Part 1: The Relationship Between the MCPS, the Department of Homeland Security, and SMYAL
In the fall of 2023, a concerned community member informed our Montgomery County chapter of Moms for Liberty that the Department of Homeland Security granted a D.C.-based non-profit over half a million dollars to work with children in Montgomery County, MD. We, like any curious and dialed-in parent, wanted to know more.
Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League
Type 1: Raising Societal Awareness; Type 4: Youth Resilience Programs
$530,000.00
The Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL) will address the risk of violence and negative mental health outcomes faced by LGBTQ+ youth in D.C. and Montgomery County, MD. SMYAL’s program will employ a community-level and behavioral health approach. The project will provide in-school support for LGBTQ+ youth, training for school staff and youth service providers, resilience programming for LGBTQ+ youth ages 6-24, and support for parents and caregivers.
In an attempt to “follow the money,” we submitted a FOIA request, and, per usual, MCPS wasn’t cooperative or interested in transparency. In fact, the MCPS Department of Communications flat-out lied in response to our first request.
Knowing that there indeed were responsive documents to the request, we shared visuals with the MCPS Department of Communications, indicating a longstanding relationship between MCPS and SMYAL. Visuals that are no longer available on X. The Department of Communications gave no response or acknowledgment to this.
Being lied to only made us want to investigate more. Thanks to the anonymous sharing of this now-viral video (full video here), we had an inkling of who within MCPS might have the closest relationship with SMYAL. Our dear MCPS Trainer Extroadinare, Yael Astor.
For the record, don’t waste your time searching for Ms. Astor in the MCPS staff directory. She does not exist. What’s her job title, exactly? Who knows. What is her taxpayer-funded salary? Mind your business. But if you, as the kids say, “Google up” her name, you’ll find nearly a dozen examples pointing to her employment. And if you, too, are a curious and caring Mocophile, perhaps you’re also perplexed and frustrated that MCPS is hiding employees from parents and taxpayers on our government website; for what reason exactly?
But we digress. With our hunch on a potential relationship between Ms. Astor and SMYAL, MPIA request #2 was submitted. Low and behold, there was information to be found! But it would cost us to be given it.
Thanks to generous donors who believe in transparency in education, we raised the necessary $328.88 to procure the desired information.
There’s nothing earth-shattering in the 82 pages, aside from the blatant discrimination, bias, racism, gender ideology implementation, and parental involvement exclusionary tactics we all know by now run rampant in our once highly rated and beloved MCPS. But it did confirm for every MoCo resident the following:
- SMYAL uses Department of Homeland Security federal funding to educate MCPS staff and students. An excellent overview of why this is such a concern was covered by the Washington Stand last fall.
- Yael Astor – an adult who believes that…rather than restricting teaching about gender and sexuality to a particular age or banning it altogether, educators should be supported to talk openly about gender and sexuality (including LGBTQ topics) with children of all ages in ways that are accessible, and must have missed the recent MCPS memo (or skipped reading her Employee Code of Conduct handbook when it comes to treating all community members professionally and respectfully), does work in MCPS and regularly partners with SMYAL to implement training and events for our staff and students.
- MCPS Department of Communications will lie to parents and taxpayers even when the information is requested through an MPIA.
It was a gross misuse of federal funding to grant SMYAL this money. Imagine instead if MCPS had been awarded half a million dollars to improve shelter-in-place protocols and training, purchase security systems and metal detectors, employ more SROs, or anything that actually helps prevent and protect our students from violent terror attacks.
The good news is that what’s been done can be somewhat undone.
A Call to Action for MCPS Parents: education and information provided by SMYAL to MCPS (for ages 6-24 as outlined in the grant) is sex education. Under Maryland law, it is your right to be given the option to opt-out. The partnership with SMYAL is a loophole to teach children as young as 6 about sex and gender ideology outside the constraints of Family Life & Human Sexuality. If education created by SMYAL’s mission isn’t something you want for your children, email the principal of your children’s school to:
- Inquire what, if any, training(s) are taking place with MCPS staff, faculty, and students in partnership with SMYAL at your school.
- Demand access to all curricula, including teachers’ manuals, PPT slides, and Google Docs, in partnership with SMYAL.
- Put in writing that without your written consent, your children are not allowed to participate in any classes, discussions, townhalls, videos, courses, extracurriculars, SEL lessons, etc., with any components deriving from or presented in partnership with SMYAL.
After all, “What’s Next” from SMYAL and the MCPS Pride Alliance, unless We the Parents, stand for our fundamental God-given rights to direct and protect the upbringing of our children? In their own words, it will be to:
- Recruit more students to join (because there aren’t enough participating on their own)
- Recruit more diverse group members to represent the wider queer community (because right now, it’s very white and very cis)
- Welcome school trainings in elementary schools (so we can introduce them to gender ideology and sexuality as early as possible in their lives)
XoXo,
Moms for Liberty MoCo
P.S.: If you’re able to donate to our FOIA Fund, every gift – no matter the amount – makes a difference, and your financial support is greatly appreciated. Together, we will bring transparency, academic excellence, and common sense back to MCPS. CLICK HERE TO DONATE TODAY.
