Adams High School teacher promotes using “preferred pronouns” in lesson to students; supports eliminating “gendered sports”

Incidents


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 video recorded of the class. The video starts with the teacher discussing students being misgendered. The teacher explains that she understands modern gender ideology better because she was born in the 1990s and grew up in the 2000s:

I mean for me like, I was born in the 90s. I grew up in kind of the early 2000s and stuff, and it’s very different – it’s a harder shift for people who have like, like these older teachers and stuff. It’s really relearning and remaking these new paths in your brain to actually connect to these things. So yeah, it’s hard and it can be really uncomfortable. [Time Stamp: 0:30]

The teacher explains that parents and adults should use the preferred pronouns of students. When a student questions calling a single person the pronouns “they” or “them,” the teacher responds that “they” is a “nongendered pronoun.” [Time Stamp: 1:35] The teacher then explains “pronoun usage” to students:

Pronouns are an extension of a student’s name – and therefore, an extension of their identity. Dismissing their use, misgendering, or treating preferred pronouns as a chore is harmful to our students. So it’s harmful to, you know, your peers. It’s harmful to your teachers. It’s harmful to anybody that you are doing that to. It can be difficult when the first person that talked, they said, “Well, just because I look feminine doesn’t mean that I’m any less non-binary. Like, I want to be gendered as I am.” [Time Stamp: 2:50]

The teacher then shows the “Genderbread Person.” [Time Stamp: 4:00] The “Genderbread Person” is an image that educators use in an attempt to teach students that gender is on a spectrum.

This is an example of the “Genderbread Person.”

The teacher then moves to the topic of “gender pronouns.” She explains that “there are an infinite number of pronouns as we emerge into developing our language.” [Time Stamp: 6:00] When a student asks about the pronouns “xe” and “xir,” the teacher admits “I don’t know what it is.” [Time Stamp: 6:25] Students can then be heard mocking the class.

At one point, the teacher tells students to watch what they say or joke about around people:

Be careful with humor and sarcasm. So you don’t want to make jokes about these types of topics because it is really difficult for people who are in this community, and then they hear people just joking about it. [Time Stamp: 10:10]

She then follows this up by telling students to not question people suffering from gender dysphoria:

Believe people and have empathy. So like I said, like when someone tells you that they are who they are, just believe them. Don’t question them. Don’t try and put your belief into it or say, “Well, you look like this.” [Time Stamp: 10:25]

Students in the class also ask the teacher if it is fair for biological males to participate in female sports. The teacher then advocates for eliminating gender in sports in a response to a student’s question:

I mean honestly, this is like a new thing that our society is having to deal with. We’re having to ask these questions. We’re having to try and figure this stuff out. And I think that the only real solution is going to be to do away with, you know, gendered sports. [Time Stamp: 23:45]