{"id":1568238,"date":"2022-07-24T06:30:08","date_gmt":"2022-07-24T10:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1568238"},"modified":"2022-07-24T07:05:42","modified_gmt":"2022-07-24T11:05:42","slug":"christopher-f-rufo-las-radical-gender-theory-material-will-badly-harm-k-12-kids-while-the-adults-keep-getting-their-paychecks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/christopher-f-rufo-las-radical-gender-theory-material-will-badly-harm-k-12-kids-while-the-adults-keep-getting-their-paychecks\/","title":{"rendered":"Christopher F. Rufo: La\u2019s Radical Gender-Theory Material Will Badly Harm K-12 Kids \u2014 While the Adults Keep Getting Their Paychecks"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">40<\/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%2Fchristopher-f-rufo-las-radical-gender-theory-material-will-badly-harm-k-12-kids-while-the-adults-keep-getting-their-paychecks%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=1568238&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--><aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>The Los Angeles Unified School District has adopted a radical gender-theory curriculum encouraging teachers to work toward the \u201cbreakdown of the gender binary,\u201d to experiment with gender pronouns such as \u201cthey,\u201d \u201cze,\u201d and \u201ctree\u201d and to adopt \u201ctrans-affirming\u201d programming to make their classrooms \u201cqueer all school year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I have obtained a trove of publicly accessible\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/22090184-lausd-source-documents?responsive=1&#038;title=1\">documents\u00a0<\/a>from LA Unified that illustrates the extent to which gender ideology has entered the mainstream of the nation\u2019s second-largest school district. Since 2020, the district\u2019s Human Relations, Diversity and Equity department (or HRDE) has created an infrastructure to translate the basic tenets of academic queer theory into K-12 pedagogy. <\/p>\n<p>The materials\u00a0include\u00a0a wide range of conferences, presentations, curricula, teacher-training programs, adult-driven \u201cgender and sexuality\u201d clubs and school-sponsored protests.<\/p>\n<p>In a week-long conference last fall titled \u201cStanding with LGBTQ+ Students, Staff, and Families,\u201d administrators hosted workshops with presentations on \u201cbreaking the [gender] binary,\u201d providing children with \u201cfree gender affirming clothing,\u201d understanding \u201cwhat your queer middle schooler wants you to know\u201d and producing \u201ccounter narratives against the master narrative of mainstream white cis-heteropatriarchy society.\u201d The narrative follows the standard academic slop: white, cisgender, heterosexual men have built a repressive social structure, <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/04\/07\/los-angeles-county-bans-official-travel-to-florida-over-dont-say-gay-law\/\">divided the world<\/a> into the false binary of man and woman and used this myth to oppress racial and sexual minorities.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/la-gender-theory-850.jpg\"><\/a><figcaption>The program is geared towards addressing gender ideology in the classroom. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">FREDERIC J. BROWN\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In another training program, titled \u201cQueering Culture &#038; Race,\u201d the HRDE office encouraged teachers to adopt the principle of intersectionality, a key tenet of critical race theory, and apply it to the classroom. First, administrators asked teachers to <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/05\/11\/meet-the-parents-of-trans-kids-fighting-gender-cult\/\">identify themselves<\/a> by race, gender and sexual orientation, and to consider their position on the identity hierarchy.<\/p>\n<p>The district then encouraged teachers to \u201cavoid gendered expressions\u201d in the classroom, including \u201cboys and girls\u201d and \u201cladies and gentlemen,\u201d which, according to queer theory, are vestiges of the oppressive gender binary. Administrators also warned teachers that they might have to work against the families of their minority students, especially black students, regarding sexuality.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n\t<\/aside>\n<p>\u201cThe Black community often holds rigid and traditional views of sexual orientation and gender expression,\u201d the presenters claimed. \u201cBlack LGBTQ youth experience homophobia and transphobia from their familial communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Finally, LA Unified has gone all-in on \u201ctrans-affirming\u201d indoctrination. The HRDE  department has flooded the district with teaching materials, including, for example, videos from the consulting firm Woke Kindergarten encouraging 5-year-olds to <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/01\/24\/mother-sues-teachers-for-brainwashing-student-to-identify-as-transgender\/\">experiment with gender pronouns<\/a> (\u201cthey,\u201d \u201cze\u201d and \u201ctree\u201d again) and to adopt nonbinary gender identities that \u201cfeel good to you.