I’ve listened to (and been a part of) many conversations over the last ten months about DCS’s dive into critical race and gender theory. Whether we are discussing flags or diversity officers, books or bathrooms, clubs or pronouns, there is always one common response from those on the progressive left:
“Why can’t you just be kind?”
I won’t waste time complaining about the seemingly unending casualties of our current Orwellian adventure. But I think it’s still important to define our terms. Because words matter. And, apparently, a word which once meant showing a friendly, generous, or sympathetic nature now means uncritically accepting the purported dogma of any marginalized group.
Fine. But is this new sort of kindness still free?
Case Study #1: The pronoun rollout.
The Background.
In the fall of 2021, Dublin City School teachers were given district trainings on how to support LGBTQ+ students.
Part of the training encouraged teachers to put preferred pronouns in their email signatures, on name tags, and on door placards.
And, because a) our teachers wish to treat every student with empathy and respect, b) no one wants to be blamed for child suicide, and c) most people today are afraid of misspeaking and being deemed bigots, there was apparently no examination of the possible unintended ramifications of this advice.
But, no worries. “Kindness is free.” Right?
The Examination.
As you may know, I am no longer worried about misspeaking and being deemed a bigot. (I’ve been called a long list of things at this point and, after a while, it loses it’s punch.) So I will publicly ask the question that others have been privately asking for the last many months:
What if there is a cost to encouraging public school employees to put their preferred pronouns in their work email signatures?
1. Does it create more work for overburdened teachers?
Due to Ohio’s embrace of the “Whole Child” educational model, DCS teachers have to not only educate children, but socialize them, identify their social and emotional needs, and address their behavioral problems.
And now teachers are expected to protect and advocate for a student’s internal feelings of gender confusion (while being sure not to accidentally “out” a student to their parents).
Is it fair yet to ask whether we are leaving teachers enough room for the “academics” part of their job?
2. Does it shift the focus from educating to indoctrinating?
When a DCS employee places their preferred pronouns in their school email signature, they are doing more than signaling acceptance of a child’s identity. They are signaling allegiance to a highly controversial progressive queer and gender ideology.
Don’t see it? Try this: Replace the preferred pronouns in your kid’s teacher’s email signature with John 3:16. Would a reasonable person believe that the teacher only intended to make a Christian child feel safe? Or would they think the teacher was expressing her own Christian beliefs?
3. Does it create an assumption that those who decline to state their own “preferred pronouns” are not “safe?”
The idea behind the “pronoun rollout” was to signify a person as “safe” for a student suffering from a confused gender identity.
Does that mean the baseline expectation for a DCS employee is transphobic?
4. Is it normalizing a potentially dangerous ideology?
The number of children identifying as gender confused has exploded in the last ten years. Why? Because trans stuff is exciting - especially for kids struggling to fit in. The purple hair, the hundreds of gender identities (with flags!), the adorable avatars, the new vocabulary, the cool neo-pronouns, the group of instant friends…
I was 15 once. I didn’t have the curves, soft features or bouncy hair society demanded. So I dressed like a male grunge band member and dated a guy that sometimes wore eyeliner. It freaked out the popular kids, it pissed off my parents, and it was A LOT of fun. But it was harmless fun. This new trend has the potential to be something else.
Progressive queer and gender ideology conflates gender with biology and then pretends biology is irrelevant. It tells kids who do not fit traditional gender roles that they are in the wrong body. It teaches that the appropriate response to gender dysphoria is to transition - via life altering drugs and surgeries - and to do so as soon as possible in order to "pass." And it claims that anyone who questions a child’s decisions in this regard is a hateful bigot, including their own parents.
This is not light stuff.
(Now, I do not want to be accused of “manufacturing hysteria” or “having a moral panic” so I won’t go into the other issues with this dogma like how it ignores underlying mental health issues (e.g., high rates of suicide tend to persist even after successful transition), overlooks the fact that most children outgrow gender dysphoria naturally (somewhere between 64% and 94% depending on the study), raises concerns about the erasure of lesbians and gay men (as children who outgrow gender dysphoria usually end up identifying as homosexual), invades the privacy rights of boys and girls (in their bathrooms, locker rooms, sleeping quarters, etc.), delegitimizes and destroys women’s sports, can easily encroach on constitutional religious freedoms and the right to be free from compelled speech, and opens a wide door for sexual predators.)
In the past, when a sketchy trend came along - bulimia, cutting, tide pods - adults stepped in to place appropriate boundaries and keep kids safe. But here it looks as if adults are expected to uncritically lead the charge?
The Conclusions.
Regardless of what the bumper stickers, lawn signs and t-shirts say, this new progressive kindness is not free. To believe otherwise is just magical thinking. No matter how much glitter you throw on it.
Because snap emotional judgments based on ignorance are easier to manipulate than informed opinions, advocates often give only part of the story. For example, they might highlight the suicide statistics in a certain group of children and then give only one acceptable avenue of “help” without examining or even mentioning any potential downsides of their advice.** Accordingly, no one - especially a public school system - should blindly rely on an advocate for things like truth or integrity or even a simple cost/benefit analysis.
Discuss.
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*At least one DCS elementary school teacher went a step further and required her 4th grade students to tell the class their preferred pronouns at the beginning of the 2021 school year. (Her name is Jenna May. Please email the Abraham Depp principal, Troy Ehrsam, at ehrsam_troy@dublinschools.net, for more information.)
** Because I know there are many people out there ready to misinterpret everything I just wrote, I want to be clear that I believe gender dysphoria is a real thing. Also, I believe that children suffering from gender dysphoria should be supported by our schools in appropriate ways and that they should always be treated with respect and empathy by adults and children alike. However, I do NOT believe that a public school district must adopt and advocate for progressive queer and gender theory in order to achieve those two goals.
Hello, I would love to connect with you. Are you aware of House Bill 454, The SAFE ACT, now is the time to write to legislators. Opposition testimony is tomorrow. Please write to: rep88@ohiohouse.gov and rep84@ohiohouse.gov and Speaker Cupp. Robert Cupp - https://ohiohouse.gov/members/robert-r-cupp/contact (614) 466-9624
We need to support these Republicans and educate them on what is really happening. Here is the testimony for the bill. https://ohiochannel.org/collections/ohio-house-families-aging-and-human-services-committee
Here is the bill: https://ohiohouse.gov/legislation/134/hb454
I testified as Maria Polaris on May 19th. We need as many people to write in favor of the bill as we can get.
Here is my contact information and website: www.cardinalsupportnetwork.com (informational) and rogdohio@gmail.com is my email. Thank you for writing and I will write to this school.
“I was 15 once. I didn’t have the curves, soft features or bouncy hair society demanded. So I dressed like a male grunge band member and dated a guy that sometimes wore eyeliner. It freaked out the popular kids, it pissed off my parents, and it was A LOT of fun. But it was harmless fun. This new trend has the potential to be something else.”
💥Perfect 👌👍