Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus Condemns Greater Johnstown Schools’ Gender-Transition Policy

A group of conservative Pennsylvania state lawmakers on Thursday voiced outrage at the Greater Johnstown School District’s “Gender Transition Plan” and “Gender Support Plan.” 

Particularly troubling to members of the Pennsylvania Freedom Caucus (PAFC) are provisions in the district policies to circumvent parents’ involvement in the way their gender-dysphoric student may address his or her condition. 

Read the full story

Ohio Middle School Scrubs Fifth Grade Gender Identity Lesson After Exposé

A middle school in Copley, Ohio, has eliminated a fifth-grade gender identity lesson from its health curriculum following exposure of the lesson at Libs of TikTok, a report Tuesday revealed.

At the outset of a letter sent to parents that was printed on the letterhead of Akron Children’s Hospital, Rachel O’Donnell, fifth-grade health teacher at Copley-Fairlawn Middle School, wrote the program would “cover the physical and emotional changes that can be expected during puberty” and would be taught in a way that was “age-appropriate, scientifically accurate, and non-judgmental.”

Read the full story

Civil Rights Commissioners Urge Speaker Kevin McCarthy to Hold Hearings on Title IX to Assure ‘Biological Sex’ Is Protected

In a letter obtained by The Star News Network, four members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) are calling upon House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to hold hearings on the Biden administration’s “radical and legally unsupported proposals to change Title IX” to require that its prohibition on sex discrimination be interpreted to bar discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The letter, signed by USCCR Commissioners labor attorney Peter Kirsanow, University of San Diego law professor Gail Heriot, Public Interest Legal Foundation President J. Christian Adams, and South Carolina African American Chamber of Commerce CEO Stephen Gilchrist, asserts to McCarthy that the Biden Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has erred in its claim that the Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County “requires that Title IX’s prohibition on sex discrimination be interpreted to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Read the full story

Arizona State University Student Finds Urinal in Women’s Restroom

An Arizona State University (ASU) student who serves as vice chair of the East Valley Young Republicans discovered a urinal in a women’s restroom and asserted ASU is “putting men’s urinals in the women’s restroom!”

Rachel Hope tweeted on Jan. 26, “ASU caves to the far left by putting men’s urinals in the women’s restroom!! 🤢🤡.” Along with the tweet she displayed a video of entering a women’s restroom and encountering a urinal inside a stall next to a toilet.

Read the full story

Commentary: There Is a Reason Why DEI Is Little More Than a Costly Failure

Earlier this month, amid howls from the “progressive” Left, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis demanded an accounting of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) expenditures from the state’s public colleges and universities.

The results are exactly what you might expect. According to a recent report from Campus Reform, in 2022, Florida institutions spent $28 million on DEI initiatives, more than half of that ($15 million) funded by taxpayers.

Read the full story

Madison Schools Begin Gender Identity Week for Elementary Students

Elementary students in the Madison Metropolitan School District will be treated to a weeklong introduction to gender identity and sexual orientation curriculum as part of the so-called Welcoming Schools agenda. Parents in the district received an email last week advising them about this week’s lesson plan, part of the Health and Social Emotional Learning curriculum. Children will learn about “different identities, which include gender identity, sex assigned at birth, and sexual orientation.”

Read the full story

Curriculum Used in Minneapolis Schools Teaches Kindergarteners About ‘Gender Identity’

A handful of Minneapolis schools use a curriculum that exposes kids as young as five to the concepts of “gender identity and expression” and teaches that kids “begin to develop and express gender identity” at age three.

AmazeWorks is one of the most controversial curriculums for elementary and middle-school students because it uses content on gender identity from an early age, according to Cristine Trooien, executive director of Minnesota Parents Alliance.

Read the full story

Parents, Catholic School Sue Michigan Officials over ‘Gender Identity’ Law

The Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish (SHJP) Catholic school filed a lawsuit Thursday against Michigan state officials after the state’s civil rights laws were changed to include gender identity and sexual orientation as protected categories, which the school argued the change would force it to violate its religious beliefs.

In July, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that Michigan’s Civil Rights Act must include sexual orientation and gender identity under its protections from discrimination. SHJP and families who attend the school filed a lawsuit against the Michigan Department of Civil Rights and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel over the court’s decision from forcing the school to hire and promote LGBTQ lifestyles in conflict with traditional Catholic teachings.

