Being an “old school” liberal, I had thought that the new ideology and its theories being taught in the schools — like Gender Identity — were just about respecting each other. Like most of our community, I tried to be inclusive by listening, learning, only asking a few questions using the new language, and keeping my opinions to myself.
I didn’t realize how much these new ideologies were affecting children and youth until 2017, when my daughter was in third grade.
She came home one day and asked if she was a boy.
Shocked and confused, I asked why she would think that. She told me that some of her peers thought she was a trans boy because she preferred to play with the boys and had a short haircut at the time. I found out that she wanted to play with the boys because the girls wanted to label themselves and others and talk about crushes. She just wanted to be a kid and play.
That became the first of many discussions explaining the difference between biological sex and stereotypes. Later, these conversations involved pressure she received from peers, and most recently adults, to self-label. She was even encouraged to become a trans boy to fit into her friend group better, which includes trans youth. By then, she knew herself better, but still wondered why they thought she was a boy.
From these discussions, I found out that many kids think that if you fit a gender stereotype then you are that gender, and that you can actually grow new genitals of that gender. Do kids who think this become teens who think they’re trans? I had more questions than answers.
This is when I started to pay full attention to what was going on in our community. I noticed children with no previous signs of gender dysphoria, but with a history of autism/neurodiversity, and/or trauma, become trans teens — some medically transitioning. They were all friends and some had multiple family members who were trans.
The adults they were close to seemed to ignore their comorbid issues and focused on supporting their trans identity instead. Why were they transitioning so fast? What would happen if they changed their minds? — a normal part of youth. None of this made any sense anymore.
I decided to do a deep dive into the origins of all of this and to see what has happened to other youth who transitioned years ago. I didn’t want to be part of something that may be hurting youth by remaining silent.
Detransitioners Raise Their Voices
Through researching all sides of this issue, I discovered the detransitioners: the growing number of former trans people who did change their minds, telling stories of regret and sometimes horror over their efforts to identify as the opposite sex. There are more than 53,000 detransitioners on Reddit alone, with more “coming out” every day.
In articles like To the ‘Gender-Affirming’ People Who Lied To Me, many detransitioners point to the false promises from people involved in this movement.
“You lied and said transitioning would make my pain go away. You lied and said changing myself was the only treatment for my gender dysphoria. You lied and said the solution was changing my body when the problem was in my mind.
You treated my gender dysphoria as the root cause of my pain instead of a symptom of my underlying core issues. You treated me as a boy trapped in a girl’s body instead of a traumatized child dealing with the aftermath of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. You focused on the girl who wanted to be a boy and neglected to see the girl who was starving herself, self-harming, living in flashbacks, and actively suicidal.”
One detransioned woman describes how her undiagnosed autism was misinterpreted as Gender Dysphoria, the “clinical diagnosis received by transgender people.”
Elizabeth Hawker describes “unwittingly dressing up my Autism in the more fashionable clothing of Gender Dysphoria.”
“After six years of identifying as a trans man as a teenager, I desisted (stopped identifying as trans) at the age of 21. Since reclaiming my womanhood, I have been thinking long and hard about what exactly happened in my 15-year-old brain that made me feel I would only be stable and fulfilled if I took testosterone, changed my name and pronouns and socially became a man. The conclusion I have come to is that thinking I was trans was completely inseparable from my autism.”
Miriam Grossman, MD, is a child and adolescent psychiatrist whose practice consists of trans-identified youth and their families. After a decade in this field, in 2023 Dr. Grossman wrote Lost in Trans Nation: A Child Psychiatrist’s Guide Out of the Madness.
From the book jacket:
“She implores parents to reject the advice of gender experts and politicians and trust their guts—their parental instincts—in the face of an onslaught of ideologically driven misinformation that steers them and their children toward risky decisions they may end up mourning for the rest of their lives.
Don’t be blindsided like so many parents I know,” warns Grossman, “be proactive and get educated. Feel prepared and confident to discuss trans, nonbinary, or whatever your child brings to the dinner table.” Whether it’s the “trans is as common as red hair” claim, or the “I’m not your son, I’m your daughter” proclamation, or the “do you prefer a live son or a dead daughter” threat, says Grossman, no family is immune, and every parent must be prepared.”
Why am I so concerned and determined to share this information? My research uncovered the link between all these theories and the policies in place for years now in our schools that encourage labeling and division. This is why I WILL NOT stay silent any longer.
