Michigan Board of Education's Gender "Guidance" Policy

Michigan State Board of Education Promotes Gender Choice

March 31, 2016

The Michigan State Board of Education is continuing on with their plan to draft a "guidance" policy regarding LGBTQ students. Despite the thousands of people who offered feedback against it, they are only considering written comments in their final version of the LGBTQ Guidelines for public schools. The website that allows you to express feedback (EveryVoiceCountsMI) is NOT going to be considered in their final decision. PLEASE WRITE THEM and express your concern. Also, be sure to say that a "modified" version is not acceptable. The whole idea needs to be scrapped. The American College of Pediatrics has issued a statement that gender choice for kids is harmful. Comments accepted until May 11.

Following is my letter to the State Board of Education. 

Kim Kovalchick, Supervisor
Michigan Department of Education
Coordinated School Health and Safety Programs unit
P.O. Box 30008
Lansing, MI 48909

To: The Michigan State Department of Education

Following is my written comment on the draft Statement and Guidance on Safe and Supportive Learning Environments for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) Students.

I am opposed to this Guidance and I am opposed to a modified version of this Guidance. It must be completely thrown out.

Mr. Austin says he wants to "meet the needs" of LGBTQ students, and now he says he is willing to "modify" the plan due to the outrage that has been expressed by many parents. I am not in favor of a modified plan that allows for any LGBTQ expression in the schools. A “modified” plan does not "meet the needs" of these students according to recent findings from the medical community.

If you really are concerned about meeting the needs of “LGBTQ” students, then you must oppose all forms of gender choice in K-12 schools. A child needs to have time and opportunity to mature in their birth gender before considering something so extreme as switching gender. Any plan which allows public school students to express themselves or “try on” a gender at school other than their birth gender must be opposed and scrapped completely, not “modified”. Medical professionals now confirm that for a child to assume a gender other than his/her birth gender is detrimental to their gender development, even going so far as to call it child abuse for adults to endorse gender discordance or condition children into thinking gender modification is normal.

Attached is the statement from the American College of Pediatricians regarding Gender Ideology. To quote from this article, “When an otherwise healthy biological boy believes he is a girl, or an otherwise healthy biological girl believes she is a boy, an objective psychological problem exists that lies in the mind not the body, and it should be treated as such. These children suffer from gender dysphoria...” And “(Gender) awareness develops over time and, like all developmental processes, may be derailed by a child’s subjective perceptions, relationships, and adverse experiences from infancy forward…”

Not only does this plan, in any form, cause undue stress on most of the kids in public schools, it also does harm, not good, for those who would consider themselves LGBTQ—even with parent’s permission or separate bathroom stalls.

This plan must be completely scrapped!

This is the statement from the American College of Pediatricians.

Gender Ideology Harms Children

March 21, 2016 – a temporary statement with references. A full statement will be published in summer 2016.

The American College of Pediatricians urges educators and legislators to reject all policies that condition children to accept as normal a life of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex. Facts – not ideology – determine reality.

1. Human sexuality is an objective biological binary trait: “XY” and “XX” are genetic markers of health – not genetic markers of a disorder. The norm for human design is to be conceived either male or female. Human sexuality is binary by design with the obvious purpose being the reproduction and flourishing of our species. This principle is self-evident. The exceedingly rare disorders of sex development (DSDs), including but not limited to testicular feminization and congenital adrenal hyperplasia, are all medically identifiable deviations from the sexual binary norm, and are rightly recognized as disorders of human design. Individuals with DSDs do not constitute a third sex.¹

2. No one is born with a gender. Everyone is born with a biological sex. Gender (an awareness and sense of oneself as male or female) is a sociological and psychological concept; not an objective biological one. No one is born with an awareness of themselves as male or female; this awareness develops over time and, like all developmental processes, may be derailed by a child’s subjective perceptions, relationships, and adverse experiences from infancy forward. People who identify as “feeling like the opposite sex” or “somewhere in between” do not comprise a third sex. They remain biological men or biological women.^2,3,4

3. A person’s belief that he or she is something they are not is, at best, a sign of confused thinking. When an otherwise healthy biological boy believes he is a girl, or an otherwise healthy biological girl believes she is a boy, an objective psychological problem exists that lies in the mind not the body, and it should be treated as such. These children suffer from gender dysphoria. Gender dysphoria (GD), formerly listed as Gender Identity Disorder (GID), is a recognized mental disorder in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association (DSM-V).⁵ The psychodynamic and social learning theories of GD/GID have never been disproved.^2,4,5

4. Puberty is not a disease and puberty-blocking hormones can be dangerous. Reversible or not, puberty- blocking hormones induce a state of disease – the absence of puberty – and inhibit growth and fertility in a previously biologically healthy child.⁶

5. According to the DSM-V, as many as 98% of gender confused boys and 88% of gender confused girls eventually accept their biological sex after naturally passing through puberty.⁵

6. Children who use puberty blockers to impersonate the opposite sex will require cross-sex hormones in late adolescence. Cross-sex hormones (testosterone and estrogen) are associated with dangerous health risks including but not limited to high blood pressure, blood clots, stroke and cancer.^7,8,9,10

7. Rates of suicide are twenty times greater among adults who use cross-sex hormones and undergo sex reassignment surgery, even in Sweden which is among the most LGBQT – affirming countries.¹¹ What compassionate and reasonable person would condemn young children to this fate knowing that after puberty as many as 88% of girls and 98% of boys will eventually accept reality and achieve a state of mental and physical health?

8. Conditioning children into believing a lifetime of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex is normal and healthful is child abuse. Endorsing gender discordance as normal via public education and legal policies will confuse children and parents, leading more children to present to “gender clinics” where they will be given puberty-blocking drugs. This, in turn, virtually ensures that they will “choose” a lifetime of carcinogenic and otherwise toxic cross-sex hormones, and likely consider unnecessary surgical mutilation of their healthy body parts as young adults.

