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In opposition to choosing gender

November 17, 2017

I am writing in opposition to the DOE's proposed regulation #225 "Prohibition of Discrimination" for the following reasons.

Saying that children of any age can choose their gender and race goes way beyond anti-discrimination laws. Discrimination comes from without; children's identity issues come from within.

Giving the school districts' power to subjectively perceive whether the parents are being unsupportive and, if they are, shutting them out of any discussions with the child, is power that was never intended for the schools to have.

The Supreme Court has validated the role of parents in the upbringing of their children, and any "protected characteristics" issues should be handled first by the family unit. It seems to me that it is the parents who are being discriminated against here.

The Delaware Department of Education is saying that it and all its teachers are best equipped to handle our children's desires for gender or pigmentation changes. In other words, government/the state knows best.

If a white teenager chooses to be black, would that qualify him or her for Affirmative Action? If you include gender and race, why not include age as a "protected" characteristic?" Then a child could choose to be older than the teacher! Can't argue with that; after all, it's how a person perceives himself to be that is the new reality.

In most cases, children who express some curiosity about their gender or what it would be like to be another sex, grow out of it.

With a regulation like this, the child is not allowed to do that. The school would make a big issue out of present feelings and would encourage different gender and race identities. I believe there is clearly an agenda here of the education establishment's trying to supplant parents and overstepping its authority.
Our education system could use some improvement. I feel that this is what the DOE should be concentrating on rather than something that involves such a small percentage of the population (although I also think that there is an agenda to increase this number). Teachers who strike always say they are doing it for the children. Well, here is an opportunity to do something for the children. I hope the governor and the DOE will rescind this regulation.

Note: Public comment can be made until Dec. 4 to Susan K. Haberstroh, DOE, 401 Federal St., Suite 2, Dover, DE 19901, to the governor (https://governor.delaware.gov/email-governor-carney), to your district's board of education, and to your state representative and senator.

Lorraine O. Gloede
Dover

 

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