Read the full story

Philadelphia Schools to Review Policy Allowing Students to Pick Team Determined by Gender Identity

The School District of Philadelphia will review language it proposes to be formally included in its existing policy that allows students to pick the gender of the team for which they want to play.

The agenda for the Dec. 15 school board meeting has new language under “Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Student Participation” policy for interscholastic activities that states, “Students participating in interscholastic athletics may participate on the team of the gender with which they identify.”

Read the full story

Teacher Posts That Confusing Students About Gender Identity Is Enjoyable

A Louisiana elementary music teacher posted to social media that confusing young students about gender identity and “ignoring” their questions is enjoyable.

Blaine Banghart, a teacher at University Elementary School in Shreveport, part of the Caddo Parish Public Schools, explained in a Facebook post that it has been enjoyable to purposefully confuse young students about gender identity, Fox News reported.

Read the full story

Experts: Minnesota School District Can Now Conceal Students’ Gender Identity from Parents

The Burnsville-Eagan-Savage School District adopted a new transgender student policy that experts say will permit students to change their gender identity at school and allow the district to conceal that information from parents.

According to the new policy, adopted on Nov. 17, “all students have a right to privacy, including the right to keep private one’s transgender or gender expansive status at school.”

Read the full story

Pennsylvania Elementary School Prohibits Teachers from Telling Parents If Their Child Is Transgender

A Pennsylvania elementary school tells educators to hide a student’s change in gender identity from their parents unless they consent, according to a school policy.

The Upper Moreland School District in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, “Code of Conduct” for the 2022-2023 school year tells elementary school teachers that they should not share a student’s change in gender identity with their parents unless instructed by the student to do so. The student has the “right” to keep their “gender identity private at school,” according to the code of conduct.

“School personnel should not disclose information that may reveal a student’s gender identity or gender nonconformity to others, including parents and other school personnel, unless the student has authorized such disclosure,” the code of conduct stated.

Read the full story

Former Counselor at Betty Ford Adolescent Treatment Center: Minnesota Minors Housed Based on ‘Gender Identity’

A former counselor at Hazelden Betty Ford’s adolescent treatment center in Plymouth is speaking out about a controversial policy that allows young people to be housed according to their gender identity, not biological sex.

He told Alpha News it hasn’t gone well and believes it’s time people know the truth. Alpha News agreed to protect his identity for this interview as he continues his counseling career away from Hazelden.

Read the full story

Poll: Large Majority of American Voters Say They Will Not Vote for Candidates Supporting Gender Transition Procedures for Minors

A poll published Thursday found 72.7 percent of American voters say they are not likely to vote for candidates running in the midterm elections who support gender transition procedures, such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries, for minors.

The survey, sponsored by Convention of States Action and conducted by The Trafalgar Group, found 63.3 percent of 1,080 likely general election voters say they are not likely to vote for a candidate who supports gender transition medical procedures for minors, and 9.4 percent say somewhat less likely – a total of 72.7 percent who say they are not likely to vote for candidates with those views.

Read the full story

Florida Medical Board Votes to Ban Transgender Hormone Treatments and Surgeries for Minors Under 18 Years

The Florida Board of Medicine has voted to ban puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries such as double mastectomies and castrations – what LGBTQ activists call “gender-affirming care” – for children under the age of 18 in the state.

The move to prohibit the life-altering hormones and surgeries for the treatment of gender dysphoria in children and teens makes the Florida medical board the first in the nation to pursue such a rule, NBC News reported Saturday.

Read the full story

Florida Board of Education Policy Can Revoke Teachers’ Licenses for Teaching Gender Identity to 5-Year-Olds

The Florida Board of Education unanimously approved a series of policies Wednesday, including one that disciplines teachers who teach gender identity or sexual orientation to 5-year-olds.

Under the policy, teachers could have their license suspended or revoked if they break Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Parental Rights in Education Law, which prohibits lessons on gender identity and sexual orientation from kindergarten through third grade. The board also approved rules requiring schools to alert parents if a biological man will be using women’s bathrooms and locker rooms.

Read the full story

Youngkin Defends Gender Identity Policies: ‘Children Don’t Belong to the State’

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin defended his policy regarding gender identity rules for the public school system, saying children don’t belong to the state.

