Teen De-Transitioner Confronts School Board on Lying to Kids
For far too long, parents have been regulated to the sidelines as their taxpayer-funded school boards capitulate to LGBTQ-activists’ sweeping demands to keep parents in the dark when their kids engage in risky experimentation with their sexual identity at school—or when the school allows biological boys, for instance, to use the female bathroom and locker rooms. But when parents try to make the case for a more balanced approach—one that recognizes the best way to protect kids is to respect parental rights—their perspective is shunned by local media, silenced in the public square and swept aside as irrelevant by their own elected school board mlembers. But that script was flipped this week in at least one Virginia school district where a crowd of 100 parents and local citizens turned out to make sure their school board members heard a different side of the story—loud and clear!
On June 27, the Virginia Beach City Public School Board heard first-hand testimonies about the documented harm that results when parents are rendered powerless to protect their kids, as well as the lifelong consequences children suffer when pushed down a "transitioning" path by adult, activist agendas. “I am the canary in the coal mine,” warned Chloe Cole, a courageous 18-year-old woman, who shared how, at age 12, she was rushed down a path of puberty blockers and testosterone, culminating in a double mastectomy when she was only 15-years-old. “It is impossible for me to recover what I have lost. That’s why I am speaking up—to prevent more kids from being harmed and led astray. It is not loving to lie to children.” Chloe shared her powerful comments at the "Protect Every Kid" press conference hosted by the Family Foundation and its local parental rights group, Speak Up Tidewater, in front of the building where school board members were meeting. Watch clips from the press conference below:
Speaking alongside Chloe was Michele Blair, whose daughter, Sage, was victimized by sex traffickers after a series of tragic events, including school officials hiding Sage's decision to identify as a different gender from her parents. “It breaks my heart to realize that what happened to my daughter could have easily been avoided if her school had simply been honest with me,” she said. “They taught my daughter to break the one rule I taught her: Do not lie.” She was joined by two Virginia Beach moms—Becky Hay and Lindsey Bohon—as well as Victoria Manning, Virginia Beach school board member at-large. Immediately, after the press conference, Michele, Chloe and the parents shared their perspective during the public comment period at the school board meeting. Chloe didn’t mince words, telling the school board, “You’ve allowed a political theory to come between you and the children you were entrusted with protecting. My life has been destroyed by people like you who lie to children by telling them that they can change gender because it is separate from their biological sex.” Watch Chloe's and Michele's testimony to the school board below:
Todd Gathje, Vice President of Government Relations for The Family Foundation, also reminded school board members that Virginia's state constitution and education codes protect parents' fundamental rights to direct the upbringing and education of their children. Becky Hay, a mother of four, drove home that point, challenging the school board, “Transparency is critical in the protection of all students. Shutting parents out of the discussion amounts to the school usurping the role and responsibility of parents—and that puts all students in danger.” Watch Todd's and Becky's testimonies below.
Virginia Beach parents ended the evening by urging their school board members to clean up harmful school policies that, instead of working with parents, actually hide information from them or even try to supplant them. An important step toward restoring this balance would be to align district policies with the revised policies that put parents back in the drivers seat that are expected to soon be released by Gov. Youngkin's education department. "I am calling on Gov. Youngkin to please have his administration release the updated model policies this week so the current policies in place that put children in danger can be changed. We must protect vulnerable children from being harmed like Chloe and Sage," said Victoria Manning, the at-large school board member. These heartbreaking stories are too often canceled out of the public-square discussion. That's why the Family Foundation will never stop working to amplify the voices of families who've experienced the unspeakable devastation caused by policies that cut parents out of the process.
