Famous San Francisco Drag Queen Used to Teach Honesty to 2nd Graders in New California Textbook

The following is a media release by the California Family Council:

California Family Council Press Release CONTACT: Greg Burt (949) 244-2080

October 10, 2018

World Famous Drag Queen Used to Teach Honesty to 2nd Graders in New CA Textbook

A famous San Francisco Drag Queen with a prostitution record named Jose Julio Sarria is lauded for his honesty in a new second-grade textbook being introduced in school districts throughout California. Elk Grove parents will have an opportunity to view the textbook and offer their comments at the school district headquarters tomorrow afternoon.

The new curriculum was created to comply with a 2011 state law requiring that LGBT historical figures be added to K-12 history curriculum. Although the California State Board of Education recommended several textbooks that comply with the FAIR Education Act, the final decision on which textbooks to use is in the hands of local school districts.

“California textbooks should provide information, not indoctrination. Many parents have strong objections to equating the moral character of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King to a drag queen with a criminal record,” said California Family Council President Jonathan Keller. “In addition, many mothers and fathers find it highly inappropriate to introduce six and seven-year-old children to transgenderism, cross dressing, sexual orientation, and other controversial sexualized topics. The law does not require this and educators should not accept it.”

The second grade history-social science book, My World published by Pearson, is one of several recommended options being piloted and reviewed by public elementary schools around California. The Pearson curriculum promotes universally loved American historical figures like Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr. for their strong moral character right alongside other controversial LGBT “heroes” like Governor Candidate Gavin Newsom, and Sarria.

Sarria is lauded as a “Champion of Gay Rights” in part for his openness and honesty about his gay identity and his fondness for dressing in drag when he ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors over 50 years ago.

Later in the lesson students are asked to write down how Sarria’s honesty inspired others. But the text fails to mention that Sarria, also known as Empress Jose I, was a world famous San Francisco drag queen with a checkered past. For instance, in a book written about his life, The Empress is a Man, there is a whole chapter dedicated to Sarria’s arrest and conviction for solicitation after he was caught during a sting operation at the St. Francis Hotel. The criminal record forced him to give up his plans to be a teacher.

Read the curriculum for yourself in an article we [California Family Council] published on our website.