[3][4] PAL's roots go back as far as 1994, when one of its most-vocal members, Barb Anderson, successfully influenced the school district's board to exclude homosexuality from its sex-ed curriculum.

The Southern Poverty Law Center designated Parents Action League as an "anti-gay hate group"[5] for "damaging propaganda about the gay community".

Critics said this "neutrality policy" prevented acceptance and open discussion of LGBT people and issues in schools, and was essentially a "gag order" on teachers.

[13] PAL member Barb Anderson, a former district Spanish teacher and a longtime researcher for the Minnesota Family Council,[14][15] fought "gay influence" in local schools for two decades.

[2] When the Anoka-Hennepin district's sex-ed curriculum was due for re-evaluation in 1994, Anderson and four like-minded parents joined the review committee.

[2] At the end of the committee's seven-month-long sex-ed review, Anderson and her colleagues wrote to the Anoka-Hennepin school board, concluding, "The majority of parents do not wish to have their children taught that the gay lifestyle is a normal acceptable alternative.

"[2] The school board voted to adopt the measure by a four-to-two majority, using language from the committee's memo to create a district-wide policy.

[2][16] In 2011, the Parents Action League circulated an online petition supporting the Anoka-Hennepin school district's sexual orientation curriculum policy, which has been challenged by advocates for LGBT students.

This policy makes it clear that “Teaching about sexual orientation is not a part of the District adopted curriculum; rather, such matters are best addressed within individual family homes, churches, or community organizations.

"[26] In 2015 the alt-weekly City Pages reported on the SPLC's Hate Map of Minnesota, noting some of the disparate and random designations.