Mom suing school district for withholding curriculum speaks out
Carol Beth Litkouhi told Fox News Digital she thinks teachers and schools should work together with parents to educate children.
Florida's Broward County Public Schools district's support guide on LGBTQ+ youth appeared to suggest that parents can be kept at least somewhat in the dark on their child's transition, according to a Wednesday report from Parents Defending Education, which also accuses the district of promoting transgenderism to students.
A manual called the "Broward County Public Schools LGBTQ Critical Support Guide" stated in its policy for schoolchildren in 6th-12th grades that before notifying "any parent or guardian regarding the transition process, school staff should work closely with the student to assess the degree to which, if any, the parent(s) or guardian will be involved in the process and must carefully consider the health, well-being and safety of the transitioning student." The guide was created in 2020 under a different superintendent who resigned for unrelated reasons.
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As recently as March, the current superintendent, Vickie Cartwright, told a local news station that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' Parental Rights in Education law, which critics dubbed the "Don't Say Gay Bill," would force transgender kids to be outed by teachers and administrators without a "very deliberate process and really taking into consideration whole pictures — case by case."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis addresses a joint session of a legislative session, Jan. 11, 2022, in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
The guide also suggested that students might "wish" to consider transitioning in between grades or over the summer "to maintain privacy and confidentiality."
Fox News Digital reached out to the superintendent and Broward County Schools for comment but did not receive a response.
"We know that there is a social system that constructs gender according to discrete and opposite categories – male and female. Yet, this gender binary is being challenged," the guide said. "The expression of transgender identity, or any other form of gender-expansive behavior, is a healthy, appropriate and typical aspect of human development."
Parents Defending Education's director of outreach, Erika Sanzi, released a statement which said, "Broward County school officials must not be aware that gender dysphoria is listed in the DSM-5 since they have declared in an official and public document that the expression of transgender identity is healthy, appropriate and typical. Add to that their recommendation that children transition over the summer and their promise to deceive parents, and their position is indefensible and flies in the face of the promise to do no harm."
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The guide further claimed that around 2 and 4 years old "transgender children often express their cross-gender identification to their family members or caregivers."
"However, not all youth who identify as transgender begin the process at an early age; for some, gender identity is a slower, more nuanced process for a variety of personal, social, developmental and societal reasons. Creating a more welcoming environment for students’ gender diversity is a more effective and lasting strategy."