To the editor:

I respectfully respond to a September 28th letter, “Loose talk needs to stop,” stating that I did not read the protocol which I wrote about in my September 7th letter, Parental Rights Violation in the Barrington School District. This letter details guidance recommendations in the protocol which could circumvent parental rights. The school district has not proactively and transparently informed parents about their implementation of the RI Department of Education plan and protocol and most parents have no idea that their child could be affected. These statements are located under the “Secondary School Students” heading, which includes Middle School and High School aged students.  

First, “Generally, notification to a student’s parent(s)/guardian(s) about their gender identity, expression, or transition is unnecessary as they are already supportive”, presumes that the parent is aware and supports their child expressing a different identity at school. It likewise presupposes that the school is authorized to put the student on a “Gender Transition Plan”. Parents are finding out after the fact that their child “transitioned” on one of these plans without their consent. This happens unexpectedly when the parent tries to communicate with the school about their child or access student records and discovers the student’s name and records have been changed to reflect an unfamiliar name. 

Second, “When a student has expressed an intent to transition, in order to ensure that the school is a supportive and safe environment, the school department shall develop a “Gender Transition Plan”. It is unethical for the school to initiate an invasive plan, especially without parental consent, for a student who is not mature enough to comprehend the lifelong ramifications of such actions. These plans are a pathway to potentially harmful, irreversible medical treatments and surgeries. A March 2019 article in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism cites an abstract which concludes children with gender dysphoria will outgrow this condition by adulthood in up to 98 percent of the cases. 

Third, “Some transgender students do not want their parents to know about their transgender status. These situations must be addressed on a case-by-case basis and requires schools to balance the goal of supporting the student with the desire that parents be kept informed about their children.” The intent here is to protect the child who would be at risk of harm, which would be the exception, however this guidance potentially circumvents all parental rights. Parents must be informed if their child is desiring to express as a different identity at school so that the parent can advocate on their child’s behalf with the school staff, social worker or psychologist. A November 2017 Forbes magazine article reviewed an abstract which concludes growing evidence for a link between gender dysphoria and autism spectrum disorders.

Finally, the protocol is biased, adopting the language and guidance of organizations whose mission is to promote an ideology. Alternatively, the school district would better serve families by providing a balance of resources to equip them to educate themselves and explore the root cause of their child’s rapid onset dysphoria. Some factual resources which could be included in the district protocol include the Gender Resource Guide, published in 2019 by the Minnesota Family Council, www.GenderResourceGuide.com and a book on this growing trend, Irreversible Damage, by Abigail Shrier. 

Jean Ernster

Barrington