In a recent development that leaves more questions than answers, a new report from parental rights advocacy group Parents Defending Education (PDE) shows that over 1,000 school districts actively support policies intended to keep parents in the dark about their children’s struggles with gender dysphoria.
The group has exposed alarming data highlighting this troubling trend. But even further, it also reveals the deceptive narrative being perpetuated by progressives who support the transing of children.
PDE’s President Nicole Neily discussed the report during a television appearance.
"We are still getting tips that are pouring in every day," President of Parents Defending Education Nicole Neily said on the Friday edition of the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show. "We actually released this number initially in March, and then we identified about 200 counties....this number keeps growing across the country."
Neily also noted that various LGBTQ activist groups and school board associations are pushing these policies.
"These associations are not parents' friends and we're really trying to remind families of that as well," she explained. "So these are policies that are being pushed by activist groups like GLSEN and the Trevor Project that are saying the families are inherently not safe."
If this is true – and it certainly seems like it is – then it puts a lie to the notion peddled by progressives that there is no national effort to push transgender ideology on children. Indeed, folks on the hard left have insisted for years that schools are not actively transing children behind their parents’ backs. Yet, PDE’s report shows that these districts are touting policies requiring teachers to conceal children’s gender issues from their parents and even to facilitate gender “transitions.”
These are blatant violations of parental rights.
The effort flies in the face of the 75 percent of American voters who believe schools should inform parents about their children’s gender issues and obtain consent before engaging with the matter further. This represents a call for transparency that these school districts are loath to comply with.
Indeed, these associations, fueled by ideological zealotry, are insidiously infiltrating educational institutions with the purpose of infusing their ideology into classroom curricula and the overall culture of education. Meanwhile, many of these kids are grappling with complex issues as they grow into adulthood. Instead of helping them navigate this web, these ideologues are using their vulnerability to foist an identity on them that does not apply in most cases.
In one case, a high school in California is allowing students to create a program that would provide “gender-affirming clothing” to children without their parents’ knowledge or consent.
Berkeley High’s Alliance for Gender Expansive Students (AGES) started a free gender-affirming clothing program towards the end of last school year. AGES is a student-run club dedicated to making a safe space for transgender and gender-nonconforming students.
According to club leaders, their goal is to improve the school environment and raise awareness around LGBTQ+ issues. The gender-affirming clothing program provides things such as binders, bras with padding, and much more.
“Gender-affirming clothing is really important to being perceived the way you want and having gender euphoria. It’s a special experience to have clothes that fit you emotionally as well as physically,” said Eva Patrick, a junior in Academic Choice (AC), “And having the gender-affirming care that you need is important to achieving that for trans folks, especially.”
Gender-affirming clothing is clothing that helps create gender euphoria and comfort in one’s body. The free gender-affirming clothing program has helped dozens of students express their gender identity through clothing. AGES has raised over $1,000 this year and plans to help even more students in the near future.
What is particularly insidious about this program is that it allows children to access this clothing without the knowledge or consent of parents.
Through this program, kids can fill out a form online and then have the clothes shipped to the school so that their parents will not find out that they are identifying as the opposite gender. This is being done with the knowledge and approval of the school.
If more than 1,000 school districts are adopting these policies, it shows even further how urgent this issue has become. In most cases, parents are not even aware that their school districts are allowing this deception to take place – many don’t find out until it is too late. This is yet another reason why it is so important for parents to know exactly what their school district’s policies are when it comes to kids dealing with gender dysphoria. Those seeking to push gender ideology on children are succeeding because too many people remain ignorant.