Michelle A. Cretella, M.D.
President of the American College of Pediatricians

Quentin Van Meter, M.D.
Vice President of the American College of Pediatricians
Pediatric Endocrinologist

Paul McHugh, M.D.
University Distinguished Service Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medical School and the former psychiatrist in chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital

References:

1. Consortium on the Management of Disorders of Sex Development, “Clinical Guidelines for the Management of Disorders of Sex Development in Childhood.” Intersex Society of North America, March 25, 2006. Accessed 3/20/16 from http://www.dsdguidelines.org/files/clinical.pdf.

2. Zucker, Kenneth J. and Bradley Susan J. “Gender Identity and Psychosexual Disorders.”FOCUS: The Journal of Lifelong Learning in Psychiatry. Vol. III, No. 4, Fall 2005 (598-617).

3. Whitehead, Neil W. “Is Transsexuality biologically determined?” Triple Helix (UK), Autumn 2000, p6-8. accessed 3/20/16 from http://www.mygenes.co.nz/transsexuality.htm; see also Whitehead, Neil W. “Twin Studies of Transsexuals [Reveals Discordance]” accessed 3/20/16 from http://www.mygenes.co.nz/transs_stats.htm.

4. Jeffreys, Sheila. Gender Hurts: A Feminist Analysis of the Politics of Transgenderism. Routledge, New York, 2014 (pp.1-35).

5. American Psychiatric Association: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Arlington, VA, American Psychiatric Association, 2013 (451-459). See page 455 re: rates of persistence of gender dysphoria.

6. Hembree, WC, et al. Endocrine treatment of transsexual persons: an Endocrine Society clinical practice guideline. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2009;94:3132-3154.

7. Olson-Kennedy, J and Forcier, M. “Overview of the management of gender nonconformity in children and adolescents.” UpToDate November 4, 2015. Accessed 3.20.16 from www.uptodate.com.

8. Moore, E., Wisniewski, & Dobs, A. “Endocrine treatment of transsexual people: A review of treatment regimens, outcomes, and adverse effects.” The Journal of Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2003; 88(9), pp3467-3473.

9. FDA Drug Safety Communication issued for Testosterone products accessed 3.20.16: http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm161874.htm.

10. World Health Organization Classification of Estrogen as a Class I Carcinogen: http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/ageing/cocs_hrt_statement.pdf.

11. Dhejne, C, et.al. “Long-Term Follow-Up of Transsexual Persons Undergoing Sex Reassignment Surgery: Cohort Study in Sweden.” PLoS ONE, 2011; 6(2). Affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Division of Psychiatry, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. Accessed 3.20.16 from http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0016885.

Michigan State Board of Education Promotes Gender Choice
March 2016

Please pray and take action regarding the Michigan Board of Education's new "Guidance" policy which would allow children in public schools to choose their gender without parent knowledge or consent. This is wrong and we need to speak against it, however, I suspect their plan is to take this extreme approach and then settle for a "compromise" which would still allow the acceptance of the idea of gender choice in schools. We need to insist they throw the whole idea out, taking the approach that our children should fully develop in their birth gender during school years and be protected from the idea of choice.

I would suggest:

1. Contacting the Board of Education. They are only taking public comments until April 11. You can voice your opinion at everyvoicecountsmi.org Link here

2. Contact your state representatives and encourage them to draft a bill that will protect our children from the idea of gender choice in the schools. A good article to cite is from the American College of Pediatrics, "Gender Ideology Harms Children." Link here

3. Contact your local school superintendent and find out if your local school board is for this or not. In Waterford, he wouldn't answer my question so I assume he is in favor of it.

4. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper voicing your opinion and informing others. Here is my letter to the editor. I had to revise it several times to get it under 250 words! Feel free to adapt it to your region.

"Our elected president of the Michigan Department of Education, John Austin, and State Superintendent Brian Whiston have embarked on a scheme to implement a policy which encourages the practice of gender choice in public schools. This policy drops the frog in the water. It is extreme because, in its current form, it hides a child’s gender choice behavior at school from the parent, even allowing them to use bathrooms designed for the opposite sex. However, I’m sure the plan is to come up with a “compromise” as parents express their outrage against this. A compromise is not what we need. We need a policy that will protect our children from the whole concept of gender choice. A school-age child has not yet reached gender maturity in their own birth gender. We need to encourage them to fully discover the joys of their birth gender while in these sensitive formative years. What Mr. Austin is proposing is a breeding ground for gender confusion. It plants the idea of choosing a sex into the minds of young children who would not otherwise consider this idea. This is not a sympathetic solution for those who are “questioning,” it is overstepping the bounds of the school’s purpose. Are school officials now deciding this issue for us? Waterford Superintendent Keith Wunderlich would not answer my question of whether or not he would adopt this policy in Waterford schools. He would only say it was not his highest concern. I can only assume he would."

The idea of gender choice, as bad as that is, is just the tip of the iceberg of an extreme lawlessness and deception. It is a disregard for the boundaries of right and wrong in its most basic form. To deny reality and say I can choose to misrepresent myself in such a way as gender, is deception at its best. However, we know that this is what happens in the last days before Jesus returns. He said lawlessness would increase. He said there would be a strong delusion for those who do not love the truth. (Matthew 24:12, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12). It's important that we speak out and take action, however we must also be sure to prayer and engage in spiritual warfare to free the minds of those who are lost and bound.

Links

"The Guidance"
The Daily Caller Article Link
Oxford Journals: Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Article
The Shrinking Power of Parents Article