Title IX was a landmark piece of legislation to advance equality for women and girls. Now, having arrived at the law’s 50th anniversary, President Joe Biden plans to eliminate fair competition for women in sports. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Reinterpreting “sex” to encompass “gender identity” will not just affect sports, locker rooms, and bathrooms, it could also mean that schools will facilitate a child’s transition to a different gender identity behind his or her parents’ backs. Schools have already deceived some parents. This egregious misuse of executive power could have far-reaching and tragic implications.
President Biden does not have the authority to erase Title IX’s protections for women, nor can he simply cancel the fundamental rights of parents. But the president’s actions still have the power to influence, even if they are illegitimate.
The Biden administration’s mandate on K-12 schools could dangerously undermine parental rights. In testimony before Congress, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona declined to confirm that schools would notify parents and involve them in the process of “socially transitioning” their child to a different gender identity by using different names and pronouns. The Department of Education also hosted an event, “Supporting Transgender and Nonbinary Students,” in which multiple speakers described socially transitioning students without informing parents. School officials encourage students to talk to them about gender identity while assuming that parents can’t be trusted to hear about matters that are crucial to their child’s development.
Under the influence of Washington, D.C., more schools are likely to put into practice an extreme and destructive gender ideology without parental knowledge or consent. And the White House has further undermined parental rights by issuing an executive order aimed at censoring talk therapy for kids who are struggling with gender dysphoria.
Parents have the right to make decisions for both their children’s education and healthcare without government interference. A recent study by the Parental Rights Foundation confirms that the vast majority (83%) of Americans support the parental rights in our Constitution. Most Americans embrace the right of loving parents to lead and guide their child along life’s paths to adulthood.
Parental rights are fundamental and universal. Democrat, Libertarian, or Republican; Black, Latino, Asian, or White; Atheist, Muslim, Jewish, or Christian, parents have the right to direct the upbringing, education, and healthcare of their children according to their own values. The Constitution protects this fundamental right because children belong to families, not to the government.
Yet government officials have decided that they (and not parents) know what is best for America’s children. Emboldened school boards now treat caring parents as an afterthought or even as a threat. We have already seen how some schools are sowing seeds of distrust between children and parents. One teacher even proclaimed, “I’m your mom now.“ Schools are teaching children that they may be born in the wrong body, and that they can change their sex. They are also indoctrinating students with ideology that divides them by skin color and teaches that their immutable characteristics limit their ability to succeed or behave morally.
The Biden administration seems to be at the beck and call of well-funded LGBT advocacy organizations like GLSEN, PFLAG, the Human Rights Campaign, Gender Spectrum, and the Equality Federation. These organizations wield outsized influence over educators and state lawmakers, as well as the White House. From the top down, they have persistently pushed a destructive gender ideology on children using schools as the means of delivery.
For years, GLSEN has vigorously promoted the idea that students do not need to inform their parents about what they are learning, thinking, or doing through atoolkit of model policies. The toolkit promotes the idea of leaving parents in the dark about mental health issues involving their children, including gender confusion.
Local and state educational authorities, including Glenbrook High School District 225, Evanston Township High School District 202, and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education have incorporated GLSEN’s model language into their policies.
Some government authorities, like the Denver Public Schools and the Minnesota Department of Education, have created their own toolkits with links to Gender Spectrum’s “Confidential Gender Support Plan.” These gender support plans are a roadmap for how schools can socially transition students to a different gender identity without parental knowledge or consent.
Parents need to be prepared to challenge these harmful policies. Fortunately, they now have a toolkit of their own—one designed to inform, equip, and call them to action to defend their rights and protect their children.
The Parents’ Toolkit on Critical Theory in Education and Healthcare is a unique and thorough resource for parents. It educates parents about their fundamental rights, helps them understand the dangers of critical theory (on both race and gender), and outlines how they can advocate for laws and policies to increase government accountability, choice, and transparency.
After all, rather than the government, parents should be empowered to make decisions for their children in education and healthcare. In Pierce v. Society of Sisters, the U.S. Supreme Court said that the child is not the “mere creature of the state.” Each child belongs to a family led by parents who know and love their children best. This is why they should be the greatest influence on the minds, bodies, and relationships of their children.
Sharon Supp is senior research analyst for Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal).