Del Oro High School teacher says her job is to give students “protection from their own parents”

On January 25, 2023, Fox News reported that a teacher at Del Oro High School in the Kern High School District “bragged about helping students hide their social transitions from parents.” Fox News pulled the information from a January 22 article published by the New York Times titled “When Students Change Gender Identity, and Parents Don’t Know.”

In the article, the New York Times explained that the teacher, Olivia Garrison, identifies as “nonbinary.” This teacher explained that her job “is to protect kids.” She then added: “Sometimes, they need protection from their own parents.” The article later reported that most parents with children identifying as transgender explained that their children have “mental health conditions, such as bipolar disorder, or autism.”

Kern High School District has a request form online that allows students to change their preferred pronouns and name, as Fox News reported. Students can add the “new name” they go by and can “request that my gender marker be changed.” Students are also asked their new pronouns. The form then asks: “May these pronouns be used when we contact home?”

The school district also has a “Nondiscrimination/Harassment” policy posted online. This policy states that refusing to use a student’s preferred pronouns is considered a form of harassment. When listing forms of harassment, the district states: “Refusing to address a student by a name and the pronouns consistent with the student’s gender identity.”

The district continues to explain in the policy: “If a student so chooses, district personnel shall be required to address the student by a name and the pronoun(s) consistent with the student’s gender identity, without the necessity of a court order or a change to the student’s official district record.”