I am concerned but hopeful that the William S. Hart Union High School District board will act responsibly and not institute a parental notification policy regarding students’ disclosure about their gender identification.
Just as a woman’s right to self determination and autonomy has now been ripped away by the Supreme Court, so is a young person’s right to privacy and self-governing threatened by this proposal.
Adolescence is often a time of exploration and discovery. Who a young person decides to share his/her discoveries with is his/her business. It is not the place of school personnel to betray a confidence unless it is determined that they might be a “danger to self or others.” That is the only time confidences disclosed should be violated. It should be the school personnel’s role to explore the young person’s disclosure with them and encourage them to share this information with their parents.
I understand that the push for parental notification is spearheaded by Moms for Liberty, which a Google search reveals is an ultra-right-wing organization that attacks schools and libraries all over the country regarding gay and minority issues. They are funded by billionaires and have links to the Heritage Foundation, which just issued Project 2025, a frightening roadmap drawn up to lead the Republican presidential candidate in 2024, most likely Donald Trump, to institute an authoritarian dismantling of our democratic society. Heritage Foundation is an associate member of the State Policy Network, a network of conservative and libertarian organizations. These attacks on women, minorities, etc., are not something that organically arise. They are planned and executed by well-organized right-wing organizations that have as their ultimate goal to make this country into an authoritarian white-man-ruled country. First they came for the women, then they came for the gays …
I hope the board will not be manipulated into falling for this ploy.
Carole Lutness
Valencia
