{"id":1491432,"date":"2022-05-25T10:59:40","date_gmt":"2022-05-25T14:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1491432"},"modified":"2022-05-25T10:59:44","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T14:59:44","slug":"arizona-dept-of-education-promotes-chat-rooms-for-kids-to-talk-about-sex-and-gender","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/arizona-dept-of-education-promotes-chat-rooms-for-kids-to-talk-about-sex-and-gender\/","title":{"rendered":"Arizona Dept Of Education Promotes Chat Rooms For Kids To Talk About Sex And Gender"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Farizona-dept-of-education-promotes-chat-rooms-for-kids-to-talk-about-sex-and-gender%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1491432&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) links to chat rooms on its website for LGBTQ+ minors to discuss sex and gender with adult moderators present \u2014 without their parents necessarily knowing.<\/p>\n<p>The ADE <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azed.gov\/resources-lgbtq-students-educators-and-families\">directed<\/a> minors to two different websites: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.qchatspace.org\/\">Q Chat Space<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.genderspectrum.org\/articles\/gender-spectrum-groups\">Gender Spectrum<\/a>. Both organizations rely on adult volunteers or staff to facilitate their chat rooms, and they don\u2019t verify the age of those joining the chats beyond asking applicants for a birth date. The Daily Wire reached out to ADE about the two chat rooms. As of press time, no one from the department has responded to our inquiry.<\/p>\n<p>One of the ADE-approved chat room organizations, Q Chat Space, is a collaboration of Planned Parenthood, the LGBTQ+ support network organization PFLAG, and LGBTQ+ community center organization CenterLink. Q Chat Space recruits chat facilitators from different organizations across the country: the LGBTQ Centers of Orange County and Long Beach, Center on Halsted, Smyal, the Hetrick-Martin Institute, Jasmyn, Time Out Youth, Youth Outlook, and Hugh Lane Wellness Foundation. Their chats are open to minors ages 13 to 19.<\/p>\n<p>Q Chat Space\u2019s upcoming chat room topics range from sex and gender \u2014 \u201cGender-Affirming Hairstyles &#038; Clothes,\u201d \u201cComing Out,\u201d and \u201cFor Trans\/Non-Binary Youth: Hormones! What Do They Do, What Don\u2019t They Do?\u201d \u2014 to children\u2019s traditional hobbies and interests, like \u201cBeasts of the Wild: Favorite Animal Open Discussion\u201d and \u201cCryptids and Creepy Pasta.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>By comparison, Gender Spectrum offered chat rooms to a wider range of ages starting as young as 10 and up to adults, such as parents and family members of LGBTQ+ youth. The group <a href=\"https:\/\/www.genderspectrum.org\/work\/partnerships\">named<\/a> the education materials giant Pearson as its \u201cchampion,\u201d or top, partner; it also identified the Biden Foundation as a key partner in a recent national campaign advocating for family and community acceptance of transgender youth. Senior Director Joel Baum was also a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.learningforjustice.org\/author\/joel-baum\">contributor<\/a> to Southern Poverty Law Center\u2019s Learning for Justice initiative.<\/p>\n<p>Gender Spectrum acknowledged that it supplied K-12 schools and affiliate organizations like the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) with gender identity ideology resources like a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/california-school-creates-transition-closet-allows-students-to-swap-out-of-clothes-parents-approve-of\">gender support plan<\/a>,\u201d or \u201cGSP,\u201d something the New York Post <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/10\/12\/gender-activists-are-invading-your-kids-classroom-and-keeping-you-in-the-dark\/\">reported<\/a> on at length last October.<\/p>\n<p>In June 2020, CNN <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2020\/06\/11\/health\/gender-expansive-children-pandemic-wellness\/index.html\">featured<\/a> Gender Spectrum in an analytical piece about children defying gender norms during the remote learning of the pandemic. Gender Spectrum\u2019s director of online programming, Jenna Redmond, told CNN that the group\u2019s chat rooms allowed children to focus on their gender identity and childhood without the additional social pressures of school.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTaking away these layers of anxiety and trauma that many youth experience in their school settings is allowing a spaciousness,\u201d stated Redmond. \u201cThey finally have some room to just exist and be a kid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to Gender Spectrum, their pre-teen group for children ages 10 to 12 is full enough that it warranted a <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLSdDuVrhMuDADlVnG9oCoF9xlClGdmcznbA-DeoNPEHUTgPR5w\/viewform\">waitlist<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/report-state-farm-backs-down-on-donating-transgender-books-for-five-year-olds-to-schools\">Libs of TikTok<\/a> publicized the ADE chat rooms, noting that the chat room hosted by Q Chat Space has a quick escape feature, which could be used by minors to hide activity from their parents.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Arizona Dept of Education provides a resource link for LGBT students. The link takes you to an online chat room with LGBT adults and teens where they talk about sex and gender. <\/p>\n<p>The online chat room has a \u201cquick escape\u201d feature in case a kid wants to hide it from their parents. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ogCiYtU73i\">pic.twitter.com\/ogCiYtU73i<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/libsoftiktok\/status\/1528854755560157185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 23, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Q Chat Space also allows minors to receive a \u201cdiscreet\u201d text notification about each upcoming chat.<\/p>\n<p>It appears that these chat rooms are a small part of ADE Superintendent Kathy Hoffman\u2019s campaign promises. Hoffman advocated for progressive LGBTQ+ youth initiatives since she first campaigned to become superintendent. At one point, she pledged to implement support groups and activities for LGBTQ+ students.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I&#8217;m advocating for clear policies, support groups, &#038; activities for LGBTQ students &#038; families. Protecting the right of LGBTQ students to learn in an environment that rejects bullying &#038; discrimination, welcomes family diversity, and promotes inclusivity must be a priority for AZ. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/kIHw564wHe\">pic.twitter.com\/kIHw564wHe<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kathy Hoffman (@kathyhoffman_az) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kathyhoffman_az\/status\/1027996869006225409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 10, 2018<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In March, Hoffman expressed opposition to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azleg.gov\/govlettr\/55leg\/2r\/sb1138.pdf\">two Arizona legislature bills<\/a> prohibiting gender reassignment procedures for minors and barring biological males from competing in women\u2019s sports. Hoffman called the legislation \u201cbigoted government overreach\u201d and \u201chateful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) links to chat rooms on its website for LGBTQ+ minors to discuss sex and gender with adult moderators present \u2014 without their parents necessarily knowing. The ADE directed minors to two different websites: Q Chat Space and Gender Spectrum. Both organizations rely on adult volunteers or staff to facilitate &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":243,"featured_media":1491500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1491432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1491432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/243"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1491432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1491432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1491500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1491432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1491432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1491432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}