A Maryland elementary school sent a notice to parents informing them that a selection of “LGBTQ+ inclusive texts” have been approved for reading instruction in the classroom.
Brown Station Elementary School in Gaithersburg, Maryland recently sent out a document to parents expressing their desire to represent members of the LGBTQ+ community in the curriculum for students, according to a report by TPUSA.
A mother, whose child attends Brown Station Elementary School provided TPUSA with the following document, which was sent by the acting principal to all parents. The notice explains the school’s plan to “positively represent” LGBTQ+ identity groups by using “inclusive texts.”
“As a reflection of MCPS’s ongoing commitment to ensure the curriculum is inclusive and affirming of all students, MCPS has approved a selection of LGBTQ+ inclusive texts for use in the classroom. In the coming weeks, your child’s teacher will read one of the new texts as part of reading instruction," the document read.
The document is dated February 10, 2023 and promises to continue to “add more inclusive texts and materials to the curriculum.”
The mother who shared the document with TPUSA, who asked to remain anonymous, expressed her frustration with the school’s unilateral decision. “Parents should get an option to opt out if they do not want to participate,” she said, “there should be a choice.”
Brown Station Elementary School is a part of Montgomery County Public Schools, the largest school district in the state of Maryland. This school district sets detailed guidelines pertaining to gender identity under their “Gender Support Plan.” This plan outlines how to address “transgender or gender nonconforming students” and specifically encourages staff to keep a child’s gender identity private — even from parents and legal guardians. The guidelines state that the family can be involved in creating this support plan, “if the family is supportive of the student.”
The following was documented in the MCPS Guidelines for Student Gender Identity: “Unless the student or parent/guardian has specified otherwise, when contacting the parent/guardian of a transgender student, MCPS school staff members should use the student’s legal name and pronoun that correspond to the student’s sex assigned at birth."
Additionally, the school district stipulates that transgender students are able to use whichever restroom or locker room facility best correlates with their gender identity, and cannot be required to use a single stall or separate changing room if not specifically requested. For students who may feel uncomfortable or vulnerable being forced to share intimate facilities with the opposite sex, the MCPS policy essentially declares their feelings invalid, and therefore unimportant. Instead, these students will be referred to school counselors, to address their deep-rooted transphobia.
The MCPS guidelines continue: “Some students may feel uncomfortable with a transgender student using the same sex-specific facility. This discomfort is not a reason to deny access to the transgender student."
"School administrators and counseling staff members should work with students to address their discomfort to foster understanding of gender identity and to create a school culture that respects and values all students.”
The school district makes it clear that the only feelings they will take into consideration are that of the transgender identifying students. In fact, the policy also states that if the facilities present at the school do not meet the gender non-conforming student’s needs, a new facility should be constructed. An excellent way to allocate taxpayer funds.
The school district’s website provides a plethora of LGBTQ+ resources for students (elementary through high school), staff, and parents, all of which are equally problematic. Five elementary schools within MCPS district offer LGBTQ+ affirming clubs for students to join, all with multiple volunteer, supervisory faculty members.
One resource offered to students is a “Coming Out as YOU” step by step guide, which directs children to choose what they “identify as today” and notes that, “It’s okay if it changes tomorrow.” These resources operate under the guise of helping children “find their true-selves,” but actually facilitate a larger identity crisis. Telling children that stability rooted in reality isn’t an option because gender can vary based on the day, is and always will be more damaging to their development and wellbeing than telling a girl, that she is a girl.
Another resource listed on the school district’s website takes users to a page titled Affirming LGBTQ+ Young Adults. This page provides material falling under numerous categories including, “LGBTQ+ Identity (general K-12 resources),” “Elementary Specific,” “Secondary Specific,” “Sexual Identity Specific,” and “Gender Identity Specific.”
The elementary section of the website links to downloadable slides of children’s books about gender identity, including one book entitled, “Jacob’s Room to Choose.” This book explains one transgender child’s dilemma when trying to use the bathroom which correlated with his perceived gender. The book concludes with all of the students creating restroom door signs reading, “use the bathroom that is comfy 4 u.”
Most will not be surprised to learn that the authors have a “gender nonconforming” toddler son, which they write about extensively in their authors’ note, who wears dresses and is called a “pink boy” by his parents.
The resource provided by MCPS also includes a course under the “Secondary” category, titled “LQBTQ+ History and Why it Matters.” The course offers students flashcard-length facts about historical examples of homosexuality in an effort to normalize all modern gender practices. The lesson conveniently omits the historical origin of gender theory, which was engineered by pedophilic theorists, John Money and Alfred Kinsey.
MCPS’s resources for parents include a link to a page run by Johns Hopkins Hospital. This page instructs parents to affirm their child’s newfound identity, to not question or challenge it, but simply accept their words and delusions at face-value, regardless of how young they are. “It’s not ‘just a phase.’ Embrace — don’t dismiss — their evolving sense of self,” the website state.
Johns Hopkins is a proponent of gender affirming care, which essentially allows an individual to self-diagnose with gender dysphoria, requiring minimal confirmation that the diagnosis is even accurate. Affirm first, confirm later. A certain level of skepticism should always be applied when taking medical advice which encourages the patient to immediately get started on puberty blockers, hormones, and irreversible surgical procedures — all of which add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in the pockets of those recommending these treatments. In fact, the reassignment surgeries alone can cost an average of $140,450 according to CNN and the Philadelphia Center for Transgender Surgery.
This of course doesn’t even begin to address the physical side effects, which accompany these treatments and procedures, and are often severe and life altering.
The Montgomery County Public School District severely lacks transparency when it comes to communicating not only its policies but also student’s actions while at school to parents. Educators and administrators apparently take it upon themselves to navigate children through intimate personal troubles, rather than taking the old-fashioned approach of involving parents.
TPUSA reached out to MCPS (email: ASKMCPS@mcpsmd.org) for comment and clarification on their districts’ policies, but have not yet received a response.
