⚠️ CONTENT WARNING: This post contains homophobic and transphobic rhetoric, as well as mentions or self-harm and suicide.
Alex Fahmy, running for the District 1 seat on the Montgomery County Board of Education, is running on a platform fueled by homophobia and transphobia. Fahmy states:
Any Montgomery County teacher found to be teaching minors about sex and sexual preference should be immediately fired, arrested, and investigated as pedophiles.
Alex Fahmy, District 1 Board of Education candidate
Statements like these are made by elected officials promoting parental rights—which is cleverly named but disguises anti-LGBTQ beliefs that would require educators to “out” students to parents—in addition to anti-LGBTQ legislation like the “Don’t Say Gay” law in Florida and anti-trans laws throughout the country, especially in Texas. Candidates like this are popping up all over the country though, including in Maryland.
Fahmy’s hateful position causes harm to children and students. According to Trevor Project’s 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health, “42% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth” surveyed. 94% of youth surveyed noted that the political climate in the United States has “negatively impacted their mental health”. The survey data also showed that youth who had access to affirming spaces had lower rates of suicide.
I reached out to Mr. Fahmy to confirm that the statement above was accurate. He confirmed. “If an adult talks to the average parents’ child on the playground about sex, I think the chances are quite high that the parents would call the police. If someone talks about sex to a colleague at work, they are reported, fired, and arrested.”
Maryland currently does not require a comprehensive sex education curriculum, and doesn’t even require it to be medically accurate. Montgomery County Public Schools, however, does have a comprehensive health education curriculum, including sex education. I didn’t think I’d ever have to point this out, but it should be noted that educating children about sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity are not the same thing as sexually abusing or assaulting someone, something that Mr. Fahmy fails to grasp. He also referenced statistics from a study conducted by Fox News. He stated that “in 2022 so far 135 teachers, aides, and substitute teachers have been arrested for child-sex related crimes, most with the teacher’s student.” None of these crimes were for providing sex education to students.
If you feel that this helped you in any way, consider buying MoCo Local a coffee or beer. You can do so through Venmo (@Vito-Anastasia) or Cash App ($VitoAnastasia). Alternatively, you can become a regular supporter of MoCo Local on Patreon.
MoCo Local 