The conversation surrounding gender and sexuality is far from unfamiliar at this point. In the last few years, the increase in rallies, court cases, and prevalence in every political platform has brought an inescapable attention to sexuality and its presentation in society. It should come as little surprise that this is not a debate isolated to abstract ideas or far off policy. Instead, the words that are spoken are now reality, and the fight is at home.
This can clearly be seen in Michigan’s HB 6068 which is being presented for the 2024 lame duck session. This legislation seeks to dramatically overhaul sex ed standards within public schools. Current law is to teach students about the risks of sexual intercourse, particularly STIs, and the need for consent. With these standards, abstinence until marriage is to be promoted as the primary protection against STIs and as “a healthy lifestyle for unmarried young people” (MCL 380.1507). Under the proposed legislation, a dramatic turn is being made.
What is first noticed about the proposed legislation is that it strongly supports fundamentally unbiblical standards of gender and sexuality by seeking to “affirmatively recognize that individuals have different sexual orientations and gender identities. Further steps are made via allowing birth control to be handed out in the classroom and removing the restriction on teaching abortion as a form of birth control.
These movements, while dramatic, did not come as a shock. These agendas have been within the leftist political platform for some time. What came as a far greater shock was the attack on marriage within our education system. All mentions of marriage are removed reducing sex to strictly a matter of preference with no emphasis on lasting commitment of any form.
Maybe this shouldn’t surprise me either, though. When a society embraces an institution prohibited by God, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the same culture would reject the context that God intended sex to be blessed in. The further irony to me is that the intent behind the LGBTQ+ movement is supposedly to promote a society of love and acceptance. Yet, legislation like this does the opposite. By promoting sex free of responsibility while ignoring the need for stable families with committed spouses, we have diminished sex to strictly a physical act with no spiritual implication. The end result is not love that lasts. Rather, it encourages a propulsion of sexual activity without the necessity of loyalty. In the end, this does less to elevate the value of humanity and does more to diminish it as men and women become more valued for what they can physically offer than any other consideration. It is a physical act, and so long as consent is given, who are we to stand in the way?
It should go without saying that I encourage each of you to write to your legislators encouraging them to vote no on this legislation. I would recommend against submitting form letters. Instead, write in your own words or call in to their offices. This will increase the chance of your voice being heard and decrease the chances of your message being put into a batch without being read.
My greater encouragement, though, is to start teaching your children about Biblical sexuality now. Regardless of whether or not this legislation passes, the world is becoming increasingly hostile to Biblical standards of sexuality. The best means of helping your children understand the blessing of marriage is to demonstrate it in word and action. We can engage in a political battle for years, and our voices ought to be heard in this way. But, this is not a battle against flesh and blood, and it shouldn’t be fought on human terms alone. This battle must be fought at home in a way that makes the reason for God’s institution undeniably clear. Let them know, see, and experience the truth of what love is. Only in this way will they experience love in its most beautiful form.
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