Here are three key policies in Port Townsend schools and how they affect families:
Equity, Race, & Identity (Policy 0100)
This is part of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) training and related to Critical Race Theory (CRT) through the concept of Intersectionality. “Equity” does not mean equality — instead it involves holding back the oppressors and boosting the oppressed.
DEI divides persons into identity groups based on whether they are the oppressed (aka victim) or they are the oppressor. Individuals are not important. The identity groups are divided by race, gender, and sexuality. Economic class is ignored.
Here’s an example of what this looks like in action:
At the PT Schools Equity Forum we were divided into the following groups: people of the global majority (oppressed), white parents of students of the global majority (oppressed allies), and white people (oppressors). We were not allowed to talk to persons from other groups to solve problems.
Social Emotional Climate (Policy 3113/3113P)
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is supposed to create “a positive classroom climate” that “feels safe, respectful, welcoming, and supportive of student learning.” This “Equity-focused” practice assumes a child may have had a history of trauma and focuses on helping a child analyze their feelings. This can be in the form of frequent lessons exploring emotions and values or having students fill out questionnaires that ask questions like if they’re feeling depressed.
When The Benji Project visits a class to “teach proven mindfulness and self-compassion tools to young people,” along with meditation they also practice SEL — sometimes taking up more class time with SEL than academics. This is supposed to “create space for student voice and agency.”
However, when a student doesn’t find these practices helpful or doesn’t want to participate, they may be socially pressured by the adults to participate anyway. This is strange, since “student opinion … is considered a valuable part of the educational environment.”
An excellent resource on this subject is Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up by Abigail Shrier. It talks about what I have seen in schools regarding SEL, how it impacts families, and how it, and related practices, increase anxiety and hurt kids’ mental health and development.
Gender-Inclusive Schools (Policy 3211/3211P)
This policy involves the first step in Gender Affirming Care — social transition. Gender affirmation has been proven to be damaging to young children, unhelpful to teens, and it doesn’t prevent suicide. The latest report on Gender Affirming Care is the 2024 Cass Review, an independent evaluation of gender identity services for children and young people, led by Dr. Hilary Cass, a retired consultant paediatrician and the former president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in the UK.
This thorough analysis found that insufficient evidence was available to assess whether social transition in childhood has positive or negative effects on mental health, and that there was weak evidence for efficacy in adolescence. It questioned the reliability of international guidelines and advised caution in approaching social transition.
In Port Townsend, if a student of any age wishes to change their gender identity publicly, they can do this without their parent/guardians knowledge or permission and the school staff will socially affirm them.
A student can declare that they are the opposite of their biological sex and use the bathroom and locker room of their stated gender. Although “any student — regardless of gender identity — who requests greater privacy should be given access to an alternative restroom,” that is not always available when they need one. I’m not sure how this works in locker rooms.
Children thirteen years and older can see a gender affirming therapist for consultations without parents knowledge or permission. This can be done/started at the Port Townsend High School health clinic and soon will be available at Blue Heron (middle) School’s new health clinic for grades 6-8. Gender Affirming medical treatments (hormones, surgeries) need parental permission. However, kids who run away from home can receive Gender Affirming Care while in foster care if their parents refuse to affirm their new gender and cooperate with their transition (it can be considered emotional abuse per WA law ESSB 5599).
Gender Identity (a part of Gender theory which is a part of Queer theory) is a strong focus in SEL and Equity lessons. Students can be socially pressured by the adults to state their pronouns. Many young children believe that they can actually change their biological sex. I have learned that this is a frequent conversation amongst kids at Salish Coast Elementary. They are getting biological sex mixed up with gender stereotypes.
When kids are the age likely to believe in Santa and are taught starting in pre-kindergarten — through social media, kids TV shows, some adults, and their peers — that they can pick their gender, the confusion we are seeing makes sense. It took me one thoughtful conversation to tell my kids the truth about Santa, but it took many conversations to explain that they can’t change their bodies from boy to girl (and vice versa). The actual facts about this theory are clearly summarized in the article The Ideological Subversion of Biology.
This is especially hard to explain to neurodiverse children, like my own, who already struggle with identity and fitting in. Trans youth are mostly neurodiverse. This is why Seattle Children’s Autism Center has a partnership with their Gender Clinic.
Is encouraging gender transition “education” or indoctrination?
