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The October 14th State Board of Education’s meeting was a barn burner as various ("far right") groups opposed the proposed August update to Michigan's Health Education Standards Framework:
Debate erupts over Michigan’s proposed health ed standards and LGBTQ+ inclusion in schools
By Kyle Davidson - October 15, 2025Parents, former school employees and conservative advocates packed out the State Board of Education’s meeting room Tuesday, offering their opposition to a proposed update to the state’s health education standards framework, which they argued would marry sex education into the state’s health curriculum, despite requirements in state law for this instruction to remain optional.
While the board was not scheduled to hold a vote on the standards, more than 40 individuals – including members of the far-right groups Moms for Liberty and Citizens Defending Freedom – arrived to offer their thoughts on the proposal, with more signing up to offer their comments online.
Though the updated standards had their supporters, the majority of commenters argued adopting the standards as-is would violate both state and federal law by preventing parents from opting their children out of the curriculum by weaving sex education into health education.
Several commenters, including Republican Attorney General candidate Kevin Kijewski, pointed to Mahmoud v. Taylor, in which parents of various religious backgrounds successfully argued to the U.S. Supreme Court their religious and parental rights had been violated when they were not given notice or permitted to opt their children out of curriculum involving LGBTQ+-inclusive story books.
However, Michigan school districts are not required to use these standards. According to the Department of Education, school districts decide whether to offer sex ed and what to include. Content for sexual education is recommended by Sex Education Advisory Boards of which at least half of their members must be local parents, and the local school board must approve the content.
Under state law, parents must be notified if sex education is offered locally, must be allowed to review the materials and can opt their child out of instruction without penalty.
Ahead of the meeting, the board of education issued a statement emphasizing that optional sex education standards would remain separate, as would local control over how or if schools use these standards.
Regardless, several commenters took issue with standards for sexual health education for students in grades 6-8, which recommended schools:
* Define gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, and explain that they are distinct components of every individual’s identity
* Explain how biological sex, gender identity, and gender expression are distinct concepts and how they interact with each other
* Explain that romantic, emotional, and/or sexual attractions can be toward an individual of the same gender and/or different gender(s), and that attractions can change over time“These proposed standards go far beyond physical health, they cross into deeply personal and spiritual territory, normalizing behaviors that many families find harmful and contrary to their faith,” said Monica Yatooma, a Republican candidate for Secretary of State. “This is not education. It’s indoctrination. It’s an assault on family values, faith and the sacred bond between parent and child.”
State Rep. Joseph Pavlov (R-Kimball) noted that House Democrats proposed similar changes in 2024, introducing legislation to update the state’s sex ed curriculum to be “medically accurate, research-informed, inclusive and age- and developmentally appropriate.”
However, the legislation failed to receive a hearing, being introduced in the midst of a tumultuous lame duck session, with Republicans set to take control of the chamber in the new year.
Opponents of the standards repeatedly pointed to Michigan’s 44th in the nation ranking for fourth grade reading scores and 31st in the nation ranking on eighth grade math scores arguing schools should focus on improving education rather than incorporating discussions of gender and sexuality into health education.
However, the supporters of the educational framework argued an update is long overdue, with the previous health education standards adopted in 2007.
“This means that an entire generation of students has gone through school using outdated guidance that does not reflect what we now know about mental health, technology, vaping, healthy relationships, consent, among many other topics,” said Taryn Gal, executive director of the Michigan Organization on Adolescent Sexual Health.
Christy Gibson-Marshall, the assistant principal at Oxford High School, said Michigan communities have undergone significant changes since the previous standards were adopted, pointing to the rise of social media, mobile devices, the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing school violence as some of the many factors shaping the lives of today’s students.
Gibson-Marshall acknowledged that the standards include LGBTQ+ students in discussions, which she said fosters a sense of belonging and acceptance.
Both Gibson-Marshall and Gal similarly called out the new standards’ emphasis on critical assessment skills to help them navigate the vast amount of information and misinformation presented to them through social media, in the news and on the internet.
Gal also noted that the standards do not include education on abortion, despite concerns to the contrary.
Though members of the board did not vote on the Health Education Standards, the board did consider a resolution put forth by Nikki Snyder, one of the board’s two Republican members.
Snyder’s resolution called attention to several items within the proposed standards centered on gender, sexuality and sexual identity, arguing their inclusion goes against the Supreme Court’s decision in Mahmoud V. Taylor, though Ellen Lipton, one of eight Democrats on the board, noted the difference between the curriculum discussed in the case and the standards in front of the board.
“I think I might be the only attorney at the table. Although I’m not a constitutional attorney, I am pretty well versed in reading cases and extracting precedent from those cases,” Lipton said. “And Mahmoud, although a fairly consequential opinion, is still based on a certain set of facts that the Maryland School Board and the Maryland district was facing, and it does, when it talks about the interweaving, it was really based on the way that the curriculum was being delivered.”
She reiterated the difference between laying out standards for education and delivering curriculum, noting the local nature of Michigan’s curriculum selection and delivery.
The motion to adopt Snyder’s motion was rejected, with Tom McMillin, the other Republican on the board, joining Snyder as the only other vote in support.
According to the board’s earlier statement, Michigan Department of Education staff is reviewing the written public comments on the proposal and will recommend updated health education standards to the board at a future meeting.
