By Julie Barrett, Founder, Conservative Ladies of Washington
This year, the Washington state democrat-controlled legislature passed several bills that further erode parental rights in the state. The most heinous of them is SB 5599 which allows a minor child (of no minimum age) to stay in a youth shelter or host home if they claim to be seeking “protected healthcare services” which include abortion and so-called “gender affirming services”, without parental notification. The shelter or host home would be required to notify DCYF and DCYF to notify law enforcement, but the parents will not be notified. Your minor child could “disappear” and you will have no idea where they are, who they are with, or if they are safe.
Parents with children in Washington public schools have reason to be very concerned about the gender inclusive school policy passed in 2019 that requires state schools to keep gender identity information secret from parents and how it could be used in collaboration with SB 5599 to get the students “gender affirming care” without parental knowledge.
In the “gender inclusive schools” guidelines, it specifically advises teachers not to involve parents if the “transitioning” student feels that their parents will not be accepting. Parents, according to these guidelines, will not even be given an opportunity to be part of the discussion if their child deems them unapproving. The child’s preferred name and pronoun will be known amongst the school staff and students but concealed from the parents. Not only is this a violation of parental rights, but this is also a trusted source of parents teaching their child that it is “safer” for them to keep secrets from their parents…that the parents are a source of danger.
The language of gender inclusive schools guidelines dictated by SB 5689, passed in 2019, is very similar to the language of SB 5599 that allows the state to not notify parents if the child thinks their parents may not be “affirming” of their choice to receive gender changing services.
How are these connected?
Washington OSPI’s “Healthy Schools Washington” is founded on the 10 components of the CDC’s Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child model
The 10 components are:
- Physical education and physical activity.
- Nutrition environment and services.
- Health education.
- Social and emotional climate.
- Physical environment.
- Health services.
- Counseling, psychological and social services.
- Employee wellness.
- Community involvement.
- Family engagement.
Essentially, the state wants the government school to take care of every need your child could possibly have, circumventing the parents and nuclear family. When you connect the legislation to the CDC model, adopted by WA OSPI, it becomes very concerning as the agenda is clear to see. Many of the schools in Washington state have healthcare centers in them as well that can take care of a variety of needs for students.
Let’s connect the dots. How are gender-inclusive schools connected to children who want to receive “gender affirming healthcare” connected and why is it a concern?
With the gender-inclusive school policies, state schools are teaching children gender ideology from the day they enter kindergarten. It’s not optional, it’s state law.
Kasha Roseta, an OSPI representative who conducted a webinar to train school personnel on gender-inclusive policies stated: “there isn’t a way to tell a student’s gender just by looking at them. Even if there aren’t many transgender students in your district now, odds are in the future there will be”, advising that we will see a rise in the transgender student population.
Could it be that this is because the schools are teaching this to young, impressionable, and easily manipulated children? In the webinar Roseta discussed the need to adopt “gender literacy” to have a uniform way to discuss gender in school. She declared that they would use patterns, not rules, to teach this as young children understand patterns easily.
The gender-inclusive policies require schools to teach children that transgender is an umbrella term to include anyone whose gender identity does not align with their gender assigned at birth. Students are allowed to use any bathrooms, locker rooms, or participate on whatever sports teams they desire based on their “gender identity.”
While gender-inclusive policies are said to prevent bullying and discrimination, it’s clear to see that this is an agenda to indoctrinate young children, to blur the lines and obliterate healthy boundaries, not a means to be inclusive and accepting of all students.
Students are being taught that it’s okay to hide things from their parents. They’re being taught lies about their identity. Gender is not a spectrum; there are boys and girls, men, and women. In her training for school staff, Roseta stated: “We need students to know that if they want to transition, that the school is willing to support them in that.” They aren’t hiding that they will help your student transition if that’s what they decide they want to do.
State schools are the primary vehicle for minor children to be hidden from their parents (legalized by SB 5599) so they can receive “gender affirming healthcare” for whatever gender they may have decided to be based on the indoctrination from the adults in their school who are supposed to be educating them.
No single bill ever stands alone. I like to describe legislation as a “web”: every bill is somehow connected to another bill or set of bills. Each session usually builds upon the work (or damage, rather) done in previous sessions. When we see an egregious bill like SB 5599, the first question we should ask is: “What existing laws is this bill connected or related to?” While we have been blindly trusting our government, they’ve been patiently and deliberately taking steps to make children property of the state, annihilating your parental rights.
It is time to start learning about the laws and how you can protect your children and your family from these anti-parent governments like Washington state. You take back your parental rights by not giving the state access to your children. It is not the easy way, it is the only way.
