Massive nationwide protests prompt Colombian president to cancel 'transgender education' plan

Tens of thousands of Colombians gather to protest the planned introduction of gender ideology in schools.(YouTube screenshot/El Heraldo)

There will be no indoctrination of schoolchildren on the new gender ideology in Colombia, which is being pushed by the United Nations.

The Colombian people made sure of that as they held massive protests throughout the country last week, prompting President Juan Manuel Santos to cancel all plans to impose "transgender education" on the nation's schools, LifeSite News reports.

The nationwide protests were spurred by a booklet, purportedly issued by the Ministry of Education, on teaching students to accept transsexualism and homosexuality. The booklet also teaches that there is no fundamental difference between male and female.

The booklet and other teaching manuals were produced in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund and UNICEF.

The Catholic bishops' conference and Colombia's attorney general both condemned the booklet, leading to the protests that drew tens of thousands of outraged parents to the streets of several major cities, demanding an end to the program and the removal of Education Minister Gina Parody.

Speaking to the nation, Santos said the booklet, titled "Non-Hegemonic Sexual Orientations and Gender Identities in Schools," "will not be authorised" for use by the Ministry of Education.

Despite the president's assurance, Colombia's attorney general, Alejandro Ordóñez, told reporters that "we parents will be vigilant" regarding what he sees as an attempt by the government to "indoctrinate" children with the new gender ideology.

"It's been demonstrated that this booklet exists. It's been demonstrated that there was an inter-administrative agreement. It's been demonstrated that they've been giving workshops to school principals for this purpose," he said.

"An education policy can't be used to threaten and seek to take away the rights of parents to decide the education of their children," he added, warning that "the government must correct this because we parents are not going to permit them to continue developing education policy in this direction."

Meanwhile, the nation's Catholic bishops welcomed their government's decision not to promote or implement gender ideology in schools following last week's mass protests, the Catholic Herald reports.

The bishops thanked the president for agreeing to talk with them, saying that they "received with satisfaction the announcement of the National Government and the Department of Education that they will not promote or implement gender ideology in the country."