Exclusive: At Least 32 Rhode Island School Districts Lie To Parents About Children’s Gender Dysphoria
At least 32 public school districts in Rhode Island have parental exclusion policies and refuse to notify parents if their child begins identifying as a gender different from their own.
According to a report from Parents Defending Education (PDE), 113,452 Rhode Island students (83%) attend schools that actively hide this information from parents. PDE noted the number is likely higher, as the 32 have their policies publicly available, but the state actually enacted guidance to get all school districts to keep the critical medial information secret.
“Parents have a right to know what’s going on with their children in school, especially something as sensitive and emotional as gender identity. These parental exclusion policies are one of the biggest scandals in America and are now found in a supermajority of Rhode Island schools,” Paul Runko, Director of Strategic Initiatives at Parents Defending Education, told The Federalist. “Keeping secrets from parents is not only extremely unpopular but it is immoral. These policies are causing increased distrust between parents and schools, which is never good for student mental health or academic achievement.”
The state policy, upon which the district policies are based, is called “Guidance for Rhode Island Schools on Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students” and says that “some transgender and gender non-conforming students may hide or keep secret their gender identity at home because they may not feel safe or fear that they will not be accepted (Family Acceptance Project, 2009). School personnel should speak with the student first before discussing a student’s gender nonconformity or transgender status with the student’s parent(s) or guardian(s).”
“For the same reasons, school personnel should discuss with the student how the school shall refer to the student, e.g., appropriate pronoun use, in written communication to the student’s parent(s) or guardian(s),” it continues before adding, “Schools should not discuss a student’s gender identity with the parent(s) or guardians(s) if school personnel believe it may jeopardize the student’s physical or mental safety.”
Allowing children to start a “transition” at school, which usually begins with using “preferred pronouns” and names and allowing them to use the opposite restrooms and locker rooms from either actual sex, is actually extremely dangerous, as The Federalist reported.
According to numerous detransitioners meeting with Education Secretary Linda McMahon, as well as other reports, the kind of social transition that Rhode Island pursues is exactly the kind that wrongfully pushes children toward irreversible medical interventions, like genital mutilation and chemical castration.
“Rhode Island schools are set up to let kids explore their gender identity privately if they want to, without their parents automatically finding out. When a child is struggling with something as huge as their identity, the people who have raised and loved them from day one need to be in the loop to help,” Laurie Gaddis Barrett, Founder of Parents United Rhode Island, told The Federalist. “Creating policies, regulations, or legislation that assumes all parents are bad guys is a fundamentally flawed approach. Parents have a natural and legal role that schools cannot and should not override or interfere with.”
Rhode Island’s guidance does not stop there, and actually says that some children will pursue these harmful medical interventions prior to puberty, stating, “Some transgender youth who are close to reaching puberty, or after commencing puberty, may complement social transition with medical treatment that may include puberty blockers, cross-gender hormone therapy, and, for a small number of young people, a range of gender-confirming surgeries.”
Much of the language used by the state comes from the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which works to confront children with LGBT ideology at a young age.
The school districts with parental exclusion policies, as well as the number of students the impact, are: Providence (20,725), Pawtucket (8,056), Warwick (8,005), Woonsocket Education Department (5,690), East Providence (5,272), Cumberland (4,784), Coventry (4,267), North Kingstown (3,842), North Providence (3,516), West Warwick (3,511), Barrington (3,405), Lincoln (3,278), Johnston (3,144), Chariho Regional (3,102), Bristol Warren Regional (2,888), Central Falls (2,596), East Greenwich (2,543), South Kingstown (2,509), Smithfield (2,415), Westerly (2,296), Portsmouth (2,183), Burrillville (2,070), Middletown (1,971), Newport (1,906), Tiverton (1,634), North Smithfield (1,618), Exeter-West Greenwich Regional (1,550), Foster-Glocester Regional (1,359), Scituate School Department (1,194), Narragansett School System (1,128), Glocester School Department (577), and Jamestown School Department (418).
Breccan F. Thies is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. He previously covered education and culture issues for the Washington Examiner and Breitbart News. He holds a degree from the University of Virginia and is a 2022 Claremont Institute Publius Fellow. You can follow him on X: @BreccanFThies.
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