A watchdog group has reported that nearly 6,000 public schools across the United States have implemented some sort of policy that prohibits the schools from informing parents when their children decide to “change” their gender or gender identity.
As reported by the New York Post, the list compiled by Parents Defending Education (PDE) covers 5,904 schools across 168 districts, which accounts for at least 3.2 million students in total. Such policies forbid staff from telling parents about their children’s gender identity without the student’s permission, even if the children are underaged. The policies know no boundaries when it comes to geography, demographics, or financial status, with such policies in place in rural and urban areas alike, as well as rich and poor neighborhoods.
Included on the list are two of the largest school districts in the country, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Other major cities with school districts on the list include Washington D.C., San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, and Baltimore. States that are affected by this policies range from Alaska and Idaho to California and New York.
PDE’s list “only begins to scratch the surface of what is taking place behind closed doors in America’s schools,” said the group’s president Nicole Neilly. “This investigation shows that parental exclusion policies are a problem from coast-to-coast, and that living in a red state doesn’t mean that families are automatically shielded from this issue.”
“Without a doubt, there are hundreds (if not thousands) of others with similar policies on the books,” Neilly continued. “We urge everyone to keep an eye out, and to let us know if they find something similar in their backyard.”
Despite widespread backlash against such policies, the Biden Administration is currently pursuing changes to Title IX regulations that would make it legal nationwide for schools to withhold such crucial information from parents. In response, multiple Republican-led states have attempted to crack down on such pro-“transgender” policies, including Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-Va.), who was elected in 2021 largely due to his campaign platform promising greater authority for parents when it comes to education in the state.