Maryland School Teaches Sixth Graders About Being ‘Transgender’ and ‘Nonbinary’

by Jeff Johnston | December 12, 2025 | Education

In celebration of “Transgender Awareness Week,” Westland Middle School, in Bethesda, Maryland, gave sixth grade students lessons on “transgenderism” and “being nonbinary.”

As reported by Fox News, the 11- and 12-year-old students were inculcated into the irrational, deceptive world of transgender ideology via videos and a 12-slide presentation.

As reporter Andrew Mark Miller explained for the news outlet:

Multiple slides in the presentation provide information on “what it means” to be transgender and students are then quizzed about what they learned.

In another slide, students are told to discuss questions with their neighbor in class, including, How do people know if they are a ‘girl’ or ‘boy?’”

Slide from Fox News of the sixth grade lesson on “transgenderism.”

Another slide asked students to answer questions such as: “What do I already know about the experiences of transgender people?”; “What do I want to know about the experiences of transgender people?”; and, following the lesson, “What have I learned about the experiences of transgender people?”

The slides included “8 Tips for Being Nonbinary!” a video from a “non-binary producer” named “Laurenzo” who has 889 thousand followers on TikTok and 54 thousand followers on Instagram.

In the video, Laurenzo answered questions such as, “If someone calls you by your wrong pronouns, what do you do?” and “I don’t know which ‘label’ is right for me … Help?”

“Laurenzo” in front of the “nonbinary” flag.

In answering the latter question, Laurenzo described her journey from straight to bisexual to lesbian to nonbinary, saying she always identified as an “androgynous person.”

She encouraged the sixth graders “to create the identity that you feel is your true self on the inside,” rather than embracing their male or female sex.

The activist also referred to her “chosen family” – a term used by some in the LGBT community when they reject their natural family and embrace others who identify as homosexual or transgender as their “real family.”

Laurenzo goes on to talk about “how to bind properly.” Breast binding, also known as chest binding, is the dangerous practice of using cloth strips, sports bras or special undergarments that compress breast tissue, flattening the breasts in an attempt to look male.

These attempts by females to look masculine come with many risks, as a fact sheet from the American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) explains. The professional organization notes that 89-97% of individuals who bind their breasts report adverse reactions in online surveys, including:

Chest and/or back pain, reported by 75-80%, with 39% describing severe pain and 21% reporting limitation in daily activities.
Fractured ribs (3%).
Pulmonary problems, such as shortness of breath (47-68%); reduced exercise tolerance and difficulty speaking; pulmonary edema; and restrictive lung disease.
Skin problems (78%),including acne, rashes, itching and scarring.

ACPeds concludes:

Since most children and adolescents who feel uncomfortable with their biological sex, will feel comfortable at the end of normal uninterrupted puberty, chest (breast) binding should not be recommended. Those who practice chest binding should be educated about the adverse effects.

Laurenzo notes that binding “restricts your breathing, but she then goes on to tell the sixth graders:

My general advice about binding is make sure you’re being safe about it, don’t be wearing a binder more than eight hours in a day [and] definitely not exercising.

There is nothing “safe” about this practice. Montgomery County Public Schools is promoting a dangerous, false ideology. When young people attempt to change their bodies to mimic the opposite sex, there are multiple, irreparable health risks.

Humans are made in the image of God – male and female. This isn’t just a biblical, theological issue, it’s also a matter of science. “Gender,” as some sort of internal self-definition, is a false concept.

Westland Middle School is one of the top-ranked middle schools in Maryland – yet it is teaching an unscientific concept as if it were true. In addition, only 68% of students are proficient in reading and 40% are proficient in math – scores which would earn a D and an F, respectively, in most classrooms.

Rather than indoctrination, the school should stick to teaching the basics.

Related articles and resources:

Addressing Gender Identity with Honesty and Compassion

An Essential Primer on Defending the Reality of Male and Female

Counseling Consultation & Referrals

FTC Begins Investigating ‘Gender-Affirming’ Medical Community for Deception, False Advertising

HHS Releases Report on Harms of ‘Transgender’ Medical Interventions for Minors

How the “Trans” and Gender Redefinition Issue Attacks the Family

How to Respond to “Trans” and Gender Ideology? Simple: Live Not by Lies

Resources for families struggling with wrong-sex identification

Transgenderism and Minors: What Does the Research Really Show?

‘Transgender Means Many Different Things’ — And Nothing