Nebraska campaign claiming that sex ed 'grooms' kids for pedophiles is a case study in the spread of misinformation

Many conservatives object to comprehensive sex education in public schools, claiming without evidence that it makes children more vulnerable to "grooming" by pedophiles. The notion first gained a foothold in Nebraska last spring when a conservative group helped incite popular opposition to proposed standards for teaching students about issues like consent, gender identity and sexual orientation, Beth Reinhard and Emma Brown report for The Washington Post. 

It's a case study in how misinformation-fueled claims spread when they're not nipped in the bud.  

Retired pediatrician Sue Greenwald led efforts to object to the new standards in Nebraska, co-founding a group called Protect Nebraska Children Coalition to further her cause. "The message also spread through screenings at libraries and churches of 'The Mind Polluters,' billed as an 'investigative documentary' that “shows how the vast majority of America’s public schools are prematurely sexualizing children,'" Reinhard and Brown report. 

"Greenwald and others who have endorsed that claim acknowledged to the Post that there is no scientific body of research that shows such lessons make children more likely to be victimized," Reinhard and Brown report. "The American Medical Association and American Academy of Pediatrics both back a comprehensive approach to sex ed that includes discussions of sexual orientation, contraception and consent. Leading child abuse experts say that arming children with information helps protect them against harm. Nonetheless, the claim that comprehensive sex ed amounts to grooming has simmered on the right for decades, often fanned by Christian conservatives who disapprove of same-sex relationships and favor home schooling and private schools over public education."

Reinhard and Brown continue, "The foundation was laid in part by Judith Reisman, a self-styled expert who opposed gay rights, claimed that gay people are more likely to sexually abuse children, and spent decades trying to discredit pioneering work by the sex researcher Alfred Kinsey."

Objections to comprehensive sex ed—along with accusations that teaching it will groom children for pedophiles—have become inextricably entwined with smears against LGBTQ people. The movement has also brought about explosive political consequences. It "helped activate an army of self-described Nebraska patriots who rose up against the standards, took over the local Republican Party and propelled a wave of far-right candidates for local and statewide school boards, a Post examination found," Reinhard and Brown report. "Earlier this month, these activists were part of a broader, anti-establishment insurgency that toppled leaders of the state Republican Party."