Ciattarelli Says New State Curriculum Guidelines Go “Too Far”

TRENTON, NJ — Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattatreli continues to take far right positions at odds with the majority of New Jerseyans, proving himself to be the furthest thing from a moderate choice. In his latest tirade, Ciattarelli took aim at the state’s new curriculum guidelines which seek to ensure that the contributions of members of the LGBTQ community are highlighted in public school classrooms. Ciattarelli’s comment at a recent campaign event was as follows:

“What concerns me greatly about what the Murphy administration, he and his wife have done to the public school curriculum in New Jersey is it begs the question in my mind when did I abdicate parenting…But I think the new LGBTQ curriculum goes too far.”

“Jack Ciattarelli is showing himself to be out-of-touch with New Jersey values and just a typical Republican politician more interested in pandering to the far right than in making any kind of meaningful social change in our state,” said NJDSC LGBTQ Caucus Chair Lauren Albrecht. “New Jersey’s inclusionary curriculum standards are a national model for ensuring that marginalized communities are properly represented and this kind of forward-thinking policy can literally save the lives of at-risk young people who are coming to terms with their own identities. Ciattarelli would rather embrace reactionary conservative tropes than support this kind of meaningful progress, but New Jersey is not going to let him set our community back.”

Opposing the teaching of LGBTQ history in schools is the latest in a slew of extreme conservative and out-of-touch positions Ciattarelli has recently taken. He embraced discriminatory voter ID laws, said publicly that he would halt New Jersey’s planned minimum wage increase to $15 per hour and doubled down on his opposition to State funding for women’s health care. Ciattarelli also refused to hold Donald Trump accountable for inciting the U.S. Capitol insurrection, and personally helped spread Trump’s lies about voter fraud by speaking at a “Stop the Steal” rally.

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