Judge Slams Graded Kisses — Parents Furious

A Denver French teacher’s firing over graded same‑sex kissing skits shows how classroom “woke” experiments can cross the line and leave parents wondering who is really protecting their kids.

Story Snapshot

Denver Public Schools fired French teacher Jennifer Honka after an independent judge found her kissing skits pressured girls to kiss each other in class.^[1]^[3]
Female students said they felt they had to take part because the skits were graded and under teacher authority, not true choice.^[1]
The judge called the classroom implementation “irresponsible and inappropriate,” even while noting skits can sometimes be useful teaching tools.^[3]
The case highlights a wider battle over sexualized content, LGBTQ themes, and who controls values in public schools.^[12]^[13]

Judge says classroom skits pressured girls into same‑sex kissing

Colorado administrative law judge Keith J. Kirchubel reviewed French teacher Jennifer Honka’s classroom skits and found that her script choices put female students in a spot where they felt pushed to kiss one another. The judge said that, even if Honka did not literally force a kiss, the way she used these skits made girls declare preferences about a personal, sexualized act in front of classmates while under her authority. That concern went beyond one moment and spoke to basic respect for student privacy and modesty.^[3]

Reports say Honka used French scripts with titles like “The Neighbors Saw Everything” and “The Boring Kiss,” and the students chosen for the actual kissing roles were consistently the same sex. Several girls told investigators they felt uncomfortable and pressured because the activity counted for a grade in the class. When an assignment is tied to grades, teenagers know the teacher holds power, and they may feel they cannot say no without risking their record or angering the adult in charge.^[1]^[3]

District fires teacher for incompetence and neglect of duty

After the independent review, the Denver Public Schools Board went into executive session and voted 7–0 to dismiss Honka for incompetence and neglect of duty. The board leaned on the judge’s findings that the implementation of the kissing skits was “irresponsible and inappropriate,” and that Honka showed a troubling pattern of poor judgment in how she handled sensitive topics with students. For many parents, this unanimous vote looks like a rare moment where a district chose student safety and common sense over ideology.^[1]^[3]

Honka and her defenders argued she did not force anyone to kiss and offered options like pretending, blowing a kiss, or fist bumps if a student felt uneasy. One complaining student confirmed she sometimes allowed pretend kisses. But the judge still found that the way the scripts were selected and graded placed pressure on teens to take part in a sexualized scene they might never accept outside the classroom. The alternatives did not fix the core problem: the school turning intimate behavior into a graded performance before an audience.^[3]^[4]

Parents, politics, and the fight over sexual content in schools

Media coverage quickly framed Honka as an “LGBTQ teacher” and tied the story to wider debates about grooming, sexualization of children, and woke agendas in public education. Conservative outlets and social channels pointed to this case as one more example of schools pushing sexual themes on minors instead of sticking to language, math, and history. At the same time, some progressive voices claimed the firing was driven by bias against LGBTQ teachers rather than honest concern for student well‑being.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[12]

Denver Public Schools Board just voted UNANIMOUSLY to DISMISS lgbtq teacher Jennifer Honka after she reportedly made female students kiss each other and graded them on it

FOLLOW ME, THE NEXT DROP WILL BE SHOCKING pic.twitter.com/zQlbgYO618

— Q Shadow Walker (@QShadowWalker) June 28, 2026

This clash fits a larger pattern. A University of California report found that more than two‑thirds of high school principals now face heated political conflict over curriculum, with the worst fights in “purple” districts. Those principals reported sharp jumps in hostile remarks toward LGBTQ students, and many schools answered by avoiding controversial topics altogether. Another study from the University of Southern California showed deep partisan splits over LGBTQ content in K–12, with far fewer conservatives supporting such material.^[12]^[13]

For Trump‑era conservatives, the Honka case raises a core question: who decides what is “age‑appropriate” and where does the line sit? National Education Association guidance says teachers who touch sensitive issues must keep lessons age‑appropriate, aligned with standards, and cleared with administrators. Many states now also bar schools from compelling students to affirm ideas about sex or gender. When a local district lets a teacher turn same‑sex kissing into a graded skit, parents see those safeguards failing and demand stronger rules that put family values and student modesty first.^[10]

Where accountability and transparency still fall short

Despite the firing, Denver Public Schools only released a summary of the investigation, not the full independent review or student testimony. That silence leaves room for speculation from all sides, letting activists frame the story either as proof of a grooming agenda or proof of anti‑LGBTQ discrimination. Families are stuck piecing facts together from media clips and social posts instead of receiving a clear, detailed account from the people who run the schools and pay the teacher’s salary.^[1]^[3]^[6]^[12]

Across the country, parents are pushing back against school officials who treat them as outsiders in their own children’s lives. They want basic guarantees: no sexualized skits, no pressure to act out intimate behavior, and no ideology slipping into graded work under the cover of “language practice.” This Denver case shows that when districts fail to set firm limits, it is teenagers who pay the price. It also shows that clear rules, real transparency, and respect for family values are not partisan talking points—they are the bare minimum for a trustworthy school system.^[13]^[14]