Washoe County School District provides training to staff that features the “Genderbread Person”; creates “Brave Space” program to promote gender ideology

Parents Defending Education submitted a public records request to the Washoe County School District seeking any guidance that the district has regarding transgender issues. PDE previously reported that the school district has a policy in place to keep the gender identity of students hidden from parents. The district provided PDE with documents from its “Brave Space” program that pushes staff to adopt LGBTQ ideology. PDE received two presentations for staff that were part of the Brave Space program.

One presentation was titled “LGBTQ Education Presentation for Brave Space.” The presentation features the “Genderbread Person.” The “Genderbread Person” is an image that educators use in an attempt to teach students that gender is on a spectrum. This presentation asks staff questions such as: “When is the first time you can remember learning that not all people identified as cisgender?”

This presentation tells staff to use the preferred pronouns of students because pronouns are “validating” and “being misgendered is painful.” Part of the presentation was created using resources from the Trevor Project. The Trevor Project is an organization specifically known for targeting children with LGBTQ resources.

Another presentation that PDE received was titled “Civil Rights Presentation for Brave Space.” A purpose of this program is to “provide a way to indicate to students that District employees can be approached to discuss their concerns regarding sex, race, gender identity or other sensitive topics.” The presentation also discusses how the logo for the Brave Space program incorporates the colors of the “traditional gay pride flag” with white, pink, and light blue added to “represent the transgender community.”

One page of the document states that participants “must be sensitive to issues regarding confidentiality.” This page also explains that staff must “balance between protecting student privacy and duties as a mandatory and/or required reporter.”