One Minnesota high school student says he feels like left-wing lesson plans and LGBTQ ideology are being “forced” on students at Osseo Senior High School.
Jace Svensk is a senior at the high school. He had a candid conversation with Liz Collin on her podcast on what he calls ongoing “indoctrination that goes on every single day.”
WATCH:
Last week, the Osseo School District held its annual “LGBTQIA+ history and culture” lesson. Along with flying the pride flag, and allowing student choice in bathrooms and locker rooms, it’s just one of the many things the district has been doing to officially recognize Pride Month.
Alpha News has been reporting on the lesson since the board adopted the resolution in 2022.
Submitted: Osseo schools again plan an “LGBTQIA+ lesson” for 7th and 8th graders despite hundreds of students opting out every year since it was implemented in 2022 by the school board.
“Students will gain an understanding of the importance of using preferred pronouns and… pic.twitter.com/crdZEIlnWZ
— Liz Collin (@lizcollin) April 8, 2026
Osseo is the same district that recently made national news after an Alpha News report revealed construction plans that were labeled “prayer room” and “foot-washing station.”
Svensk said he noticed a difference this year when students tried to opt out of the lesson, but it was more difficult for students to do so.
“It was a little weird this year with the opt-outs … there was almost no publicity about it and they sent the opt-out form in February when they did that last year in March,” Svensk said.
He said that he felt the lesson was sprung on students this year and when students got to school, they were told if they opted out, they were to report to the cafeteria.
Svensk also explained how “they actually marked me absent, even though I got confirmed in the opt out, my parents signed me up for it. They marked me as an unexcused absence because of that, for that class period. So, you’re gonna offer this opt out and then you’re gonna punish people for going to the opt out. You’re gonna try to make it difficult. They were making it difficult for people to opt out.”
In a statement to Alpha News, a spokesperson confirmed an “error” was made last week.
Overall, Svensk said he feels like the lesson is being forced on students: “And it’s not just in the form of this lesson. It’s through the form of many other subtle messages that they send to students.”
He told Collin that “some teachers have pride flags in their rooms. Some of them have little stickers on their doors that say, ‘I support my LGBTQ colleagues.’ There’s random posters in the hallways that will say inclusion and diversity and tolerance. And it’s almost like they’re trying to subtly demoralize people from speaking out against it and I’m not someone who gets demoralized. So that’s why I feel the need to do it.”
“But it is forced on us. They tell you there’s no making jokes about this kind of stuff. There’s no questioning why we need to learn about this. And if you do, you can actually get expelled,” Svensk added. “You can get expelled for quote, identity-based harm, which basically is to them I think is when you say something that somebody, part of a certain community, doesn’t like. That’s what they interpret it as,” Svensk said.
Alpha News obtained some of the 12th-grade curriculum for the day. The Pride Month advisory lesson included a definition of “holding space” and a lot about pronoun usage.
Svensk believes the lesson was different this year.
“It was very different … they were pretty much putting this very big focus on, you know, it’s OK for you to come out, it’s OK for you. Like they were really trying to subtly, I almost think they were trying to dog whistle to certain people that it’s OK to live a lifestyle of deviance, it’s OK to do this, it’s OK to engage in grooming behavior,” he said.
“I think this presentation actually offended a lot of people. I know several of my friends who walked out and left school because they weren’t allowed to go to the opt out. They were forced to learn this lesson. They just walked out and left after the class period was over,” Svensk continued. “This lesson has been a spectacular failure.”
“The way that these districts win is by doing things covertly. They don’t want the parents to know what the kids are learning,” he added.
In response to an Alpha News request, the Osseo district also said:
“Consistently across the district, students were able to opt themselves out day-of. This year there were 552 that completed the opt-out form districtwide. However, an additional 227 ended up opting out day-of. Please note, our district has a total of 7,040 students at the high school level.
Our team will review this year’s processes and make needed improvements to ensure tasks are clear, respectful and consistently implemented for all students and families.”
Liz Collin
Liz Collin is a multi-Emmy-Award-winning investigative reporter, news anchor, and producer who cares about Minnesota. She is the producer of The Fall of Minneapolis and Minnesota v We the People documentary films, and author of the Amazon best-selling book, They’re Lying: The Media, the Left, and The Death of George Floyd. Her work has prompted important state laws. Yet perhaps most of all, Liz has been giving a voice to the truth—and helping others tell their stories—for more than 20 years.
Dr. JC Chaix
Dr. JC Chaix is an editor, educator, and an expert in media studies. He wrote and directed the Alpha News documentary "The Fall of Minneapolis" and "Minnesota v We the People."