Under the rules, student bathrooms and sports teams should be based on sex assigned at birth, not gender identity. Parental approval would be required if a student wants to change their name, according to the new policy.

Read the full story

AG Skrmetti Leads States in Opposing Proposed ObamaCare Language Change

Tennessee’s Attorney General is leading the charge against a proposed change to Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare). 

Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti will lead a coalition of 20 states in filing a public comment against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’s (DHS) plan to change the wording in Section 1557 from “sex” to “gender identity.” 

Read the full story

Parent Group Reveals States’ Trans Policies Involve Keeping Students’ Gender Identities Secret from Parents and Inviting Students to Turn to LGBTQ Activists for Help

Parents Defending Education’s (PDE) new resource for parents seeks to inform them of their state education agencies’ policies about gender identity and reveals multiple states instruct teachers to keep their students’ gender identities a secret from parents.

As it continues to add information from more states, the national grassroots organization’s resource for parents currently provides links to the websites of 29 state education departments across the country along with their policies regarding transgender students and gender identity.

Read the full story

Ohio State Board of Education Considers Resolution Against Gender Ideology

Ohio’s State Board of Education on Tuesday heard public comment on a proposed resolution treating biological sex as an “objective, scientific fact” and opposing school policies that seek to blur the lines on this subject.

Board member Brendan Shea (District 5) introduced the measure, which balks at regulations recently proposed by President Joe Biden. If finalized, the federal Department of Education rules would effectively force schools to call gender-dysphoric K-12 students by their preferred names and pronouns rather than their given names and biological pronouns. They would also require school athletic programs to assign children to teams based on avowed gender identity rather than physiological sex. 

Read the full story

Lawsuit Filed Against Arizona Department of Education over LGBTQ Chat Rooms for Youths

An Arizona citizen, Peggy McClain, recently filed a lawsuit against the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) Superintendent Kathy Hoffman because of LGBTQ-focused chat rooms available on the ADE website where youths can speak to adults about sex and gender identity.

“She’s [Hoffman] in an office to protect children and to guide children and to make children better and she’s putting them in grave danger,” McClain said to the Arizona Sun Times via the phone.

Read the full story

Anti-Science Biden Administration to End Protections for Girls Title IX Ensured in 1972

The Biden administration is determined to undermine the science of biology in order to prop up an activist political agenda that will serve up a manufactured concept of limitless “genders” with a side order of government-approved child grooming opportunities.

The proposed Title IX rule, announced in June by Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, is designed to overturn the Trump administration’s desire to continue enforcement of Title IX’s protections for girls and women in education. Former President Donald Trump also ensured due process rights protections for those students accused of sexual misconduct.

Read the full story

Men’s Magazine Says Preference for Female Anatomy Is a ‘Fetish’

A sex writer at Men’s Health said that his preference for female bodies was a fetish in a Thursday column.

A male reader wrote that he was exclusively attracted to people with female genitalia and didn’t care about his partners’ gender identity, but wasn’t sure if that made his straight or pansexual. The columnist, Zachary Zane, who identifies as an “ethical boyslut,” told the reader he was technically bisexual and had a fetish for vulvas that his partners might find offensive.

Read the full story

Petition Filed to Stop Harpeth Hall from Admitting Boys

After an elite all-girls school in Nashville decided that it would admit and retain any boy that identifies as a girl, a group of school community members have started circulating a petition in hopes that the school will reconsider. 

“We are writing to you today on behalf of a significant number of current parents, former parents, and alumnae … Adopting a policy that invites application to Harpeth Hall by anyone other than females is a critical change in the structure of the school, and by extension, has a major impact on our daughters,” the petitioners said. 

Read the full story

Elite Nashville Girl’s School Will Allow Anyone Who Identifies as a Girl to Attend

An elite girl’s school that has become increasingly woke in past years now says that any student who identifies as a girl will be allowed to attend. 

“Harpeth Hall is a girls school. The school culture is unique and distinctly about girls, complete with the use of references to students as girls and young women and the collective use of female pronouns,” says a Gender Diversity Philosophy document obtained by The Tennessee Star. “Any student who identifies as a girl may apply to our school. Students who join and remain at Harpeth Hall do so because our mission as a school for girls resonates with them.”

Read the full story

Mastriano Denounces Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Gender Policies

Pennsylvania state Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Gettysburg) on Tuesday denounced guidelines the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) has outlined for the treatment of controversial gender issues in public schools. 

