In Washington state, the government’s trying to protect children — from their parents.
Such is the case where intimate information is concerned.
As reported by The Daily Wire, the state is ordering teachers to hide students’ gender transitions from their parents unless the child says it’s okay to tell.
The Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction boasts a webpage devoted to “gender-inclusive schools.”
“Gender identity and gender expression,” the site says, “are protected classes under Washington state law, which means schools cannot discriminate against students based on their gender identity or gender expression.”
All students have the right to be treated consistently with their gender identity at school and express their gender at school…
What does that entail?
Where discourse is concerned, “Students have the right to be addressed by their requested name, pronoun (e.g., he/him, she/her, they/them, etc.), and gender designation.”
Additional allowances:
- Restrooms. Public schools must allow students to use the restroom that corresponds to their gender identity. Any student—transgender or not—who requests greater privacy for any reason should be given access to an alternative restroom, such as a staff restroom or health office restroom, if one is available. However, school staff cannot require a student to use an alternative restroom because of their transgender or gender diverse status.
- Locker Rooms. Public schools should provide access to the locker room that corresponds to a student’s gender identity. Public schools may provide a separate changing schedule or use of a private area, such as a nearby restroom stall with a door or an area separated by a curtain, to any student-transgender or not-who voluntarily seek additional privacy.
- Sports & Physical Education Classes. Public schools must allow all students to participate in physical education and athletics that correspond to their gender identity.
The page features a section called “Communicated with Families”:
“Sometimes,” it notes, “transgender students may not want their families to know that they are transgender or that they use a different name, pronouns, and gender designation at school. Often, this is because they are concerned about a lack of familial acceptance and the resulting impact on their safety and well-being at home.”
Hence:
[T]he right to be treated consistent with one’s gender identity at school belongs to the student. In order to protect the student’s health, safety, and privacy, schools are strongly encouraged to ask the student which name, pronouns, and gender designation should be used when communicating with parents and guardians before such communications take place, in order to avoid unintentionally outing the student at home.
We’ve come quite a ways in a very short time. Not long ago, families were considered the foundation of society.
Contemporarily, the government appears of the opinion that it should step in. Most important is the relationship between the state and child; parents may have whatever remains.
As for gender identity, of course, until very recently, such a thing effectively didn’t exist. “Gender” was a grammatical term.
Schools classified children solely by their biological sex.
And personal details such as self-perception and sexual interests were wholly outside the purview of public education.
Surely many would say the old way was substantially simpler.
But simplicity doesn’t appear to be the priority these days.
Washington’s guide applies to every grade, including kindergarten.
-ALEX
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Find all my RedState work here.
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