In recent years, critical gender theory activists have turned America’s education system into a tool to reach millions of children in an effort to teach and promote gender ideology. Schools now teach students—including kindergartners—that gender is malleable and disconnected from one’s sex.
Evolutionary biologist, Colin Wright, explains gender ideology this way:
Proponents of gender ideology have completely decoupled the terms “man,” “woman,” “boy” and “girl” from biological sex. Gender ideology teaches that the terms “man/boy” and “woman/girl”—and their corresponding “he/his” and “she/her” pronouns—refer to a person’s gender identity, while “male” and “female” refer to biological sex. While you may define a woman as a female human adult, gender ideology contends that a “woman” is an adult of either sex who simply “identifies” as a woman.
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The clear message of gender ideology is that, if you’re a female who doesn’t “identify with” the social roles and stereotypes of femininity, then you’re not a woman; if you’re a male who similarly rejects the social roles and stereotypes of masculinity, then you’re not a man. Instead, you’re considered either transgender or nonbinary, and Planned Parenthood assures you that “there are medical treatments you can use to help your body better reflect who you are.” According to this line of thinking, certain personalities, behaviors and preferences are incompatible with certain types of anatomy.
(Wall Street Journal)
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Gender Ideology 101
In recent years, critical gender theory activists have turned America’s education system into a tool to reach millions of children in an effort to teach and promote gender ideology.
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Understanding Gender Jargon
Many of these terms are used to confuse and manipulate students starting in kindergarten in the name of gender ideology. All definitions are taken from the Human Rights Campaign…
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Groups Pushing Gender Ideologies in Schools
GLSEN: Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Educator Network, Planned Parenthood, Learning for Justice, Gender Spectrum, CASEL: Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, Panorama Education Inc., Human Rights Campaign, Advocates for…
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GLSEN: Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network
What is GLSEN? GLSEN is a national activist group focused on, according to the organization’s website, “championing LGBTQ issues in K-12 education.” GLSEN (pronounced “glisten”)…
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PDE Live: Gender & Title IX
On this month’s Parents Defending Education Live, we’ll discuss Title IX & Gender. You’ve probably heard he term “Title IX” in relation to college sports or regarding bullying & harassment,…
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VIDEO: Gender Support Plans
Have you heard of ‘gender support plans’? Parents Defending Education’s Director of Outreach, Erika Sanzi, explains what they are and shares some recent examples from our schools.
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Incidents
10th grade English class assignment in Eau Claire Area School District teaches students about “gender identity,” “personal pronouns,” and the “patriarchy”
A concerned resident provided Parents Defending Education with an English assignment given to tenth grade students English class at Memorial High School. This school is part of the Eau…
Incidents
Kutztown Area School District pays consultant $11,000 to provide teachers with equity training; reportedly offers the books “Gender Queer” and “All Boy’s Aren’t Blue” in school library
On December 6, 2021, the School Board for the Kutztown Area School District implemented a new policy titled “Educational Equity.” The policy ensures that the…
Incidents
Horry County Schools counselor promotes race-based event for students; school district promotes organizations that push for educators to teach “social justice” and “LGBTQ” issues in classrooms
A concerned community member sent an email to Parents Defending Education that a counselor from Conway High School had forwarded to parents. The email promoted a specifically “Latinx Student…
Incidents
Wellesley Middle School stages “Day of Silence”
On April 8, 2022, Wellesley Middle School (WMS), in Wellesley Mass., staged a “Day of Silence” to, according to the school’s principal, “recognize the silencing…
Incidents
Albemarle County Public Schools assistant superintendent appears to tell staff to quit if they disagree with district’s “Anti-Racism Policy”; middle school principal hosts training session for faculty with presenter encouraging adults to allow toddlers to “explore” their gender identity
Albemarle County Public Schools has a page on the school district’s website titled “Anti-Racism Policy” that features the district’s policy on the issue of racial…
Incidents
All-girl Catholic Carondelet High School stages GLSEN activist org “Day of Silence” to protest the “silencing” of “LGBTQIA+ voices”
On April 8, 2022, Carondelet High School, an elite all-girls Catholic high school in Contra Costa County, Calif., took an all-day “vow of silence” to “protest…
Incidents
Chatham Grove Elementary School plans to punish students for reports of “homophobic” and “xenophobic” behavior in K-5; Chatham County Schools provides teachers with learning material specifically mentioning “Critical Race Theory”
Parents Defending Education received a letter that the principal of Chatham Grove Elementary School emailed to parents on March 23, 2022. The principal wrote in the email: I…
Incidents
Adams High School teacher promotes using “preferred pronouns” in lesson to students; supports eliminating “gendered sports”
Adams High School reportedly has an elective course called “True Stories.” The teacher of the course decided to focus one day’s class on gender ideology, according to a…
Incidents
Waukee Community School District adopts Learning for Justice’s “Social Justice Standards”; teachers reportedly promote race and gender ideology in classrooms
The Waukee Community School District has a page on its website titled “Equity and Inclusion.” The school district states on the page that it “is committed…
Incidents
Georgetown Day School teaches students about so-called “anti-LGBTQ” bills with lesson and school-wide art collage project
Georgetown Day School students “across the grade levels” spent class time “learning about” and “creating artwork” about what the school calls “anti-LGBTQ bills” passed recently in…
Incidents
Lessons on how to use Condoms are part of middle school health curriculum in the Austin Independent School District
