Chicago school defends sex education program after Project Veritas captured disturbing comments from school leadership 

by mcardinal

Savannah Hulsey Pointer, FISM News 

 

(Warning:  Mature subject matter.)

Project Veritas rejects a letter from a prestigious Chicago school that accused their journalists of editing an undercover video to make one of the school’s teachers appear to have a different intent than what the video portrayed. 

In their written response to Project Veritas’ video where the teacher talked about sexually explicit materials in conjunction with teaching teens, the school said, “Please know this video contains descriptive language. If you choose to view it, we ask you not to share it, because it will add to its viral power.”

The content in question showed Joseph Bruno, the Dean of Students at Francis W. Parker School in Chicago, Illinois, speaking to a journalist posing as a fellow educator, discussing how their school celebrates “Pride Week.” 

“So I’ve been the Dean for four years. During Pride — we do a Pride Week every year — I had our LGBTQ+ Health Center come in [to the classroom],” Bruno said. “They were passing around butt-plugs and dildos to my students — talking about queer sex, using lube versus using spit.”

“They’re just, like, passing around dildos and butt-plugs. The kids are just playing with ‘em, looking at ‘em…They’re like, ‘How does this butt-plug work? How do we do – like, how does this work?’ That’s a really cool part of my job.”

The dean of students went on to say, “We had a Drag Queen come in — pass out cookies and brownies and do photos.”

The video went viral, amassing more than 5 million views on Twitter, causing the principal of the school, Dan Frank,  to respond, asking the members of their school’s community to avoid “interacting with” the video, and claiming it was not a correct representation of their dean’s words.

“At Parker, we care deeply about the health, well-being and development of our students. Our programs are designed to help cultivate not only physical and emotional well-being, but also a strong sense of belonging. This is central to our mission.

“That’s why we are heartbroken to learn that one of our colleague’s words have been severely misrepresented for a malicious purpose. Project Veritas is a far-right activist group that produces deceptively edited videos of secret recordings in an effort to discredit mainstream media organizations, progressive groups and educational institutions.

“Last week at a NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) People of Color Conference one of our employees was targeted by this group and misled to believe he was conversing with another conference attendee over a coffee. He was filmed without his knowledge or permission while describing one example of our inclusive, LGBTQ+ affirming and comprehensive approach to sex education. This group has now edited this video with malicious intent and launched it publicly tonight. Please know this video contains descriptive language. If you choose to view it, we ask you not to share it, because it will add to its viral power.

“Earlier this week, this same group attempted to ambush our employee at the school and was escorted off campus without incident by our security. While we have no reason to believe there is a threat to the physical safety of the community, we have worked with the alderman’s office and police and have implemented higher security measures. You may already have noticed increased police presence outside the school.

“Parker administrators and Parker’s Board of Trustees support Parker’s programming, the strength and inclusivity of our curriculum, and the dedicated and talented faculty and staff that teach it.

“We are sickened by this group’s deceptive tactics, their invasion during a People of Color conference, and their attack on the LGBTQ+ community. We will be meeting with Middle and Upper School students tomorrow to offer support and guidance.”

Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe insists their organization did nothing to edit, obscure, or change the meaning of the dean’s comments. 

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