The senator, who is running for governor against Democratic state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, particularly objected to recommendations that teachers consider utilizing nonconventional pronouns like “ne, ve, ze and xe” that some who claim to be neither male nor female have begun using to refer to themselves. Mastriano also criticized Governor Tom Wolf (D) and PDE for denying the link between biological sex and the gendered terms (i.e., male and female) that correspond to it. 

Read the full story

Britain’s National Health Service to Shut Down Gender Clinic Pushing Puberty Blockers

Britain’s Tavistock & Portman National Health Service (NHS) Clinic is shutting down following a review that found the clinic, which has led the way in prescribing puberty blockers for young children claiming to be transgender, is not a “safe or viable long-term option.”

The north London clinic “has been accused of rushing teenagers into life-altering treatment on hormone-blocking drugs,” The Times of London reported Friday, opening the way for potential lawsuits by patients with claims of mistreatment.

Read the full story

Florida Education Rule on Gender Identity Ignores Federal Guidance, Requires Parental Notification

The Florida Department of Education (FDOE) announced on July 25 that they intend to proceed with a proposed rule requiring school districts to adopt a policy that provides parental notification related to the logistic of overnight field trips.

The regulation is being implemented to align FDOE’s policies with Florida’s Parental Bill of Rights law passed in 2021.

Under the law, FDOE is required to review and update “school counseling frameworks and standards; educator practices and professional conduct principles and any other student services personnel guidelines” to align with the new law by June 30, 2023.

Two LGBTQ rights groups, Equality Florida and Family Equality, filed suit in federal court in March, arguing the Parental Bill of Rights law is unconstitutional. Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a motion asking U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor to throw out the case last month.

The new FDOE rule requires notification to parents, including details such as “the nature of the field trip, the dates and times, specific locations and types of establishments to be visited, modes of transportation and method of student supervision provided, such as anticipated number of chaperones.”

Read the full story

Biden Plan to Restore Obamacare’s Protection of Transgender Rights in Federal Healthcare Programs Poised to Stoke Religious Freedom Lawsuits

The Biden administration will once again sow its seeds of division by proposing a rule to “protect” those claiming “gender identity” discrimination in federal healthcare programs, a move that is expected to generate religious freedom disputes.

The Biden Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Monday its proposed rule will implement Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) to affirm that “protections against discrimination on the basis of sex, including sexual orientation and gender identity” are “consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Bostock v. Clayton County,” and to reiterate “protections from discrimination for seeking reproductive health care services.”

Read the full story

Arizona Senate Could Take Action After Biden Ties Federal Funds for School Lunches to Trans Ideology

After the Biden administration’s newly-unveiled plan to tie federal funding for school lunches to transgender and other gender ideology was recently revealed, the Arizona Senate could take action to protect the state’s school children. 

“As our Senate leadership team continues to negotiate a budget with the House and the Governor’s Office, they may consider leaving some wiggle room that would allow financial support for school meals,” Kim Quintero, Director of Communications of the Arizona State Senate told The Arizona Sun Times. “They may also consider pushing legal action against the Biden Administration for this ludicrous plan. At this point, all options are on the table, and these are conversations our members will be having in the coming weeks.”

Read the full story

Biden Admin Ties Federal Funds for School Lunches to Gender Identity

The Biden Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced that all state and local agencies that receive federal funding for meals, a category that includes schools, must not discriminate based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

In a press release dated May 5, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) announced it would now interpret the ban on discrimination based on sex included in Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and food-related legislation and programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly the Food Stamp program, to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Read the full story

Florida School Superintendent Uses Misleading CNN Fact-Check to Discredit Parental Rights Bill

At a recent Leon County School Board meeting, Superintendent Rocky Hanna used a misleading CNN fact-check to publicly criticize Governor DeSantis’ rationale for the Parental Rights in Education bill, while ignoring facts related to a lawsuit filed against the school district.

The CNN fact-check uses selective comments from a DeSantis press conference, related to an incident which took place at a Leon County middle school, to question the rationale for the Parental Rights in Education bill.

The incident involved the failure of school officials to notify parents about a meeting with their daughter concerning gender issues. The parents have filed a federal lawsuit against the Leon County School Board.

Hanna, reading DeSantis’s comments from the CNN fact-check, said that “none of this happened, none of this is true, it is all fabricated…”

While DeSantis’s comments about the specifics of the incident were partly inaccurate, Hanna ignored facts that were consistent with the comments made by DeSantis.