After I learned about the theories behind these policies and their wider impacts, I decided to look closer at how these ideas spread through our Port Townsend community. I discovered that 2017, the year my daughter and I had our first talk, was an impactful year for Gender Affirming Care in Port Townsend. Some of the youth I have mentioned, along with trans activist adults in our community, had put on a “legislative theater” performance called “Queer Youth Survival Quest.” A feature story in YES! Magazine explained that the interactive technique the production used was designed “to make concrete policy changes around a community justice issue.”
I noticed that community leaders, including those from Jefferson Healthcare and the Port Townsend School District, were in attendance.
It was that school year that the Gender-Inclusive Schools Policy was first created. There are now more than 20 books at Salish Coast Elementary, 35 books at Blue Heron School, and 30 books at Port Townsend High School that encourage gender transition.
Jefferson Healthcare started Gender Affirming Care training in 2017 as well (see Jefferson Healthcare’s Trans Mission). Since that year, more and more local youth have “come out” identifying as being part of the trans umbrella community — perhaps dozens. I’m finding out that many more youths that I had known as kids are choosing this identity. How many will medicalize due to this activism?
All of the theories that these policies are based on are part of Social Justice Activism. This movement was started by elite intellectuals who wanted to apply Postmodernist principles to society. They started actively teaching these practices in colleges starting in the 2010s. This is still taught today to all students in college.
This utopian theoretical ideology encourages the deconstruction of all parts of society including the way we communicate (that’s why language is always changing now). It emphasizes group identities, celebrates victimhood, and ignores the fact that people are individuals. This ideology especially despises science and reason. When this is taught to kids, it can lead to confusion regarding facts, loss of self-worth, and other mental health problems.
My journey to this discovery started more than six years ago. Now I’m a mom trying to share the truth about what kids are being taught in our community. So far, besides talking to friends, I’ve been to the Port Townsend Schools Equity Forum, the PTA, and have written a couple of letters to the Port Townsend Leader. I’m heading to the School Board next.
School Policy 2340 states that “materials and activities should be sensitive to America’s pluralistic society and should educate rather than indoctrinate.” Is the intensive pressure in our schools which encourages gender transitioning a form of education? Or are the policies described above — along with the flood of reading materials in school libraries plus the prominent display of the Trans Pride flag in every classroom celebrating this ideology — indoctrinating our kids?
I believe this is indoctrination. Schools should teach facts and how to think — NOT what to think. Families can handle the rest.
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Additional Resources:
Available through the library system –
- When Kids Say They’re Trans: A Guide for Parents – Ayad/Marchiano/O’Malley
- Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters – Abigail Shrier
- As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl – John Colapinto
- Every Body – Julie Cohen (2023 documentary about Intersex persons)
Available online –
- No Way Back: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care – Deplorable Films (2023 documentary)
- Time to Think: The Inside Story of the Collapse of the Tavistock’s Gender Service for Children – Hannah Barnes
- The New Gay-Conversion Therapy: A Psychologist’s Perspective
- What Happened at Multicare? – A whistleblower reveals troubling new details about a Washington hospital’s push for “gender-affirming care” (Seattle Children’s, where local kids are referred, practices the same way).
- Buck Angel: ‘I’m a Trans Elder. Trans Activists Don’t Speak For Me’ – The “man with a female past” speaks his mind about childhood transition.
All Port Townsend school policies can be found here.
I’m a full time mom of two teens who have grown up in Port Townsend. Before I became a mom, I had tried various career paths including customer service, middle management, hospitality, library work, writing tutoring, and social work (I was a “house mom” advocate at a homeless shelter). I earned my BA in Cultural Anthropology (The Evergreen State College ’04) and have participated in activism, fighting for causes including homelessness, child abuse, sexual assault/domestic violence, and the environment. I have even participated in group activism at the Washington State Capitol in Olympia. When I saw what was happening locally to children, I decided to “dust off my activist hat” and get to work.
Thank you for this. I’m glad I’m old and my child is grown but the fear is renewed because they have children and are onboard with this harmful nonsense.
Thanks! I’m just trying to share this information with as many families as I can, so that they can make the right decisions for their own children. Please share with as many as you can.
