Jenn, I am totally confused how indulging a child's self-loathing and/or body dysphoria or dysmorphia is safe or supportive? Let me give you an example I think you might relate to:
Your daughter, Montana, goes to her teacher at lunch and tells her she thinks she (Montana) is fat. She hates her legs, her breasts, her butt. She tells her teacher she wants to wear a waist cincher, take diet pills + get liposuction to get rid of it all... even though she weighs 90 lbs, the waist cincher makes her lightheaded, the diet pills make her heart race + liposuction is dangerous + not performed on minors (except in rare, medically-necessary cases). Let's not even dive into these risks, or the fact that this newfound hatred for her appearance -- or her IDENTITY CRISIS -- is due to the fact she was sexually assaulted by an older boy after school one day, so she, unbeknownst to the teacher, you, her mother, or even herself, wants to erase her feminine identity. Let's put a pin in those additional critical, dangerous facts.
HOW is it SAFE for the teacher, hearing this, not to tell you that your once bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, shy-but-silly, fun girl now hates how she looks and who she is + wants to change her hair, her dress, her style, her name, her entire identity?
HOW is it SAFE for the teacher to affirm and fuel your daughter's self-loathing by telling her, "YES, your body is not right, it needs to change, it needs to be taped down, cinched, drugged, sucked, tucked, and possibly ripped apart + sewn back up in a different form"?
HOW is it SAFE for a teacher, with zero medical training or experience (forget licensure)who does not know your daughter, her allergies, her adverse vaccine reactions, her childhood injuries, her surgeries, your families medical histories, ETC., to decide whether or not she should be socially transitioned?
Even if the teacher does know Montana, HOW is it SAFE for untrained, unlicensed faculty or staff make these decisions instead of you, the parent, when even the WPATH says "In most settings, for minors, the legal guardian is integral to the informed consent process: if a treatment is to be given, the legal guardian (often the parent[s]/caregiver[s]) provides the informed consent to do so." and "...including parent(s) / caregiver(s) in the assessment process to encourage and facilitate increased parental understanding and support of the adolescent may be one of the most helpful practices available.” (See Standards of Care for the Health of Transgender and Gender Diverse People, Version 8, WPATH, International J. Trans. Health 2022, Vol. 23, No. S1, S1–S258 (2022), available at
tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1…).
HOW is it SAFE to disincentivize teachers to be honest + transparent with parents -- in general, but certainly with regard to a child's mental health -- or to protect teachers who encourage children to keep secrets from their parents?
Given the above, can you, now, elaborate HOW
#AB1955 -- which makes it legal for teachers to keep secrets from parents and to engage in inappropriate "work activities," "instruction," or "support" of children -- creates a safe or supportive environment? TIA.