New Resource for Parents: “Responding to the Transgender Issue”
The Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF) describes itself as “a radical feminist organization dedicated to the total liberation of women.” One of the group’s core beliefs is “that female humans, the class of people called women, are oppressed by men under a male-supremacist system called patriarchy.” The group believes “that we are enmeshed in overlapping systems of sadistic power built on misogyny, white privilege, stolen wealth, and human supremacism, and all of those must be dismantled.”
The Family Policy Alliance (FPA) is an unabashedly Christian organization, working with more than 40 Family Policy Councils across the nation to promote marriage, families, life and freedom. FPA says, “As a Christ-centered organization, our vision is a nation where God is honored, religious freedom flourishes, families thrive and life is cherished.”
It would be difficult to find two groups more diametrically opposed in most of their beliefs, goals and work. Despite these major differences, both organizations agree that the transgender ideology being foisted on children should be opposed because it threatens privacy and safety, undermines girls’ opportunities in sports, and endangers children’s health with unwarranted drugs, hormones and surgery.
Working together, they have released a valuable new resource, “Parent Resource Guide: Responding to the Transgender Issue.” The guide provides timely information and advice for families faced with gender activism in the culture and in public schools. These very different organizations have the same goals of protecting students from harm, educating parents about the transgender issue, and equipping parents to advocate on their child’s behalf.
Autumn Leva, Vice President of Strategy for Family Policy Alliance, says: “This guide is a unique collaboration between concerned parents, Christians and other faith groups, people of no faith, feminists, policy organizations, and more—supported by different faith leaders, leading medical professionals in endocrinology and pediatrics, people who formerly identified as transgender, and other leading voices in their fields.”
Other partners involved in the launch include The Heritage Foundation, The Kelsey Coalition and Parents of ROGD Kids. The Heritage Foundation is a conservative research and educational institution, while The Kelsey Coalition works to protect children from the medical and psychological harms caused by the transgender movement. “ROGD” stand for “Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria,” a term coined to describe teens and young adults who suddenly identify as transgender – with no previous history of gender dysphoria. ROGD is a relatively new phenomenon, and parents are rightly concerned when their children – in most cases, girls – decide they are the opposite sex.
The resource explains transgender terminology and answers frequently asked questions about the issue, such as: “Is sex assigned at birth?” and “Are schools legally prohibited from informing parents when their child asserts a transgender identity?”
It shows how rapidly the transgender trend has grown among children and adolescents. The quotes from parents whose children suddenly announced they were transgender are particularly heartbreaking. One parent says: “I was shocked when my 13-year-old daughter told me she was really my transgender son. She had no masculine interests and hated all sports. As a smart quirky teen on the autism spectrum, she’d had a long history of not fitting in with the girls. Where did she get the idea she was transgender? From a school presentation. A school where over 5% of the student body called themselves trans or non-binary, where several students were already on hormones, and one had a mastectomy at the age of 16.”
The “Parent Resource Guide” describes the “gender affirmative” treatment model, where medical professionals agree with a child’s gender confusion and move them along a track from social transitioning to puberty blockers to opposite-sex hormones and surgeries. This model can lead to serious health issues and regret.
The resource offers examples of LGBT activist groups and their allies pushing gender ideology at public schools. When schools adopt so-called “gender inclusion” policies, all students, their families and school staff are affected. Students are harmed when private facilities and single-sex sports are opened to those who believe they are the opposite sex. Parents who oppose the agenda are labeled “bigots” and “haters.” Teachers are pressured to use a child’s “preferred pronouns” and to ignore basic science which tells us there are two sexes, not a plethora of “genders” – at the risk of losing their jobs.
Finally, parents are given practical ideas and advice when facing this issue. The guide includes a “Student Physical Privacy Policy” for schools to adopt, from the Alliance Defending Freedom; a sample “Opt-out Form Letter and Notification Request” when schools teach about sexuality or gender identity; and a “Sample Public Records Request” when parents need access to school or district policies.
Autumn Leva explains the value of this new resource, “Parents searching for help and answers on the transgender trend often find only one answer—children should undergo dramatic and experimental alterations to their natural growth and development. This guide helps equip parents with all the missing information, as well as gives them the tools to effectively advocate for their children.” She says, “Family Policy Alliance believes this guide should be in the hand of every parent in America.”
More resources:
Resources When Your Child Encounters LGBT Ideology at School
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jeff Johnston is a culture and policy analyst for Focus on the Family and a staff writer for the Daily Citizen. He researches, writes and teaches about topics of concern to families such as parental rights, religious freedom, LGBT issues, education and free speech. Johnston has been interviewed by CBS Sunday Morning, The New York Times, Associated Press News, The Christian Post, Rolling Stone and Vice, and is a frequent guest on radio and television outlets. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from San Diego State University with a Bachelors in English and a Teaching Credential. He and his wife have been married 30 years and have three grown sons.
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