\u201d The district requires teachers to use a student\u2019s desired name and pronoun and <a href=\"https:\/\/achieve.lausd.net\/cms\/lib\/CA01000043\/Centricity\/Domain\/383\/BUL-6224.2%20Transgender%20Policy%205%2013%2019.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">to\u00a0keep the student\u2019s gender identity a secret <\/a>from parents\u00a0if the student so desires.<\/p>\n<p>The problem with creating a \u201ctrans-affirming\u201d culture is obvious. In one of the district\u2019s own materials, \u201cMental Health Among Transgender Youth,\u201d the HRDE office cites a survey by Mental Health America pointing out that, among 11- to 17-year-old transgender youth who were screened for mental-health issues, 93% were at risk for psychosis, 91% exhibited signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, 90% likely used drugs and alcohol, 90% experienced moderate-to-severe anxiety and 95% experienced moderate to severe depression.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/la-gender-theory-851.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/la-gender-theory-851.jpg\" alt=\"Students in classroom\" class=\"wp-image-23170815\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/la-gender-theory-851.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/la-gender-theory-851.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/la-gender-theory-851.jpg?quality=75&#038;strip=all&#038;w=512 512w\" \/><\/a><figcaption>The program also includes videos encouraging kindergarteners to experiments with gender pronouns.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Brittany Murray\/MediaNews Group\/Long Beach Press-Telegram\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>These numbers are deeply alarming. But rather than provide a sober assessment of these risks and seek to mitigate them, LA Unified has adopted a year-round program glamorizing transgender identity and promoting an uncritical, \u201ctrans-affirming\u201d culture in the classroom. <\/p>\n<div class=\"single__inline-module inline-module inline-module--newsletter alignleft\">\n<div class=\"inline-module__inner\">\n<h3 class=\"inline-module__title headline headline--combo-sm-md\">\n\t\t\tKeep up with today&#8217;s most important news\t\t<\/h3>\n<p class=\"inline-module__cta\">\n\t\t\tStay up on the very latest with Evening Update.\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>It is, of course, a noble goal for schools to provide a safe environment for minority groups and to affirm the basic dignity of all children regardless of their sexuality. But LA Unified\u2019s program goes much further, promoting the most extreme strains of transgender ideology, which almost certainly contributes to the \u201csocial contagion\u201d effect\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/1684510317\/?tag=nypost-20&#038;asc_refurl=https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/07\/22\/las-radical-gender-theory-material-will-harm-k-12-kids\/&#038;asc_source=web\">documented<\/a>\u00a0by Abigail Shrier and others.<\/p>\n<p>LA Unified governs the educational life of more than 600,000 children, the majority of whom are racial minorities from poor families. The implicit cynicism of the district\u2019s gender-ideology instruction is sickening: Highly educated, well-paid bureaucrats promote fashionable academic programming that will do nothing to provide a basic education for these children or help them move up the economic and social ladder. <\/p>\n<p>It will only keep them trapped in a morass of confusion, fatalism and resentment \u2014 while the bureaucrats keep collecting their paychecks.<\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.city-journal.org\/contributor\/christopher-f-rufo_1334\">Christopher F. Rufo<\/a> is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of <\/em>City Journal<em>, from which this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.city-journal.org\/sexual-liberation-in-public-schools\">was adapted<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Los Angeles Unified School District has adopted a radical gender-theory curriculum encouraging teachers to work toward the \u201cbreakdown of the gender binary,\u201d to experiment with gender pronouns<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1575316,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1568238","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\/1568238","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1568238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1568238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1575316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1568238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1568238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1568238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}