The following post came to me by someone with the handle of “George Glass”. For those who know their Brady Bunch history, it should be easy to see why they chose that name, especially in light of the current controversy over Regulation 225!
Delaware pretty much exploded last month about the Department of Education’s Regulation 225, which folks focused on as the “transgender protection” regulation to the exclusion of the (arguably more interesting) racial self-identification, also included in the regulation. I say it’s more interesting, although I know that when I say WHY folks are gonna lose their collective shit because once again I’m calling it out.
Why did everyone flip about parental rights and only discuss the transgender aspect of it?
It’s cute how you thought I was asking a serious question.
It’s because Delaware, and especially southern Delaware, is bright, streaming, American-flag-on-my-everything RED, although to be fair there’s plenty above the ditch who are and lots in SLD who aren’t. Yeah, SLD. That’s what you actually call slower lower, not the LSD you see on bumper stickers. In case you were wondering.
Now, I’m not saying everyone who votes GOP is homophobic, or transphobic. I AM saying that a whole lot of people who came out in full force opposition to Reg 225 are. Most specifically, the ones who bitched about it as a parental rights issue but never once mentioned the racial self-identification. Did you even know it was in there? That IS a serious question
My goal here isn’t to change your mind. I don’t actually want you to change your mind. You can think however you want about whatever you want. Tolerance implies no lack of conviction to one’s beliefs, to misquote JFK. What I DO want you to do is admit what your actual problem with Reg 225 is. That’s all. A little honesty goes a long way. You don’t agree with “transgenders” (which isn’t a thing, btw, so….) and you don’t want kids with penises in the girl’s room and you are absolutely convinced schools are going to indoctrinate everyone and keep it all secret. Okay. Because that scenario doesn’t totally open schools up to significant liability, and individual staff to loss of career. It doesn’t even make logical SENSE that schools would seek to keep a trans kid’s identity secret at their own risk.
What you do need to understand, though, in addition to the fact that we definitely know you are using parental rights as an excuse to discriminate against kids who are already facing significant risk of self-harm, suicide, homelessness, rejection by friends and family, physical and mental and emotional abuse and assault, and an almost-unbearable sense of not even fitting in their own skin, is that we aren’t going to let you ruin the lives of innumerable CHILDREN because of your unchecked bigotry.
Do what you want, and say what you will, the fact will remain that school staff are legally obligated to NOT tell you things like that, unless there is risk of harm to the student or to others. Kids have rights, too, y’all, and if you are living with a child who identifies as transgender and you don’t already know, you might want to seriously consider having your vision, hearing, and mental acuity checked, because this isn’t a condition that happens overnight, and there are signs. If a teacher who sees your kid an hour a day a few days a week can tell, why can’t you?
Maybe it isn’t the schools that are the problem here.
The Season Of Myths 