounted that in Entre Ríos, Law 9501, the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Sexual Education Law, which mandates sex education, was passed in 2003, “but it was never implemented. Those who try to bring this content into the classroom have been persecuted and subjected to violence.”

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In a statement, the group also expressed its condemnation: “Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) is exploding in schools. Despite the pressures, the lack of materials, the lack of political will, and the lack of real implementation, we teachers are providing CSE. CSE is here, more joyful and defiant than ever. We are many. We are fighting. We are resisting. The kids are shouting CSE. The reaction comes from there, the action is from the students, the mobilization to demand Comprehensive Sexuality Education in all schools! CSE is a right. We are in the streets, in the schools. We will not remain silent.”

What the text says

In 2013, INADI issued a ruling considering the contents of Watch out, the teenagers have arrived!The manual, written by pastors Silvia and José Luis Cinalli, and available on their website, states, among other things: “Never try to assist a homosexual on your own. Do it with two or three other people; if it involves both sexes, even better. Avoid prolonged encounters and private places.” The photocopy distributed by the students describes how “a person is homosexual because they choose to be. It is not an illness, it is not treated psychologically. Today, homosexuals themselves ask not to be discriminated against, since, being perfectly normal, they have adopted a homosexual lifestyle,” it affirms. Elsewhere, it adds that “sometimes, behind homosexuality there is a great fear of the opposite sex, and they take refuge in homosexuality to avoid confronting that fear.” Among other questions, the text asks whether “homosexuality should be accepted.” The answer is “No,” “homosexuality goes against God’s plan for man.” And it warns: “The Bible condemns it unequivocally.” Homosexuality is a sinful practice.” “In the Old Testament tradition, erotic activity between members of the same sex was considered a religious abomination that offended God and demanded drastic punishment,” it states. Along those lines, it asserts that homosexuality is a sin “because the Bible defines it as displeasing in the eyes of God.” According to a report from the national news agency Télam, school authorities denied that the material had reached the students but acknowledged that “a photocopy was made to begin working with it.” Mónica Marconi, the school's principal, told the agency that the school's educational project “is based on Christian values, so all people are accepted.” She said the controversy arose because everything “was taken out of context” and that the material in question “was not used” with the students.