Maryland teachers instructed to provide gender identity lessons to kindergartners

AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File

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The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) has ordered teachers to teach gender identity to kindergartners, stating that teachers in the state are not required to inform parents if any children express the desire to undergo gender transition.

Per the state’s health education guidelines, “gender identity and expression” should be introduced to pre-K students for them to learn to “recognize and respect that people express themselves in many different ways.”

The guidelines also instruct teachers to inform students about “intergenerational” relationships. The document does not clarify what it means by “intergenerational” relationships.

As detailed by Reduxx.info, gender identity education increases according to grade level, with grade six students expected to define “sex assigned at birth, gender identity, and gender expression.”

Efforts to push gender ideology into grade schools and kindergartens have entered the spotlight as more parents are becoming aware of the ideological lessons being taught to their children in public schools without their knowledge.

Parents whose children are enrolled in Maryland public schools are not given any option as to whether their kids will be taught about gender identity. Indeed, the framework states that opting out is only permitted “for family life and human sexuality education” starting in grade four.

The information disclosure guidelines state that there are neither state nor federal laws requiring teachers to disclose a student's self-declared gender identity or status to his or her parents. Effectively, teachers are required to comply with students' wishes to be referred to by the sex of their choosing.

“Address every student by a name and pronoun that corresponds to the student’s gender identity. Privately ask students how they want to be addressed in class and whether this will be different when in correspondence to the home or at conferences with the student’s parents or guardians,” the guidelines state.

A presentation given to Harford County teachers, instructed those present with a number of possible scenarios they may encounter, in which they are encouraged to withhold a child's gender identity information from parents, the National Desk reported.

“So for this scenario… a student has shared with you that they are currently transitioning. They also reveal to you that their parent does not know. You may be unsure if they are supportive of this transition or not. What you could say is, ‘Thank you for letting me know. Is there anything that I can do to support you?’” one of the presenters said.

“And just like the question regarding the roster, you can say back, ‘When I communicate with your parent or guardian, what name and pronouns would you like me to use?’”

In Florida, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed anti-grooming legislation prohibiting teachers from instructing K-3 students with gender identity and sexuality lessons. Parents are also required to be informed about what their kids are learning in schools.