About 300,000 American youth ages 13-17 currently identify as transgender. This represents a doubling of their numbers in the past five years (1). These persons are now serving as
guinea pigs in a nationwide medical experiment.
These 300,000 youth are undergoing the process of “gender transitioning,” a life-altering transformation that involves three steps (2):
1. Social Transitioning: Assuming a new name, accepting new gender pronouns, and using bathrooms of the opposite sex.
2. Medical Transitioning: Taking hormones to create the physical characteristics of the opposite sex, affecting muscle growth, facial hair, and more.
3. Surgical Transitioning: Undergoing procedures such as breast removal or augmentation, penile inversion vaginoplasty, phalloplasty, hysterectomy, and more.
The safety and effectiveness of these procedures are hotly debated. One recent article, Current Concerns About Gender-Affirming Therapy in Adolescents, concluded that among youth transitioners, “every quality systematic review…has failed to find credible benefits.” (3)
Other studies have reached the opposite conclusion, that gender transitioning can improve a person’s quality of life and mental health, at least in the short run (4).
The obvious way to reconcile these confusing findings would for a child who is considering a gender transition to consult with their personal physician, along with his or her parents, to weigh the pros and cons of the various courses of action.
Unfortunately, school districts in 38 states -- AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, DC, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OR, PA, RI, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WI, and WY – currently have policies that say school personnel can or should keep a student’s transgender status a secret from the parents. By recent count, 10.7 million students across the country are now attending schools with such policies in place (5).
Obviously, if parents are not informed that their child is contemplating a change of genders, they will not be able to provide counsel, advice, or support. And the child is left to his or her own devices to sort through a welter of contradictory studies to reach a life-altering decision that is truly “informed.”
Later, youth who transition may run away from the family home, placing them at risk of becoming a victim of sex trafficking (6).
Thanks to the Department of Education’s unlawful decision to expand the definition of sex to include “gender identity” – masterminded by DOE officials Suzanne Goldberg and Catherine Lhamon (7) -- a Mengelesque medical experiment has been unleashed across the land (8).
And innocent children and youth are serving as its unwitting guinea pigs.
In response to this travesty the Title IX Network, of which CHQ is a member, and SAVE have issued a letter demanding the resignations of Department of Education officials Suzanne Goldberg and Catherine Lhamon, the text of the letter follows:
Dear Deputy Assistant Secretary Goldberg and Assistant Secretary Lhamon:
The Administrative Procedure Act was enacted by Congress in 1946 due to concerns with Executive Branch over-reach. The APA requires that federal agencies follow these steps before implementing a new regulation:
1. Notice: “General notice of proposed rule making shall be published in the Federal Register”
2. Opportunity for public review and comment: “the agency shall give interested persons an opportunity to participate in the rule making through submission of written data, views, or arguments.”
3. Agency’s response to public comments: “the agency shall incorporate in the rules…consideration of the relevant matter presented.”
On June 22, 2021, the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights unexpectedly published a new Title IX Rule. The Federal Register announcement asserted, “Title IX prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity…OCR will fully enforce Title IX to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in education programs and activities” The new policy took effect on the same day.
These actions represent a violation of all three APA requirements:
1. No prior notice.
2. No opportunity for public review and comment.
3. No agency response to public comments, since no comments had been solicited.
The following day, the Department of Education released a Dear Educator Letter that reiterated the same warning that the Office for Civil Rights would “fully enforce Title IX to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”
The new Rule was signed by Suzanne Goldberg, Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, and aggressively implemented by Catherine Lhamon upon taking over as the Office for Civil Rights director on November 17, 2021.
In response, on August 30, 2021 the Attorneys General from 20 states -- AL, AK, AZ, AR, GA, ID, IN, KS, KY, LA, MS, MO, MT, NE, OH, OK, SC, SD, TN, and WV -- brought a 14-count lawsuit against the Department of Education, alleging the new Title IX Rule was procedurally and substantively unlawful.
under the Administrative Procedure Act. On July 15, 2022, the District Court of Tennessee issued a Temporary Injunction against the OCR Rule.
But the effects have been far-reaching. At last count, 18,355 schools around the country now have policies stating school personnel can or should keep a student’s transgender status hidden from parents. About 300,000 American youth ages 13-17 now identify as transgender, representing a doubling of their numbers in the past five years.
The psychological and physical harm to these youth is difficult to fathom. Third-party reports reveal the following:
• Mental health: “Transgender children are at least three times as likely as their cisgender peers to experience depression, anxiety, and neurodevelopmental disorders including ADHD.”
• Suicide: “18% of LGBTQ youth attempted suicide in the past year.”
• Gender transitioning: Many of these youth eventually undergo a complete gender transitioning, rendering them infertile for life.
Encouraging hundreds of thousands of children and youth to transition to a different sex represents a radical medical experiment. In the words of ethicist Ryan Anderson, “Doctors are conducting a giant experiment that does not come close to the ethical standards demanded in other areas of medicine.”
These violations of the Administrative Procedure Act are unlawful, willful, and utterly contrary to the public interest. We call on you to immediately resign your positions at the U.S. Department of Education.
Sincerely,
Article Citations:
Letter Citations:
Department of Education Office for Civil Rights
Catherine Lhamon
Title IX regulation
Assistant Education Secretary Catherine Lhamon
Gender identity
definition of sex
definition of sexual harrassment
14th Amendment due process
Independent and impartial investigations
Unrestricted access to evidence
Right to a live hearing and cross-examination
I'm thankful to God that my kids are grown.