Thousands Protest Infiltration of Gender Ideology Into Dominican Republic

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SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (ChurchMilitant.com) - Thousands of people protested the Department of Education's plan to indoctrinate children with gender ideology.

On July 4, thousands of people gathered in Santo Domingo and Santiago in the Dominican Republic to protest the Department of Education's plan to teach gender ideology to children.

The protest, called Con Mis Hijos No Te Metas, or "Don't Mess with My Children," also advocated for the rights as parents as the first educators of their children.

The goal of the protest was to demand the repeal of the Department of Education order 33-2019 that established as a priority the design and implementation of gender policy in all activities of pre-university education.

Protesters claim this order, under the guise of equality and tolerance, has "the clear intention of initiating pre-university students in gender ideology indoctrination."

A press release issued by the organizers of the protest notes the new standard is the first to define gender "as a social construct different than sex, which is the philosophical premise of gender ideology."

Organizers of the rally also claim this is a "systematic and organized penetration of gender ideology in the Dominican Republic" that "has permeated many of the government's institutions, where they hold talks with titles of tolerance, equality and inclusion that look very attractive, but deep down are loaded with gender ideology."

Julian Musa, one of the speakers at the rally, explained they have noticed the systematic infiltration of gender ideology in parts of the country, saying, "We have documented information about organized dissemination of this current ideology in many ministries and administrative directions of the government."

Musa explained that this is a result of agreements between the Dominican Republic government and the United Nations and organizations from the United States and the European Union.

He went on to say that certain agencies, such as those that work with women and children, have already opened gender clinics and numerous bills are "saturated with the fundamentals of the gender ideology."

He said the objective of order 33-2019 "was veiled indoctrination of our children."

During the rally, Dr. Patricia Acra, a pediatrician, warned that gender ideology should not be implemented before knowing its scientific implications.

She explained, "Human sexuality is an objective biological feature ... our cells, each one of them has a genetic marker or chromosome, that we define as a man or woman."

She added that there are 6,400 genes that differentiate us, adding, "Scientifically, there is no gene for homosexuality ... you do not inherit what makes it a reversible condition."

"Gender confusion in boys and girls is transient, not definitive," Dr. Acra said. "Those who submit to stop the natural biological process of its puberty pay a high price."

She went on to explain some the known risks of the transitioning process, such as infertility, mood changes, increased risk for metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and possibly cardiovascular disease and endometrial carcinoma [cancer] in women and joined Dr. Michelle Cretella, president of the American Academy of Pediatricians, in calling the transitioning process child abuse.

A number of religious leaders attended the rally. Bishop Víctor Masalles, the bishop of Baní diocese, tweeted: "My full support for the civic manifestation of concerned parents so that their children will not be indoctrinated with a background of gender ideology. A valid concern that we must support."

In May, following the passage of 33-2019, the Dominican Bishops' Conference issued a statement condemning the new policy.

"We consider it noxious that the gender policy is included in the design of the curriculum," they wrote.

Videos of the rally can be found here.

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