Lansing Update: Standing Against Gender Ideology in Public Schools
Posted November 14, 2025
Gender Ideology Included in New Health Ed Standards Despite Significant Opposition
Gender ideology would be promoted to children as young as 11 or 12 years old under health education standards approved by a majority of the State Board of Education for use in public schools, despite opposition from Michigan Catholic Conference and more than 1,000 Catholic grassroots advocates.
Earlier this fall, the Michigan Department of Education proposed changes to the state’s health education standards and presented them to the State Board of Education for their approval. Local public school districts could then use the health education standards to set their local curricula.
MCC has been engaged in advocacy against the standards due to the presence of the gender ideology content and because, as the statewide standard set for health education, it would reach thousands of children across Michigan—including those from Catholic families, as most Catholic parents send their children to public school.
In addition to submitting formal public comments in opposition to the standards, MCC also issued an Action Alert to members of the Catholic Advocacy Network this week, urging individuals to send a message to all eight members of the State Board of Education calling on them to reject the standards.
More than than 1,100 individuals sent 9,400-plus messages to the members of the State Board. Thank you to those who responded to the Action Alert as well as to those who took the time to customize their message. In addition to this Catholic advocacy, the Department of Education acknowledged this week that most of the comments it received on the standards were in opposition.
If you are a parent of public school children and concerned about these topics being presented in school, it is important to stay informed and engaged. Under state law, parents have the right to receive prior notification of, and the opportunity to review, content related to sex education, as well as the right to opt their children out of sex education. If a public school does choose to offer sex education, it must form a local advisory board to help guide what topics are presented.
Also, as the gender ideology concepts were present within the broader standards for health education, it will be important to be mindful of content presented as health education curricula, even apart from any separately-offered sex education.
Within the now-approved standards, discussion around terms such as “gender identity” and “gender expression” are recommended starting as early as grade six (11- to 12-year-olds).
Teachers would be advised, according to the standards, to “define gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, and explain that they are distinct components of every individual’s identity,” and to “explain how biological sex, gender identity, and gender expression are distinct concepts and how they interact with each other.”
The promotion of these gender ideology concepts cause confusion in children regarding the inherent, biological truth of the sexual differences between men and women. While biological sex and gender can be distinguished, they cannot be separated.
The Church has constantly stated that gender ideology—which promotes the false concept that gender can be personally self-determined—undermines human dignity. Pope Francis wrote that gender theory envisions “a society without sexual differences, thereby eliminating the anthropological basis of the family.”
Further, the promotion of gender ideology has led to children taking steps to attempt to change their biological sex, sometimes in harmful, irreversible ways.
The State Board of Education consists of eight members who are elected statewide. The current makeup of the board is six members nominated by the Democratic Party and two members nominated by the Republican Party.
MCC Supports Reinstatement of Abortion Reporting Requirements
Abortion providers would again be required to collect and report information for each abortion procedure, including any physical complications or resulting deaths, under legislation considered by a House committee and supported by MCC.
House Bills 5201 through 5203 would reinstate abortion reporting requirements that had been present in Michigan law for decades, prior to 2023 legislation that repealed the requirements. MCC was engaged in efforts to oppose the repeal of those abortion reporting requirements, along with other safeguards on abortion practices that were ultimately removed by lawmakers as part of the so-called Reproductive Health Act.
In testimony before the House Health Policy Committee this week, MCC reported that 20% of pregnancies in Michigan annually end in abortion. In 2023—the latest data available—there were 28,491 abortions in Michigan amid the 150,000 pregnancies annually.
“This is a statistically significant result and one which would benefit from analysis,” said Rebecca Mastee, JD, policy advocate for MCC, in testimony to the committee. “There is clearly benefit in collecting pertinent information that can help to explain trends and inform public policy solutions.”
The required information would include determining a reason for the abortion, with options provided such as for economic reasons; physical, mental or emotional health risks; a diagnosis of a fetal anomaly; a pregnancy conceived in rape or incest; or even “a child is not wanted at this time.”
MCC supports data collection also to provide transparency and accountability around abortion in Michigan, particularly out of concern for the safety of women who seek abortions.
The abortion report could not include patients’ personally identifiable information. The committee took testimony only on the legislation.
Kids Need Parents’ Permission to Use Social Media Under New Bill
Social media companies must verify the ages of their Michigan users and confirm that minors have parental consent to use their applications, under legislation presented to a House committee and supported by MCC.
House Bill 4388, sponsored by Rep. Mark Tisdel (R-Rochester), would require social media companies to verify and obtain parental consent of minors seeking to use their platforms, including both new and existing users. Failure to obtain consent within 14 days would block the minor’s access to the account.
MCC’s policy advocacy is guided by the principles in its Blueprint for the Common Good document that is reviewed and updated before each legislative session. In the most recent update, MCC added it would support policies that “protect individuals from the negative impact caused by the use of social media, especially upon minors.”
Concerns regarding social media usage and its various impacts on minors have been growing in recent years, both from secular sources as well as from leaders in the Church.
Pope Leo XIV has spoken on the potential pitfalls of social media, as the Holy Father earlier this year shared with young pilgrims, “When a tool controls someone, that person becomes a tool: a commodity on the market and, in turn, a piece of merchandise. Only genuine relationships and stable connections can build good lives.”
The House Regulatory Reform Committee took testimony only on the legislation this week.
U.S. Bishops Unite to Issue Special Message of Concern for Immigrants
The U.S. bishops, in a nearly unanimous vote, approved a rare Special Message at their plenary meeting in Baltimore this week that addressed their concerns regarding the treatment of immigrants in this country.
The issuance of the Special Message is significant due to the support it garnered from the body—216 votes in favor, 5 votes against, and 3 abstentions—and because it is a rare form of communication used by the conference as an urgent way of speaking as a group.
The previous Special Message from the U.S. bishops came in 2013 in response to the contraception health coverage mandate.
The statement noted the bishops “oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people” and that they “pray for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or at law enforcement.”
The bishops listed several practices of concern regarding immigrants, writing that:
- “We are disturbed when we see among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement.”
- “We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants.”
- “We are concerned about the conditions in detention centers and the lack of access to pastoral care.”
- “We lament that some immigrants in the United States have arbitrarily lost their legal status.”
- “We are troubled by threats against the sanctity of houses of worship and the special nature of hospitals and schools.”
- “We are grieved when we meet parents who fear being detained when taking their children to school and when we try to console family members who have already been separated from their loved ones.”
The bishops’ Special Message on immigration came a day before the memorial celebrating St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, who was an Italian immigrant to this country and later became the first canonized U.S. citizen, and is now recognized as the patron saint of immigrants.
The full message from the U.S. bishops can be read here, or viewed as a video here.
The immigration statement comes roughly a year after the USCCB first issued a statement of support and solidarity with immigrants in response to President Trump’s pledge to begin mass deportations and increased immigration enforcement upon the beginning of his presidential term.
In the months that followed, many state conferences of bishops issued similar statements in support of immigrants, including in Michigan, where MCC distributed a pastoral note on behalf of the Catholic bishops in Michigan as well as an edition of Focus inviting readers to see Christ in the immigrant.