Contact: Regina Griggs, Director, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX), 703-360-2225, PFOX@pfox.org  

ROCKVILLE, Maryland, Jan. 18 /Christian Newswire/ -- Attorneys representing PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays) argued in court Wednesday that the new sex education curriculum adopted by the Montgomery County (Maryland) Board of Education is in violation of Maryland state law and regulations.

Attorney Brandon M. Bolling of the Thomas More Law Center, representing PFOX and two other plaintiff organizations, said that the curriculum's teaching that sexual orientation is "innate" is unsupported by scientific evidence, and therefore violates state law requiring that information presented in public schools be factually accurate.

"Declaring homosexuality to be 'innate' is a direct attack upon the ex-gay community and the possibility of changing one's sexual orientation," said Peter Sprigg, a Montgomery County resident and PFOX Board member who represented PFOX on the Citizens Advisory Committee that reviewed the curriculum. "This statement was inserted into the curriculum at the last minute and was never reviewed by the Citizens Advisory Committee," he added. "It also directly contradicts the statement elsewhere in the curriculum that 'sexual orientation results from an interaction of cognitive, environmental, and biological factors.'"

Bolling also charged that the Maryland State Board of Education had abdicated its responsibility by allowing Montgomery County arbitrarily to decide that classroom discussion of oral and anal intercourse did not violate a state law against discussions of "erotic techniques."

The hearing was held today in Montgomery County Circuit Court before Judge William J. Rowan, III. Attorney John Garza of Rockville, Maryland joined Bolling in representing PFOX, Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, and Family Leader Network.

The case is Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, et al. v. Montgomery County Public Schools, et al., Civil Action No. 284980.