FAIRFAX, VA – On Thursday, June 13, 2024, Stephanie Lundquist-Arora, Chapter leader of the Independent Women’s Network (IWN) Chapter in Fairfax, Virginia, testified at the Fairfax County Public School Board meeting, expressing her deep concerns regarding the board’s failure to genuinely include parental and community input. Lundquist-Arora emphasized that a majority of survey respondents strongly oppose the board’s intention to indoctrinate children with gender ideology.
Highlighting the board’s selective interpretation of “inclusion,” she stated, “Local leaders who use the term ‘inclusion’ are only referring to people who agree with their views. Fairfax County School Board members are case in point. Even when they survey parents for feedback, they throw away the results if the findings are inconvenient.”
As the board prepares to consider changes to the Family Life Education curriculum on June 26th, Lundquist-Arora urged the members to reflect on their true commitment to inclusivity and the value they place on parental and community input. She told the board, “You’ve appointed an ideologically homogeneous committee to advise you. So basically you selected people to advise you who already agree with you… And last year, survey respondents overwhelmingly disagreed with recommendations from the committee. They disagreed that we should have combined sex education in Family Life Education curriculum. They disagreed about gender ideology education in elementary schools overwhelmingly.”
Lundquist-Arora further challenged the board’s claim of inclusivity, asking, “Now I know how much all of you claim to care about inclusivity because you talk about it all the time. So I’m wondering, have you gone around and made sure that everybody understands what you’re trying to do before you vote? Have you gotten everybody’s opinion about what you intend to do when you want to indoctrinate our children with gender ideology? I think you should ask yourself that, for the sake of inclusivity.”
Lundquist-Arora’s testimony serves as a powerful reminder that true inclusivity requires open dialogue, respect for diverse perspectives, curriculum transparency, and meaningful engagement with parents and the community.