Your article concerns me because you talk about the harm of keeping silent. Even today, reading the Seattle Times article about the Newcastle mayor (a slanted defamatory piece of opinion called “news”) i am reminded that i have no choice but to keep silent. To speak out against trans policies puts me at risk of losing my job. The LGBTQ and DEI people disallow comments or alternative points of view as part of their ideology. Faced with those weapons, i keep quiet just as i would if the person controlling the conversation had a gun in their lap and used it whenever someone disagreed. I see youth of today, especially here in the west, as lost if they display any vulnerability that LGBTQ and DEI people can leap on to turn normal thoughts into crazed ideological weapons. I don’t know how to fight this. Thanks for your article. I am just explaining why the power of the policies you describe is a lethal weapon against an open, free society. I stay silent.
Try reading Abigail Shrier’s “Irreversible Damage”…..
Thank you — from a man who married a “tom boy” long ago. Together we have shared a wonderful, adventure-filled life and raised two sons who now have families of their own. I shudder to think how that could have been different if we had come of age in today’s world.
Thanks! I’m a tomboy too. It was my superpower growing up. It’s sad to see many obvious tomboys being encouraged to reject their bodies. I know I would have been a target for this insanity, if I had grown up in today’s world.
Thank you, Celeste, for sharing your experiences and analysis.
Yes, it IS indoctrination.
People everywhere should reject ALL of the “trans” terminology and ideology for what it REALLY is: Fifth Generation Psychological Warfare designed to break down and destroy the health and sanity of individuals, families and nations. The scientific facts are that in a sane and healthy society, only a tiny percent of the population has real issues with their gender that persist into adulthood. Somewhere around two percent. As adults, they have the freedom to make their own choices as to how to deal with those issues. They can choose to embrace their alternate psychology and sexuality, or attempt to change it or live with it in any way they choose. That’s how it has always been. They do NOT have the right to impose that on the rest of society and absolutely not children. Yet practically overnight, crazed “elite” professors have suddenly announced from on high that there are 72 genders and that surgery can make boys into girls and girls into boys…and “somehow” it became “The Law”. What?? No debate! No vote! No choice! This has been forced on the world. The growing movement of “De Transitioners” like Chloe Cole expose how these terrible LIES destroy human lives. The horrid truth is that this PsyWar is so sophisticated that the average human being is incapable of standing against the power of this military grade, mass indoctrination attack. But the Truth is breaking free more and more each day.
The origins of the transgender philosophy for children was first developed by known pedophile advocate Peter Tatchell in Australia through the safe schools program.
Thank you for that information. Amazing how these deeply disturbed or outright psychopathic people wormed their way silently into so many key positions of power and influence. Education, government, media, everywhere and now suddenly, all over the world they force their delusions and evil onto the whole world in one coordinated stroke.
Governor Huckabee of Arkansas signed an Executive Order banning biden’s attack on women and reality with his illegal order changing Title 9, which allows men to take over women’s sports and to steal real women’s hard own trophies and scholarships. The people of Arkansas have said they will “NOT COMPLY”.
https://x.com/RickyDoggin/status/1803107241777832013?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1803107241777832013%7Ctwgr%5E9bb64cfe8e3b978c1462857a2298f0aa62cb1e60%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomments.whatfinger.com%2F2024%2F06%2F18%2Farkansas-is-putting-joe-biden-on-notice-and-standing-up-for-what-is-morally-right%2F
I think what we are seeing is the result growing up with computers/internet. This is a generation that could ask a question, and get an answer in seconds. They are used to info at the speed of light. Consequently, I believe they have not ever had to wait for any information of value and have conflated social change and information. They think because they have “discovered” some idea or concept that resonates than it should become a given, a priori, right now and if you disagree you are a …………….. (fill in the blank).
They have no real understanding from experience about how L O N G it takes for society to change.
I am so disappointed in today’s parents. Where is common sense? This agenda is nothing less than child abuse. I feel so bad for the confused children. Parents, teachers, and adults, please come to your senses and protect these vulnerable young people. How did this nonsense appear out of the blue? Something is not right.
What’s wrong with the parents? Excellent question! Much of the answer may be that this war has been going on for at least several generations. So the quality of parenting has been slowly degraded into what it is today, where perhaps half of the average citizens and parents are brainwashed and beaten down into obedience, to the point where they accept evil and insanity as “normal”. It is shocking that hundreds, even thousands of parents can sit quietly at a women’s swimming match and politely clap while their daughters rightful trophy is stolen from them and given to an obvious 6’4″ 180 MAN.
Celeste, thank you for your true bravery in “taking the red pill” and questioning the predominant liberal dogma. Good luck in your efforts.
