A “LGBTQ+ tool kit” was created by the Denver School District and updated in July, prohibiting students from opting out of LGBTQ+ lessons and curriculum. There is no parental permission required for teaching these topics and the only possible way to opt out is for sex-ed lessons.
The “living document” website states several books will also be offered; the tool kit notes that the age-appropriate “LGBTQ+” topics being taught will be allowed for every grade level.
Most notably is the disregard for parental oversight. The Denver school district does not require parents’ consent when using a student’s pronouns at school, according to the document. The tool kit provides an entire section on how to help a student transition, even if their parents are unaware.
It states in the document that faculty are not to “out” students and that it is prohibited to share a student’s “gender identity” or “sexual orientation” with their family. The kit also mentions that all “sexual orientations are valid” and that transgender individuals have more than one “sexual orientation.”
The “LGBTQ+ topics” are a part of the school district’s “commitment” to equity and inclusion, the document states.
The tool kit also outlines a glossary of LGBT-related definitions and specific rules staff must follow when handling a student who is transitioning, the document states. The document notes that no student, regardless of whether they are transgender or non-binary will be left out of an overnight trip and that a student’s “sexual orientation” and gender are to remain private on these trips.
When a student is transitioning, faculty and staff are encouraged to ask the student about their “self-asserted gender” and that transgender students do not have to physically prove they are transgender, the tool kit document states. The students who claim to be transgender have to be treated as such, no matter if they had any kind of surgery or if they don’t dress or act differently.
