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BROYLES SUMMIT PRESENTATION
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GLSEN Confidentiality POLICY
November 2, 2021
Concealing from Parents Children’s Trans-identification at School
Lawsuit filed in Federal District Court in Florida on behalf of the Littlejohn family against the Leon County School Board for disregarding their parental rights by deliberately concealing from them when their child expressed a desire to change her gender at school.
Last year the Littlejohns told a teacher their 13-year-old daughter was experiencing some gender confusion, that they were getting her counseling, and that they had not consented to her changing her name or pronouns.
Soon after, when they picked her up from school they learned that a number of school staff had met with their daughter and asked her such questions as what bathroom she wanted to use and what sex she wanted to room with on overnight trips.
Mrs. Littlejohn contacted school officials about the meeting and was told that she could not be given any information regarding the meeting and that “by law” their daughter (at age 13) has to be the one to authorize her parents’ attendance. They further claimed that the daughter was “protected under a non-discrimination law that did not include parental notification or input.”
School officials had secretly developed with their daughter a “Transgender/Non-Conforming Student Support Plan” for moving forward against the parent’s wishes. This document indicated that their child was “comfortable” rooming overnight with either boys or girls, meaning their 13-year-old daughter could be sleeping with teenage boys on school field trips. What is more, it said that her parents were not to be notified.
It also stated that school staff were to use a new name and “they/them” when referring to the Littlejohns’ daughter at school, but to use her given name and “she/her” when talking to her parents, intentionally deceiving the parents concerning what was going on at school.
School officials gave the Littlejohns a copy of the district’s “LCS Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Gender Nonconforming and Questioning Support Guide.” The Guide claims that “under federal and state law”: 1) parents are not to be informed when their children announce that they identify as transgender; 2) children who express gender confusion are permitted to choose which restroom they will use and that parents will not be notified of such decisions by their own children; and 3) children have a legally protected right to keep from their parents information regarding their gender identity and steps taken by the district to affirm that identity.
Guide’s Frequently Asked Questions:
"Q: A student has exhibited behavior in school leading administrators or teachers to believe the student is LGBTQ+. Should the parents or legal guardians be notified?
A: No. Outing a student, especially to parents, can be very dangerous to the student’s health and well-being. Some students are not able to be out at home because their parents are unaccepting of LGBTQ+ people. As many as 40% of homeless youth are LGBTQ+, many of whom have been rejected by their families for being LGBTQ+. Outing students to their parents can literally make them homeless."