Almost all of the parents we engage with have little idea about how far transgender ideology has been integrated into the everyday activities of the schools their children attend.

• Every elementary school we’ve checked in Frederick County has lists of transgender books about transgender children that are designed and targeted for elementary-aged students*.
• Gender expression is being built into the lessons as early as kindergarten, and biological sex is presented as something that is on a “spectrum” and is not just a simple, scientific fact**.
• Children are encouraged by counselors to explore their “true selves,” and the FCPS policy is to affirm a child’s gender choice rather than notify parents because young minds are not prepared to make such a life-changing decision.
• The FCPS board is proceeding with plans to ensure that the existing policy of locker room, bathroom, and changing area use, as well as interscholastic sports team participation, is by a student’s self-selected gender, not biological sex.
• And despite the ongoing lawsuits in Montgomery County, it is still the policy of every school system we’ve encountered not to inform parents when their child chooses a gender and/or gender name other than their biological one.

So what is FCPS doing?

FCPS continues to expand its role in social and emotional learning, taking on more of the role traditionally left to parents in teaching values, beliefs, faith, and family culture.

FCPS has set up a system that makes it impossible for your child, from K through12, to avoid being taught that choosing their own gender identity is a normal part of self-awareness and development and that being transgender or choosing an alternative gender is a right and a decision a child can make without the knowledge of parents or the guidance of trained medical professionals. This ignores current medical research, which shows that gender dysphoria is a rare psychological and medical condition.

Why is there an FCPS policy that only informs parents when a child says it’s ok to do so?

• The Board of Education has stated that they support hiding a child’s choice from parents to ensure the safety of the child but the data indicates that the instances of parents abusing a child for a transgender choice are rare. What the Board of Education is really telling parents is that we don’t trust you to handle it the way we believe it should be handled, so we’ll handle it with your child.
• The Board’s policy is especially harmful to religious families because not only are schools teaching concepts that directly conflict with the religious beliefs of Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Hindu families, but the school is also likely to assume that religious families will not be “supportive” of their children’s gender decisions.
• Being LGB and being Transgender are not the same thing. A student can be transgender and not be LGB, so notifying parents of the existence of gender dysphoria isn’t outing a student as opponents of notification claim. Parents are notified about medical conditions, academic achievements or challenges, and behavioral difficulties all the time without any harm coming to students. And a parent cannot be “supportive” if they don’t know what their child is struggling with.

What can parents do?

Six months ago, we presented a comprehensive proposal to update the existing policy. The changes were based on input from the medical community, the updated scientific studies cited in the policy proposal, and the actions of European countries that have applied those updates to modify their policies and stop affirming or allowing minor children to make independent decisions with lasting harm. Over the ensuing months, we requested to meet with the Board on multiple occasions to walk through our rationale, but each time the Board declined. We then raised public awareness, and when the public showed up, the Board told them they would not be making any changes to the existing and the community should move on to more important things.

That left us the only remaining option, which is to assess whether parents and families community should pursue legal action to vindicate their rights violated by the existing policy. 

If, as a parent, you feel that you would like to discuss joining us in this option, we ask that you contact us at [email protected]. We are losing the fight for our children.

Read our companion articles in this week’s Newsletter and web updates

• Why Policy 443, Creating a welcoming and tolerant environment for transgender and gender non-conforming students, is unnecessary and damaging to students. Read here.
• Is the aggressive push of SEL gender programs by schools like FCPS contributing to the epidemic of mental illness among America’s young? Read here.
• Are academics taking a second seat to SEL and DEI? The results show we’re failing miserably, and the plan FCPS is developing to fix it will take at least eight years. Read here.
• How many students are actually forced into homelessness when they tell their parents they are transgender? Read here.

*Click here to see just a sample list of the books we’ve found in elementary school libraries.