School Keeps ‘Gender Change’ From Student’s Parents

A New York mother learned her daughter's middle school had concealed her gender counseling and use of a male name for months

By Hannah Claire Brimelow  |  August 27, 2021

The mother of a 12-year-old girl discovered that her child was receiving “gender counseling” secretly from her school.

Journalist Abigail Shrier shared a photo of a “Gender Support Plan” after a teacher eventually broke protocol and shared with the New York state mother.

In addition to the counseling, the girl went by a male name for most of her seventh-grade year while at school but not while she was with her family.

A note on the form, which is dated March 23, 2021, recorded the girl’s pronoun preference as they/them. A handwritten note says the student’s friend group knew her name and were supportive.  It also says that the student was “not ready to tell family” and that there was no plan at the time. According to the plan, the student wanted to direct all “outings” and wanted to be the one to inform her teachers.

The school’s website also links to the “Q Center” at ACR Health. The organization, designed for middle and high school age users, includes information on where hormone providers and gender surgeons are in their areas, as well as suggestions on where to obtain a breast binder.

Schools across the country have quietly adopted the practice of not informing parents when their child expresses interest or desire to use alternative pronouns or names.

In February of 2020, “a group of parents represented by Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty sued after the Madison Metropolitan School District refused to alter its policy of concealing childrens’ transgender behavior and related medical records from parents, no matter how young the child is,” reports The Federalist. 

At the center of the lawsuit was the district’s policy that stated: “School staff shall not disclose any information that may reveal a student’s gender identity to others, including parents or guardians and other school staff, unless legally required to do so or unless the student has authorized such disclosure.” Teacher and staff members were also instructed to discuss “contingency plans in the event that their privacy is compromised.”

Similar policies have made headlines in Maryland, New Jersey, Minnesota, Colorado, and California 

According to The Heritage Foundation, “a parent’s right to oversee the care, education, and control of their child is guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, and confirmed by the Supreme Court in 1923, in Meyer v. Nebraska, and as recently as 2000, in Troxel v. Granville. To raise and educate a child as parents see fit is — and always has been — on a par with the other fundamental, constitutionally guaranteed rights.”

Shrier had permission from the student’s mother to publicly share the SCSD form. She concluded her Twitter thread by saying, “Parents: Your kids need you.”

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