Officials at an elementary school in Colorado discussed how to defy the wishes of parents who did not want the school to accommodate their child’s request to transition to a different gender socially.
According to internal emails obtained through a public-records request by the parent activist group Parents Defending Education, an official at Laurel Elementary School in Fort Collins, Colorado, asked administrators if they should disregard a parent’s request that their child be addressed by their legal name and pronouns corresponding to their biological sex.
<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1667598982039,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000016c-3f1f-d321-af7d-7f5f071a0000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1667598982039,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000016c-3f1f-d321-af7d-7f5f071a0000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_67598674", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1176310"} }); ","_id":"00000184-43f3-d2c9-a9e6-f3fbfc580000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video Embed
“I’m wondering about what to do when an elementary school student has expressed their pronouns and chosen name but their parents directly tell school staff not to call the student by those pronouns,” the unnamed official said in an email dated April 4, 2022. “I feel very strongly about supporting the student but have heard that we legally have to follow the parents’ direction due to the age of the child (elementary school).”
FLORIDA FATHER SUES SON’S SCHOOL DISTRICT OVER TEACHER DISPLAYING PRIDE FLAGS
The Laurel Elementary School administrator’s request for information was forwarded to a Poudre School District official, who directed the administrator to follow the student’s wishes for what name to be called but use the student’s legal name in conversations with the child’s parents.
“The school should use the student’s affirming name and pronouns at school and use their legal name and corresponding pronouns when talking with the family until they are supportive of the student’s new name and pronouns,” the email says.
Poudre School District responded on Monday, denying that the school deceived the parents and referencing a March 31, 2022, email that the Washington Examiner has not received or reviewed.
“Although PSD will not comment on specific students, the full email thread that was provided through an open records request does show that the school responded affirmatively to the family that the child was using a preferred name and pronoun while at school when asked directly,” the school district said in a statement that took issue with any characterization that the school deceived parents. “This is clearly stated in the email dated March 31, 2022 (this was not included in your article). The school did not lie or deceive parents.”
The district noted that its district policy, as well as state law, prohibits discrimination in schools based on “gender identity and gender expression.”
“PSD supports our students in having autonomy over when and how they come out and to whom,” the statement said. “There are instances in which a student may not be yet out, at school or at home. Staff will talk with the student to discuss the manner, time and message of that disclosure. This includes working with the student in coming out to their family and others, as appropriate, and collaborating with families to promote consistent gender support.”
Over the past year, school districts across the country have faced the ire of parents for facilitating so-called “social gender transitions” for students of all ages without the permission or knowledge of the child’s parent. The practice has led to several lawsuits and has prompted some elected officials to explore ways to ban the practice.
In a statement to the Washington Examiner last week, Parents Defending Education’s director of outreach, Erika Sanzi, blasted the school officials’ discussions as “unconscionable.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“It is well documented that schools across the country in red and blue states are withholding information from parents about the gender transition of their children, but those breaches of trust usually occur in middle and high schools,” Sanzi said. “These emails that direct elementary school staff to continue to facilitate the gender transition of an elementary school student, despite the parents’ objections, are truly unconscionable.”
This story has been updated to include the comment from Poudre School District.
