My cautionary tale of applauding a school policy that I did not carefully read

What sounded like the good and compassionate thing to do turned out to be a plan to conceal information from parents

I recently posted a thread on Twitter about a personal failure that I believe serves as a cautionary tale for parents. The thread is posted below for readers who may not be on Twitter or didn’t see it. The basic gist is that I got over my skis because I didn’t take the time to read something and instead based my opinion on an article in the local paper and some Facebooks. Big mistake.

Erika Sanzi @esanzi

A former school board member (we call them school committees here) called me out last night because I expressed support for a transgender policy passed in 2016 and am now vocally opposed to the deception of parents baked into these policies, including in gender support plans. 1/N

Erika Sanzi @esanzi

In one sense, his attempt at gotcha makes sense. I applauded the committee based on an article in the local paper but never actually read the policy. At that time, I was admittedly ignorant about what these policies actually say and mean in practice. 2/N

Bill Dennen @wjdennen

@esanzi Just a few years ago, you applauded these same school policies and said it took "political courage" to pass them. https://t.co/YOCxmXAjMT

Erika Sanzi @esanzi

I was under the *very* false impression that the policy they passed here meant providing a safe and dignified place for transgender students to go to the bathroom and change their clothes and using the name/pronouns they had chosen to use. 3/N

Erika Sanzi @esanzi

I never imagined that my state considered the gender identity and gender transition (including medical transition) of minors to be confidential medical information protected under state law. It appears, however, that they do. 4/N

Erika Sanzi @esanzi

Nor did I ever imagine that my schl district—or any school district—wld write policy that explicitly states that school personnel are forbidden from revealing information about the name, pronouns and restrooms/locker rooms their their minor children use during the school day. 5/N

Erika Sanzi @esanzi

I am an example of how naiveté plays a major role in parents/citizens not realizing what is really going on in local government. I truly thought I supported it based on what I knew. In 2016, I had no idea that any district on planet Earth would intentionally deceive parents.6/N

Erika Sanzi @esanzi

There are certainly things I've changed my mind about over the years or am more ambivalent about than I once was. But in this case, I did not change my mind. I was ill-informed & that is my fault. I read a few headlines and a short article and it clearly wasn't enough. 7/N

Erika Sanzi @esanzi

Adolescent girls should not be allowed to cut off their healthy breasts or do things to their bodies that are totally or partially irreversible. Schools are wittingly and unwittingly causing this to happen. Intentionally driving a wedge b/w parent & child is indefensible. 8/N

Erika Sanzi @esanzi

I suspect big lawsuits are on the way and they should be. One was just filed in Leon County, FL. wctv.tv/2021/11/03/par… This final graf of a recent column I wrote is crucial for understanding why concealing information from parents is so unethical and likely illegal. 9/N

Erika Sanzi @esanzi

If you aren't familiar with this topic and/or want to learn more, I highly recommend the work of @AbigailShrier @SwipeWright @HJoyceGender @hoovlet And read this just-breaking investigative piece by @AbigailShrier now: abigailshrier.substack.com/p/how-activist… /END

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