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A teacher at the Colegio del Niño Jesús in San Justo (Santa Fe province) distributed a "true" or "false" questionnaire about sexual orientation to 2nd year secondary school students, which focused on discriminatory content towards LGBTIQ+ people and a lack of knowledge of current laws in Argentina.

The material was distributed by teacher Alejandra Verzzalli in her Education for Love (EPA) class. It was on Friday, October 26, two days before a series of marches organized nationwide in more than 50 locations across Argentina by ultraconservative Catholic and Evangelical groups under the slogan "Don't mess with my children." These groups, which recently arrived in Argentina, oppose, among other things, the implementation of the law mandating Comprehensive Sex Education at all educational levels. They have been gaining significant traction in Latin America in recent years.

[READ MORE: Homophobic content denounced at a school in Paraná]]

The questionnaire asked respondents to answer true or false questions such as "homosexuality can be prevented and rectified," whether it is "a social deviation," or "it cannot and should not be presented, much less imposed, as a legitimate sexual option."

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Within hours of being distributed, the homophobic material went viral on social media, generating outrage from parents, LGBTQ+ organizations, and provincial officials.

“As soon as we became aware of this, we referred it to the provincial private education oversight department. Beyond the discrimination, a legal framework is being violated,” said Esteban Paulón, Undersecretary of Sexual Diversity Policies for the province of Santa Fe. “For a school to say that homosexuality can be cured contravenes the Mental Health Law and the Comprehensive Sex Education (ESI) Law. Furthermore, to suggest that homosexuality is not socially acceptable is to ignore the Equal Marriage Law.” Paulón says that behind these actions is a “disinformation and fear campaign” led by “conservative groups.” “The goal of these groups is to repeal the inclusive laws that have been hard-won, and they are using children as pawns. We must stop the ideology of hate.”

This is not the first time such incidents have occurred in secondary schools. In April of this year, students also reported homophobic materials at a school in Paraná .

Big kiss: responding to hate with love

One of the responses from students and young people in the city to stop the conservative wave is to call for a kiss-in in front of San Martín Square in San Justo on Sunday, November 11.

A. (20 years old), a student and alumnus of the school, is one of the organizers, and says: “I feel like I can’t let this go. We can’t let things continue like this. We have to raise awareness. Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) is very important and helps in building people’s identity, preventing pregnancies, and addressing topics that are not discussed in many families.”

The young man says that what happened at the school in San Justo motivated him to read the laws: “We want to generate knowledge, train ourselves, and raise awareness. We are sharing materials. We don't want it to be just a condemnation. The provincial government has already done that. We want to generate something more, to hold a kiss-in because the idea is to respond to hate with love.”

Prayer chains and campaign

On the other side, they are also organizing. A group of parents from the Niño Jesús school have formed "prayer chains" to defend teacher Alejandra Verzzalli, the teacher who distributed the content. According to several sources who spoke to Presentes, they believe it is a smear campaign against the teacher because there is an attempt to "impose gender ideology."

What does the school say?

 The school issued a statement yesterday, Monday, expressing its regret and apologies to anyone who may have felt offended, hurt, or violated in their dignity. Regarding the material distributed by teacher Alejandra Verzzali, the school stated that it was a proposal to address myths and prejudices about homosexuality, "with the intention that these controversial ideas would generate further debate, and was not intended as an assessment of knowledge." The statement was signed by María Laura Fabbro, the institution's legal representative.

However, Paulón told Presentes that when he made contact with students, they said that the content was being used "against" them and not to generate debate against discrimination.

Fighting against conservative and retrograde content through rights 

“We condemn the teaching of this type of conservative, biological, and retrograde content. Sexuality is a fundamental part of personality, and there are laws that protect us. It is important that this not be ignored,” said Victoria, a member of the feminist organization Redes Ultravioletas.

When news of the discriminatory content broke in San Justo, it sparked a major mobilization among many youth groups. And some parents began considering withdrawing their children from the school, according to Redes Ultravioletas.

“The young people here are very motivated to continue working and carrying out interventions to further highlight these injustices with highly discriminatory content, which threatens the mental health of children, adolescents, and those who are discovering their sexuality and sexual orientation,” says Victoria. “It is very important that we begin to generate informational campaigns so that people can know all the rights they have, especially young people.”