Documents from the school district website highlight that the health curriculum being used by Austin ISD for six through eighth grade includes a lesson activity titled “Correct Condom Usage.” The…
Incidents
Daily bulletin at Moses Brown School in Providence urges students to write letters during lunch in opposition to what school officials call a “Don’t Say Gay” bill; students are given “pronoun pins”
In the daily bulletin for upper school students on March 30th, 2022 known by students and families as the “Daily Information Board” or “DIB,” officials at Moses Brown, an…
Incidents
Austin Independent School District hosts Pride Week, lessons for middle school students about “coming out and how to use pronouns correctly”
Pride 22 flyer – Austin ISD, TX – 2022Download The Austin Independent School District (AISD) hosted Pride Week from March 21- March 26,…
Incidents
Edmonds School District teaches children in first grade that there are more than two genders; encourages students to pick their preferred pronouns
A parent on Twitter posted images of the material that Edmonds School District is teaching children in the first grade. In a lesson taught to first…
Incidents
Eau Claire Area School District provides school staff with “Administrative Guidance” to support transgender students; appears to support students using “medical” and “surgical” procedures to transition to another gender
Parents Defending Education previously received training material and videos that the Eau Claire Area School District provided to teachers. The training sessions included praise for…
Incidents
Miami-Dade County Public Schools states that “outside confirmation from medical or mental health professionals” is not required for students to change their chosen gender identity; mandates teachers to use the preferred pronouns of students
Miami-Dade County Public Schools has a website dedicated to the school district’s “Office of Educational Equity, Access, and Diversity.” The school district states on the website…
Incidents
All-girl Catholic Carondelet High School hosts repeated celebrations of trans agenda
Carondelet High School’s new STEM “I-Center”, the Jean Hofmann Center for Innovation On Jan. 28, 2022, Carondelet High School’s “DEI Council” hosted a “Community During Community” cultural festival that included…
Incidents
Burlington School District supports allowing young children to choose their gender identity and pronouns; promotes segregated “affinity spaces” for students and staff
The Burlington School District has a “Diversity and Equity” page on its website that promotes using the preferred “pronouns” of students. The school district explains that…
Incidents
Jefferson County Public Schools promotes material pushing young children to choose their gender identity; provides resources to disrupt “the Western-prescribed nuclear family structure”
Off the banks of the Ohio River in northeast Kentucky, Jefferson County Public Schools is an urban school district that has been plagued with an “achievement gap,” that its school…
Incidents
“Gender Snowperson” used to teach 4th graders that their sex and pronouns were “assigned at birth” and that they should use non-binary language with strangers
In October 2019, fourth-graders in Lexington, MA were taught to “articulate what gender identity is and why it’s important to use non-binary language in describing people we don’t know…
Incidents
Investigations
‘National School Counseling Week 2022’ reveals how K-12 schools increasingly try to get into children’s heads with activist agendas
Everyone cares about the wellbeing of children. Unfortunately, the launch of “National School Counseling Week 2022” from Monday, February 7, through Friday, February 11, illustrates how a national network…
Press Releases
Media
WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Catholic girls school event included pronoun buttons craft table and gender flags
An all-girls Catholic high school near Oakland, California , held a community festival day that included a craft table for students to make buttons showcasing their preferred pronouns, along with…
Media
DAILY CALLER: All-Girls School Asks Students To Make Pronoun Buttons During ‘Cultural Festival’
A Catholic high school in California hosted a cultural festival in January which included a booth that asked women to make “pronoun buttons,” according to documents and testimony obtained by…
Media
The Human Rights Campaign against children
Recently companies of all types and backgrounds have coordinated to advance pro-LGBTQ viewpoints and attack legislation such as Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law.
Commentaries
BREITBART: Iowa School District Trains Teachers in ‘Ethnomathematics,’ ‘Herstory’
Iowa City Community School District offers teacher trainings in “ethnomathematics” and queer “Herstory,” according to documents obtained by Parents Defending Education (PDE).
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THE DAILY WIRE: Massachusetts High School Biology Class Pushes Radical Gender Ideology As Fact
New Boston Post, a conservative aggregate news source for all things New England, recently reported Needham High School in Needham, Massachusetts, is teaching students in its biology class that humans…
Media
THE DAILY SIGNAL: California Teacher Describes Training Session Where Educators Were Pressured to Use Students’ Preferred Pronouns
A staff member at one of the nation’s largest school districts said he participated in a “cult retreat-like experience” during a teacher training session, according to a report from Parents…
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TOWNHALL: ‘Cult-Retreat-Like Experience’: California School District Trained Staff to Use Preferred Pronouns, Names
The Los Angeles Unified School District required its staff to participate in “socioemotional learning” training that involved educators agreeing to use students’ preferred names and pronouns.
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TOWNHALL: Massachusetts High School Biology Class Includes Instruction on Gender Identity
A Massachusetts high school biology teacher is teaching students about gender identity, gender expression and intersex individuals in a unit on genetics.
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THE EPOCH TIMES: Minnesota School District Partnered With Organization Promoting Resources for ‘Gender Expansive’ Children
Minnesota’s second-largest public school district is partnering with organizations that offer gender identity-focused curricula for young children to advance the goal of “interrupting systems of marginalization,” a report says.
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THE WASHINGTON FREE BEACON: Parents Say Policies Meant To Help Transgender Kids Are Misguided
Many states instruct schools to keep students’ ‘gender identity’ secret…
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