Pro-family victory in Argentina: sex-ed law defeated

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dec 15, 2004 / 22:00 pm

The city of Buenos Aires for now will not have a “sexual education law” which had been proposed by a group of homosexuals and brought before the Buenos Aires legislature by Representative Ana Suppa.

Suppa’s bill proposed an obligatory sexual education program for public schools prepared by the Argentinean Gay and Lesbian Society of Integration.

Representative Santiago De Estada called Suppa’s bill “a direct attack on the authority of parents, who would be completely left out of the sexual education that would be given to their children,” and he said the program’s content “would not be accepted by the vast majority of parents.”

De Estrada offered his own sexual education bill which would have allowed the constant presence of parents and would have been extracurricular and optional.

During debate on the measures, Suppa accused De Estrada of proposing a sexual education program “for the sole purpose of blocking the approval of the bill promoted by my office,” and she said the opinions had been polarized between those “who on the one hand wish to defend public schools and equal education and on the other those who defend the rights of parents and the subsidiary role of the State.”

De Estrada responded saying, “Nobody doubts the need for sexual education, but the discussion concerns the content and who will be providing it and putting it into practice.”  “Opposition to Suppa’s bill is coming from parents, teachers and diverse religions, while support is coming only from feminist non-governmental organizations.”

When debate final ended, Suppa’s bill received 24 votes in favor and 28 against, and De Estrada’s received 26 votes in favor, 3 against, and 23 abstentions.  Neither of the bills obtained the needed 31 votes to become law.