What Hanna did not reveal in his comments to the school board is that school officials initiated an interview with the student as part of a  “Transgender/Gender Nonconforming Student Support Plan” without including the parents.

Read the full story

Alabama Passes Bill Banning Child Sex Change Treatments, Jailing Doctors Who Transition Kids

The Alabama legislature passed a bill Thursday criminalizing sex change treatments for children including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and sex-change surgeries.

The bill, if signed by Gov. Kay Ivey, would treat the castration of children and other sex-change treatments as Class C felonies which, according to Politico, carry a penalty of up to ten years in prison for medical practitioners.

Read the full story

Minnesota Department of Human Services Sued over ‘Discriminatory’ Behavior Toward Anti-Critical Race Theory Employee

A civil liberties legal group is suing the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) over ostensibly “discriminatory” behavior toward an employee who objected to mandatory trainings saturated with critical race theory (CRT) and “gender identity” politics.

Last Friday the Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC) filed a lawsuit against the Minnesota DHS and Commissioner Jodi Harpstead on behalf of former employee Joseph Norgren, who worked as a security counselor at the Minnesota Security Hospital.

Read the full story

Florida Progressives Ignore Gender Issues in Public Schools, Call Parental Rights Bill Homophobia

During the debate over Florida’s Parental Rights legislation (HB 1557/ SB 1834), progressive politicians are ignoring issues in public schools and calling the proposal the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

The bill addresses a number of concerns related to communications between school officials and students. The bill requires school officials to notify parents if issues arise related to a students mental, emotional physical well-being. In addition, the bill prohibits school officials from encouraging  students to withhold information.

Issues related to these provisions are currently being litigated in two separate legal cases across Florida. For example, parents are suing the Clay County Schools Board for counseling their elementary school child related to gender without their knowledge. The parents became aware of the situation when their child tried to commit suicide. School officials allegedly defended their actions by invoking “confidentiality rules” to justify not including the parents in the counseling sessions.

Read the full story

Another Florida School Board Sued over Concealing Gender Identity Counseling from Parents

The Clay County School Board is being sued by parents that allege school officials hid their 12-year-old daughter’s mental health and gender identity issues for months – only informing them after the child attempted suicide in the school bathroom on two separate occasions. Clay County is located just southwest of Jacksonville.

The father said he was alerted on Jan. 5 that his daughter attempted to commit suicide on campus.

The complaint states that when the child’s parents had arrived at the school, the child was being placed into the back of a police car to be transported to a hospital for involuntary examination under Florida’s “Baker Act” law. The Baker Act allows law enforcement and certain health officials to initiate a mental health examination in the event a person is an imminent risk to herself or others based on apparent mental illness.

School officials allegedly defended their actions by invoking “confidentiality rules” to justify not including the parents in the counseling sessions.

Read the full story

Florida School Boards Association Denies Bias, Teams Up with ‘Equality Florida’ to Promote LGBT Policies in Classroom

Group of kids playing with a rainbow parachute cloth in a field

As debates rage across the country over gender issues in schools, Florida school officials with the Florida School Board Association (FSBA) have teamed up with a left-wing progressive group to develop policies that determine how controversial issues will be addressed in the classroom.

Often times these discussions take place outside of official school meetings but involve elected officials.

The group, Equality Florida, is a left-wing political advocacy group that advocates for civil rights and protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBQT+) residents in Florida. The group has successfully developed a network of connections among school officials that facilitates the promotion of their views in school operations.

One of the methods used by Equality Florida to influence policy at schools is the “All Together Now Conference” (ATN). Equality Florida states that ATN provides “dynamic programming that includes sessions such as a superintendent’s roundtable discussion, family acceptance panels, GSA workshops, and legal expert testimonials.”

Read the full story

Exclusive: Anti-White LGBT TikTok Star Identified as New Jersey Charter School Teacher

A TikTok influencer who frequently posts anti-white screeds and LGBT content on social media is a middle school teacher at a New Jersey charter school, The Star News Network can reveal.

Nairobi Colon teaches at KIPP Whittier Middle School in Camden, New Jersey. KIPP, which stands for Knowledge is Power Program, is a nationwide nonprofit network of charter schools, funded in part by private donors.

Read the full story