Schools in Madison, Wisconsin have decided to adopt a policy that allows children with gender dysphoria to secretly “transition” at school behind their parents’ backs. Under the policy, teachers are prohibited from informing parents if their student chooses to adopt a new name and pronouns and gain access to restrooms and locker rooms designated for members of the opposite sex. This policy was adopted in 2018 and was challenged by parents living in the Madison Metropolitan School District in December of last year when they sent a letter informing the district that they would sue if the policy was not changed. After the district refused to back down, the parents filed a lawsuit against the school district with the help of Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) and the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF).
The school district’s guidance and policies handbook explains to teachers that, unless if a student gives the school permission to inform their parents, the school should not do so. The handbook goes on to say that,
All staff correspondence and communication to families in regard to students shall reflect the name and gender documented in Infinite Campus unless the student has specifically given permission to do otherwise. (This might involve using the student’s affirmed name and pronouns in the school setting, and their legal name and pronouns with family).
Madison Metropolitan School District has adopted a policy that deliberately deceives parents and keeps important information about their children from them. The policy also finds a loophole the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act by telling teachers to file students’ “Gender Support Plans” under their personal notes rather than in the student’s records so that the support plans can legally be hidden from parents.
The parents’ lawsuit points out that this policy is not in the best interest of children who are struggling with gender dysphoria, and that it is also a violation of parents’ rights to raise their children as they see fit and in accordance with their religious beliefs, rights that have been affirmed by the Supreme Court. The complaint states,
Parents’ rights cases have established that parents have the primary role in directing the upbringing of their children, especially in significant decisions (like health care), and that the government may not supplant parents simply because a parent’s decision is not agreeable to the child.
Dr. Stephen Levine of the American Psychiatric Association pointed out that it is psychologically unhealthy for a child to live two radically different identities, one at home and one at school, and that putting children on course for puberty-blockers and cross-sex hormones can have devastating, lifelong effects. Furthermore, research has shown that between 80 and 95% of children who experience gender dysphoria and do not transition no longer struggle with gender dysphoria by the time they reach adulthood.
During the 2019-20 school year, the school district distributed coloring books to teachers of all grade levels that declare, “Everyone has the right to choose their own gender by listening to their own heart and mind. Everyone gets to choose if they are a girl or a boy or both or neither or something else.” Students are being taught from a young age that they get to choose if they are male or female, and Madison schools will enable them to socially transition to living as a member of the opposite sex while at school behind their parents’ backs. This approach is harmful to children and teens, and a violation of parents’ rights. When schools prioritize the LGBT agenda, children pay the price.
