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WHEAT: Transgenderism in Education — an Infringement on Parental Rights

Parents send their children must be aware that some public school educators nationwide are preparing to indoctrinate students with the latest fads in education.

In Wisconsin, our amicus brief for Parents Protecting Our Children v. Eau Claire Area School District challenges the legality of a district policy in which schoolteachers and administrators facilitate students’ gender transition without informing parents or seeking their consent.

The U.S. education system is fueling this effort. There are at least 1,116 school districts that have implemented transgender and gender nonconforming policies that permit district personnel to withhold a student’s transgender status from parents. Parental authority should not come second to the state’s authority, except in instances of negligence and abuse. Advancing American Freedom has filed four amicus briefs challenging efforts to normalize transgenderism and expand “gender-affirming” care.

While numerous democratic countries worldwide have restricted or banned access to gender-bending surgeries and chemical interventions, the federal government is committed to pushing children struggling with gender dysphoria to act upon their feelings. This approach to adolescent transgenderism enables anguished youth to opt into irreversible medical procedures.

The original Dutch Protocol, which established the foundations for pediatric gender transition, urged medical professionals to institute intensive psychological prescreening of candidates. However, this is not true within the American healthcare system.

Between 2017 and 2021, the number of new gender dysphoria diagnoses in children ages 6 to 17 in the United States tripled. In the four years, the number of children ages 6 to 17 with a prior gender dysphoria diagnosis beginning puberty blockers or hormone therapy treatment doubled.

In Florida, our amicus brief for Littlejohn v. Leon County Schools challenges the legality of the Leon County Schoolspolicy that encouraged the appellant’s daughter to adopt a new identity and conceal this change from her parents. The policy instructs school employees to engage in secret manipulation and conceal students’ gender identity status from their parents.

In Massachusetts, our amicus brief for Foote v. Ludlow questions the actions taken by officials of Ludlow Public Schools. These administrators, acting consistent with the guidance issued by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, encouraged children to use new names and pronouns to adopt an entirely new identity while at school and sought to hide these significant personal decisions from their parents.

Progress has been made in combatting this gender-dysphoric youth, but the fight is far from over. In Iowa, our amicus brief for Parents Defending Education v. Linn-Mar Community School District challenged the Linn-Mar Community School District’s policy,  “Administrative Regulations Regarding Transgender and Students Nonconforming to Gender Role Stereotypes.” 

The policy effectuated students’ “gender transition” requests, and it kept the district’s actions secret from the students’ parents, preventing them from having any knowledge or control over their child’s interests and questions involving gender identity. 

Following grassroots pressure, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed legislation banning surgical and chemical interventions for minors. In response, the Linn-Mar Community School District deleted the secretive policy from its board policies.

Some school officials are attempting to unravel the cultural fabric of our nation. We cannot stand idly by and allow our youth to be harmed in the name of “progress.”

DelVal Dems Vote Against Bill to Keep Men Out of Women’s Sports

All three Democrats representing the Delaware Valley in the U.S. House of Representatives voted against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act Thursday, which passed in a party-line 219-203 vote.

The bill would allow women to compete in sports without being forced to face off against males.

“For purposes of determining compliance with Title IX . . . in athletics, sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth,” the bill reads. Senate Democrats are expected to prevent it from coming to the floor for a vote.

“We have come too far as women to allow biological men to compete against us in sports and for college scholarships,” said Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) via Twitter. “It is total bull****!”

Reps. Mary Gay Scanlon, Chrissy Houlahan, and Madeleine Dean all voted against the bill and in favor of allowing males who identify as female to participate in women’s sports. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Bucks) voted with the GOP majority in favor of women-only sports competitions.

Neither Scanlon, Houlahan, nor Dean would answer questions about their vote.

However, Houlahan did post a press release on her website calling the bill “an attack on some of the most vulnerable people in our society—our transgender community.” She called the measure a “cynical vote” and urged Congress to “leave these infrequent conversations to students, parents, doctors, and schools who can make decisions based on kindness, inclusivity, and understanding, not fear and vitriol.”

Critics noted that leaving the issue to local schools is impossible because the Biden administration has issued a federal order arbitrarily redefining the word “sex” in Title IX to include “stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity.” The White House has also forbidden school districts from issuing blanket bans on biological male athletes competing in women’s sports.

Scanlon posted a video on Twitter earlier in the week telling transgender-identified individuals she would “never stop standing up for you and standing against hatred.”

Pat Poprik, chair of the Bucks County Republican Committee, told Delaware Valley Journal in a statement that she supported the bill.

“I speak to voters daily, and nearly all of them are in favor of protecting women and girls’ sports,” Poprik said. “The failure of Democrats to support this bill, once again, shows how out of touch they are to what is important to our hardworking families in our community.”

A similar proposal was passed by both houses of Pennsylvania’s legislature last year. 

The state “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” stipulated that “athletic teams or sports designated for females, women or girls … may not be open to students of the male sex.”

The bill had been introduced by five women legislators in the Pennsylvania House, with Rep. Martina White (R-Philadelphia) stating that the legislation would “ensure all female athletes have a level playing field to compete and win.”

“Science and common sense tell us that males are generally bigger, faster, and stronger than females,” White said. “These are all advantages that cannot be undone.”

That bill passed by strong majorities in both the state House and Senate, though it was ultimately vetoed by then-Gov. Tom Wolf (D) in July. The governor had slammed the measure as “transphobic.”

The issue of transgender athletes has become a cultural flashpoint nationally in recent years, with Republicans often pushing to keep sports divided by sex and Democrats arguing that males should be allowed to compete against young women at the high school and college levels.

However, even left-leaning news outlet NPR was forced to issue a correction when it falsely reported that “there is limited scientific research” supporting the “physical advantage” males have over females in athletic competitions.

Last week, high school volleyball player Payton McNabb testified before the North Carolina legislature about “suffering severe head and neck injuries resulting in long-term concussion symptoms” after a male player who identifies as female spiked a ball in her face, a local TV station reported.

“Due to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association policy allowing biological males to compete against biological females, my life has forever been changed,” McNabb said.

“Allowing biological males to compete against biological females is dangerous. I may be the first to come before you with an injury, but if this doesn’t pass, I won’t be the last.”