Thanks!
Of course it is indoctrination. I find it terribly upsetting because it seems so incredibly cruel, and the damage that they are inflicting will cause heartache and confusion for years to come. Some of these kids will kill themselves. Others will have life long regrets. Worse still confusion leads to more confusion. I’m involved, as an adult, with a youth play. Three of the girls are terribly gender confused. They don’t want to be called girls. For them it can be a means of self protection–which is one thing. But pushing and prodding into an ‘alternate’ gender is another thing entirely. It is despicable, contemptible and something which we should fight with every impulse we have. Kids need our protection.
Thank you – I’m sorry you have to see this up close too. It’s hard to know what to do when the parents seem to be fine with it. I’ve gotten the feeling with some of the parents I know that they are concerned too, but believe the myths the “Gender Therapists” tell them, or are afraid that they’ll lose their kids to CPS if they disagree. That’s why I’m trying to get this info out to parents who aren’t yet affected by this, who can stop this from happening in the first place.
All this energy and funding going into this misguided support for gender confusion could be spent on funding art, sports and other activities that can enrich young lives and establish productive enjoyable habits.
What is occurring is very disturbing.
There must be skillful ways to provide support for gender dysphoria without normalizing it to an extreme that draws every child into confusion.
Excellent article! More parents need to be made aware of these issues in our public school system. I’m deeply concerned at the direction of our public schools, will do what I can to help.
Timothy Hawley – Concerned PT resident
Thank you!
It is so sad that kids just can’t be kids these days without being labeled and demeaned. I am so grateful my dtr is grown but have fears for my grandchildren. Mental abuse from educators is just insanity and should not be tolerated by any parent or society. Schools used to be the safe havens for kids, not any more sadly. How can they justify in physical mutilating these kids and then go home and sleep at night. It sure appears the devil is in the house. This is indoctrination pure and simple.
Celeste – Thank you for your thoughtful and well-researched piece. You are not alone. Thought you would find the article below of interest. May science and common sense prevail. We are doing a great disservice to our kids and their families if we do not address underlying issues.
https://christopherrufo.com/p/the-murky-business-of-transgender
Thanks!
Thank you all! I just made my statement at the PT School Board meeting this evening. You can look for it when they post the minutes.
The concept of equity does not involve holding anyone down while favoring other groups — at least, not in education. Equity in education means lifting up everybody, starting from where they are, and devoting resources where necessary to achieve that. The goal of equity in education is equality of opportunity and access. In practice, it means supporting students with higher needs and those with deficits, at the same time as you are challenging everyone to excel, including your highly skilled, high-achieving students. It’s a difficult and expensive job, requiring extra teaching assistants, training in differentiation of curriculum, varying and authenticizing the tools of assessment, and much more. It is commendable that PT schools hold equity as a high value. No one has anything to fear from it, and we should all support these values and practices. Done well, they benefit all students.
Further, if there is indoctrination taking place at the schools, and you have in no way proven that there is indoctrination to bend young people toward certain sexual identities, it is more to promote values of inclusivity, acceptance, diversity, decency and respect. If you don’t share those values, perhaps public schools are not for you. There seem to always be a plethora of private schools that promote much narrower agendas.
I understand that these policies look like what you say on the surface, and the ideas sound good. I have seen students being passed from one grade to the next who don’t have needed basic academic skills, just to keep them on the same level with peers their age. I also know of students who could do much more academically, but aren’t challenged, because they teach lessons at the capability level of the most struggling student. Students can also opt out of doing an assignment if they state it hurts them emotionally, which some students take advantage of to not do any homework. This is all done in the name of equity. How does any of this help any of these youth in the long run? It doesn’t make any sense to me or my daughter. My daughter did decide to homeschool from now on, because she wants to learn more than is offered, including critical thinking and research skills. I just am doing this to inform other parents, so they can make the best decisions for their families.
This is all part of the attempt by the Democrat Party to destroy the fabric of our society.
Thank you for this incredibly thoughtful article, Celeste.
See this news article about King Co. court temporary decision:
Washington state’s new Parents’ Bill of Rights does not survive legal challenge
https://wsbt.com/news/nation-world/washington-states-new-parents-bill-of-rights-does-not-survive-legal-challenge-king-county-classrooms-schools-initiative-2081-public-school-records-academics-legislature-preliminary-injunction