The SBE passed their draft health education standards in a 6 -2 vote yesterday:
Michigan State Board of Ed approves new health and sex education standards
By Lily Altavena - November 13, 2025* New state health education standards include gender identity and expression objectives as part of guidelines for sex education in Michigan public schools.
* State education officials said the updated standards do not change state law, which allows parents to opt their children out of sex education.Michigan's State Board of Education approved on a 6-2 vote new state health education standards, which include expanded objectives around LGBTQ+ relationships and gender, after more than two hours of impassioned public comment and deliberation by the board during a meeting in Lansing on Thursday, Nov. 13.
The vote follows an outcry led by conservative groups and state Republican lawmakers over the standards' updates, particularly the inclusion of gender identity and expression. State academic standards are overarching guidelines for public schools in developing local curricula. The overhaul of the health standards — which hadn't been updated since 2007 — was presented first in September, and then was subject to a 30-day period of open comment.
Michigan Department of Education (MDE) staff members said on Thursday that, of 1,333 surveys completed during the 30-day period, 924 of the surveys were submitted by those opposed to the standards change. Board members and MDE staff members also received about 2,000 emails, 1,100 of which were supportive, and nearly 900 against. To address feedback, staff members said they separated sex education and general health education objectives, to make it clear they were not trying to blur the lines between sex education in regular school health education classes, an accusation that's been made by some state Republican lawmakers.
Tiffany Tilley, a Democratic board member from West Bloomfield, said the new standards have been the subject of a campaign of "misinformation."
"These guidelines do not enforce districts to even have sex education," she said. "The rumors that have been spun have been very ugly, very inappropriate, very hurtful and has caused a lot of negativity to come towards us."
Nothing has changed in state law, which stipulates parents may opt their children out of sex education. And the adoption of the standards doesn't mean parents and caregivers can't weigh in on the content included in their child's school's sex education classes: State law has long required districts offering sex ed to form local sex education advisory boards, made up of parents and other community stakeholders.
Still, the updated standards have drawn controversy, as sex ed issues in Michigan have in the past. Republican lawmakers have accused the Michigan Department of Education of subverting the opt-out law with the new standards, subpoenaing documents from the department around the development of the standards. Nikki Snyder, a conservative member of the board who voted against the standards update along with Tom McMillin, accused the education department of going rogue with the overhaul.
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Is it legal in Michigan schools to confiscate, search a student's cell phone?"There is a Department of Education massive overstep that is happening," she said. Adding later, "When you say there are more than two genders.. you are using the government and government-run schools to push your beliefs in schools — that violates the parental rights of those who disagree."
Health education topics include sexual health, substance abuse, mental and emotional health, personal health and community health. The refreshed draft of the standards, compared with the older high school standards, are more in-depth and include discussion around sexual orientation, gender identity and online safety, topics not included in the older standards posted by the state online.
Standards vote draws a crowd
The marathon portion of the public comment period was a who's who of supporters and detractors, with parents, educators, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, clergy members, college professors, doctors, school bus drivers and numerous representatives from organizations across the state stepping up to the podium. Rarely present at the podium to share their thoughts: students. Thursday was a school day for most public schools in Michigan.
Those who came to cheer on the passage of the new standards praised the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity, because they argued that more students who come through health classrooms will feel seen and receive up-to-date information around health. The older standards don't reflect the world in 2025, they said, particularly with the advent of social media.
One of the few students who spoke, Mike Enstrom, said as a transgender high school freshman, he welcomed the inclusion of LGBTQ people in the standards.
"I believe that it is important for everyone to be represented and included, especially with something as vulnerable as sexual well-being," he said.
Richard Hellinga — who said during public comment that he once pulled his son, who is transgender, out of health class because his district's program did not adequately acknowledge issues faced by gay and other students — supports the new standards.
"My son will no longer be excluded, but better seen," he said.
But the standards' detractors decried the inclusion of gender identity and sexual orientation. They said the more comprehensive provisions in this update oversteps some parents' wishes, and some cited religious beliefs. And they said they were disappointed health and sex education continue to be mashed together in state standards.
"If even one child is taught something that contradicts the internal moral sense of right and wrong, an injury has done irreparable damage," said Seth Spencer, one public commenter.
Eileen McNeil, with a group called Citizens for Traditional Values, urged the board to wait on voting.
"If you really want to address health and sex ed, let's take time," she said.
What's in the new standards?
Sexual health topics by grade include:
* In grades 3-5 the draft standards address puberty-related and personal hygiene issues.
* In grades 6-8, the draft standards address gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, explaining that "they are distinct components of every individual’s identity."
* The standards also guide educators to explain that emotional, romantic and/or sexual attraction to individuals of the same or different genders can change over time.
* Standards also recommend explaining the benefits of abstinence, decision-making that aligns with an individual's family values and strategies for reducing the risk of sexually transmitted infections (STI).
* In grades 9-12, the draft includes standards for students to analyze outside influences on a person's beliefs about sexual behavior and discussion over why it is illegal to coerce or trick someone into sexual activity, the importance of STI treatment and testing.
* They also include discussion over fostering empathy and respect around issues related to sexuality and gender.Michelle Moustakas, a 71-year-old grandma from Canton, said so much has changed in the two decades since the state has last updated its sex education and health framework.
"The world our kids are living in is very different," she said. "Young people are asking for broader, honest and more relevant information on sexual health and safety."
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