Parents in Washington state are protesting legislation to mandate sex education to all students starting in kindergarten, and they’re urging the Gov. Jay Inslee to veto the bill.

A Facebook page created over the weekend has swelled to thousands opposed to the Comprehensive Sexual Health Education adopted by lawmakers last week, while the fate of the legislation, described by Mead School Board President Carmen Green as “legislative overreach” involving a “highly controversial and sensitive area,” now lies with Inslee.

“We understand the need for Human Growth & Development education in our schools. However, we strongly believe local school districts should have majority control when it comes to establishing learning standards in the area of sexual health education,” Green wrote in a letter urging Inslee to veto the bill, according to KREM.

Parents on the Facebook page “Against 5395” contend they’re “fighting for parental rights, the innocence of children, and standing up for traditional family values.”

The new curriculum would begin in kindergarten with lessons about the differences between boys and girls, and promote the notion that there’s numerous gender identities. Parents complain the explicit descriptions of sex acts included in lessons promote unhealthy behavior, are not age-appropriate, and the broader curriculum undermines the parental relationship.

“I’m not sure why we’re rushing to remove the innocence of our youth,” Rep. Mike Steele said in a floor speech last week, according to The Christian Post. “We put so much on them. I don’t know why we think it’s appropriate to put more, to put such weight on their backs at such young ages. This is heavy, heavy material.”

Folks online certainly agree.

“We can’t have ‘Christmas’ parties at school but our kids will learn about anal sex? How have we gotten here?” Kristie McIntyre Smith posted to Facebook. “I feel like this is a crazy dream I will awake from. I have spent the majority of my day educating my co-workers who no longer have school aged children about the curriculum. Not one person has found this acceptable. I can’t imagine an educator having to teach such disgusting curriculum.”

Parent advocates told Life Site the legislation sets standards for mandated sex education, and leaves the specific curriculum to locals. But parents are concerned about the types of graphic lessons in available curriculum that meet the bill’s standards, including sex ed lessons that glorify LGBT lifestyles, such as Advocates for Youth’s 3R curriculum.

The controversial 3R lessons promote gender theory, promiscuity, condoms and contraception, abortion and a wide range of sexual activities. The 3R lessons encourage 14-year-olds to practice negotiating for sex, while other state-approved materials teach about bondage, “body fluid play,” “bathing together,” and “mutual masturbation.”

Approved sex ed curriculums also explain how males can allegedly have babies, why males should be allowed on female sports teams and vice versa, and how students can access abortions, cross-sex hormones, and HPV vaccinations without parental involvement, according to the news site.

Parents on Facebook are staging protests, both locally and in Olympia, and keeping their kids home from school on Wednesday in a bid to urge Inslee to veto the legislation, though media reports suggest that’s unlikely.

If he does sign the bill, efforts are already underway to overturn the decision through public referendum, The Christian Post reports.

“Washington House Republican leader J.T. Wilcox and Senate Republican leader Mark Schoesler announced in a Sunday joint press release … that they were forming a committee called Parents for Safe Schools, which is committed to having the governor veto the bill and should he refuse, rally Washington parents to overturn it through a referendum at the ballot box,” according to the site.

“I am a father and a grandfather. These are young children. The youngest are still learning to tie their shoes,” Wilcox said. “The state is going to take away parental rights and force curriculum that is not age appropriate. That is outrageous. Nothing we do in Olympia is more important than protecting our kids. We will fight this with every tool at our disposal.”