Fight Gender Ideology, and You Go to War
Keeping a promise he made after winning the 2024 presidential election to end transgender ideology in public education, Trump signed an executive order on Monday after the inaugural ceremony. The order rescinded all U.S. Department of Education guidance documents related to gender ideology, including a toolkit for creating “inclusive and nondiscriminatory schools environments for LGBTQI+ students”; guides for supporting transgender students; a back-to-school message for transgender youth from the U.S. Departments of Justice, Education, and Health and Human Services; and a tip sheet for “2024 Title IX Regulations: Pointers for Implementation.”
This last document is a reference to court decisions that allow males access to the dressing rooms of females under the guise of ending “discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.” This has not ended well for advocates. Parents on both sides of the political and racial spectrums are outraged over naked males sharing dressing rooms with their daughters. Their anger has erupted in shouting matches at school board meetings, with parental rights being pitted against the education bureaucracy. Not surprisingly, many parents have removed their children from public schools.
Trump’s order states that the policy of the United States is to recognize two sexes: male and female. The order notes that “sex” refers to a person’s “biological classification as either male or female” and is not a synonym for the concept of “gender identity.” Only the term “sex,” and not “gender,” can be used on federal policies and documents.
No federal funding is allowed for the promotion of gender ideology, including funding for grants.
Trump’s ban has triggered a meltdown from liberals, proclaiming the end of “our democracy” (we have a constitutional republic, not a democracy). The real reason for their hissy fits is that they know they have lost control and have no idea how to regain it.
There is more to the liberal rage. The ban on gender ideology will likely collapse the vast financial empire spawned by the transgender movement in Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), the pharmaceutical industry, and the medical “profession.”
Public schools have played a major role in creating the transgender confusion of young children. Instead of lessons on cursive and phonics, young children are asked to decide what sex they want to be and what pronoun and new name they want to use — and warned not to tell their parents. This creates confusion and mental issues. In steps SEL to support “mental wellness” and “management of emotions.” However, the lessons create further problems as they rewire young brains with racism and divisiveness. Contrary to its stated mission, SEL is the vehicle for implementing Critical Race Theory (CRT). Culturally Responsive Teaching centers on politicized lessons in the academic content areas.
The result of classroom focus on radical sex and political indoctrination is mentally unstable students who believe they were born in the wrong body. They are encouraged to take puberty-blockers and cross-sex hormones and seek medical intervention that likely will result in healthy body parts being surgically removed. A lifetime of drugs and mental health issues ensues.
For investors, SEL is a golden goose. CASEL, the nation’s leading SEL provider, is funded by the usual left-wing billionaires: Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Robert Wood Johnson. The sale of SEL materials has surged from $530 million in 2020 to nearly $847 million in 2023. For vendors, CRT programs mean new sales. For public school districts and local schools, these programs are supported by a top-heavy staff earning six-figure salaries along with the myriad of other staffing positions. For higher education, SEL is an emerging profession that brings in students for master and doctoral degree programs.
For the pharmaceutical industry and the medical profession, transgenderism is valued in the billions. The report released in 2024 by the American Principles Project (APP) identifies transgender surgery providers and the stratospheric fees they are receiving for harming children. Cedars Sinai, the Regents of the University of Michigan, the Mount Sinai Health System, and several others were estimated to have received more than $100 million in 2022. Hormone producers Pfizer and AbbVie received $74 million and $51 million, respectively. APP estimated the industry revenues for drugs and surgeries in 2023 to be more than $4.4 billion. That number is expected to exceed $7.8 billion by 2030.
According to UCLA’s Williams Institute, there are now over 1.6 million Americans who identify as transgender, including 300,000 who are between 13 and 17 years old. APP projects that if the Williams Institute population estimate is correct, the transition market for pediatrics alone could be as high as $37 billion.
Trump has kept his campaign promise to end the transgender ideology in education with the signing of the executive order. Now begins a life-and-death fight with Cultural Marxists who will stop at nothing to protect their financial empire. With Trump as our general, this is a war in which we must all engage if it is to be won.
Carole Hornsby Haynes: education policy analyst, curriculum specialist, consultant, historian, classical pianist. www.drcarolehhaynes.com; chaynes777@gmail.com
Pixabay.