In the month since President Donald J. Trump’s 2025 inauguration, he has issued an important executive order to reverse the imposition of radical gender ideology, among other ideologies, on our youth in schools. How are teachers and other public school personnel navigating this change in a blue state? To find out, I attended a local GLSEN event focused on “trans and queer youth, allies, and educators.” The event was planned long before the election, so it was not intended as a response to Trump’s executive orders. However, in many ways, it served that purpose. In this article, I report on the personal responses of faculty and staff. This article does not reflect school policies or plans.
Staff and faculty experiences are shaped not only by the community where their school is located, but also by the personal values of their principal. In the discussions I observed at the summit, representatives from four school districts within the state participated. Two were from liberal areas, and two were from conservative areas. The order mandates a 90-day deadline from its issuance to implement the required changes to maintain federal funding. This gives schools a grace period to either implement the changes or restructure their funding. Faculty in conservative areas report that their principals have required them to remove all Pride flags from classrooms and to stop discussing gender to comply with the order. One teacher, with multicolored hair and glitter on her face, is using her tenure to push back against the administration and is refusing to remove the Pride flags from her classroom. In response, other teachers suggested wearing rainbow shirts to school instead. This proposal was met with support.
Students and faculty in conservative areas report that their peers are now more likely to speak out against what they view as gender indoctrination, which they describe as "hate." However, they overlook the fact that those who have opposed mixed-sex public bathrooms or compelled pronoun usage have faced harsh silencing for years. During the discussion, the moderator emphasized the importance of inclusion and safety but failed to acknowledge that conservative students' and faculty members' perspectives have long been dismissed as bigotry. Where is their "safe space?” Nowhere. Inclusion, it seems, only extends to those who support dismantling single-sex spaces and endorsing the medical transition of distressed children. Many of these children are autistic and too young to consent to sterilization or the lifelong medical risks that come with it.
In contrast, teachers in liberal communities were willing to risk losing federal funding for their schools or districts in defiance of the order, which prohibits discussing sexuality and "gender identity” with children. Despite our state's ranking as one of the lowest in public education success, these teachers and support staff are prepared to further compromise students' education for the sake of ideology. Their commitment to indoctrinating children is unwavering because they themselves have been indoctrinated. In the breakout group on supporting and maintaining GSA (formerly Gay-Straight Alliance, now Gender-Sexuality Alliance) groups, there was no mention of whether Trump’s executive order impacts these school-sponsored organizations. Whether it does or not remains a matter of interpretation, as no clear precedent has been set.
Educators were informed that for a GSA to exist, students must initiate it. As a result, these organizations tend to fluctuate as members graduate or age out of a particular school. The group discussed ways for students to sign up without revealing their names. They also explored renaming the club, suggesting options like Ally Club or Social Justice Club, to obscure its purpose from parents and possibly administrators while continuing to promote gender ideology in schools. One teacher shared an example of how, at a particular school, student anxiety over political changes was addressed by encouraging them to engage in the political process. They were taught to read bills, attend legislative meetings, and speak at school board meetings. While I believe teaching kids how to follow and influence policy is valuable, I disagree with spreading fear. Instead, teach them resilience. Help them understand that they will be okay, even if gender ideology is removed from schools or if they must wait until adulthood to pursue medical transition. We should foster strength, not the idea that every aspect of their self-concept must be affirmed by the world, even at the expense of others, in order to "prevent suicide.”
Multiple organizations had tables set up at the back of the room, displaying swag and flyers. Colorful spreads of stickers, brochures, candy, free menstrual products, and condoms promoted pro-gender ideology organizations aimed at children. Planned Parenthood distributed stickers celebrating “Marsha P. Johnson” as the hero(ine) of the Stonewall Rebellion. However, the term "riot" is contested by those who were present that night and in the following days.
Planned Parenthood is actively participating in the rewriting of the Gay Rights Movement’s history, nearly canonizing Saint Marsha P., a cross-dressing gay man who, by his own admission, was not present at the start of the Stonewall event.
When Jim Fouratt, a long-time Greenwich Village resident and gay rights activist who was at the Stonewall Inn that night, stated the truth about Marsha’s absence, he was disinvited from the 50th Anniversary celebration of the rebellion. Why is it so important to rewrite gay history to center the modern trans narrative in a past that today’s youth do not remember?
GLSEN displayed books from their “Rainbow Library,” which are available to any school teacher who requests a set. These books serve as tools of indoctrination for younger students in elementary school. By middle and high school, some contain overtly adult sexual content, like All Boys Aren’t Blue. This book is available in many public middle school libraries and is accessible to children as young as 11. The inappropriate exposure of minors to explicit adult sexual content is excused by educators as "LGBTQIA+ representation." Many of us in the community remember being falsely accused of posing a sexual threat to children, and we vehemently oppose this harm to minors, especially when it is being done in our name. And why are these organizations marketing neo-identities to children like clothing brands? Why does Planned Parenthood work to rewrite gay history? Who benefits? The students are not benefiting from it, that's for sure.
When asked how children are coping during these "unsafe times," teachers and support staff reported both higher-than-normal absenteeism and increased violent outbursts. This was observed even among elementary school-aged children, including instances of “destroying” classrooms and throwing chairs. Yikes. The reality is that these children are not in immediate danger, so whose angst are they expressing? Perhaps their parents’, their siblings’, or even their teachers’ irrational fears.
The actual impact of Trump’s Executive Order to remove ideological indoctrination from K-12 public schools remains to be seen. How will the indoctrinated faculty and staff adapt to a school curriculum that prioritizes academics over social programming in the 2025–2026 school year? Will they step back and focus on education, or will they risk losing federal funding? And if funding is cut, where will the money come from? The Arcus Foundation? The UN? The NGOs driving this whole movement? Only time will tell.
Our children need us to tell them the truth and build their resilience, not their fears. Hopefully, this marks a turning point, one that improves our children’s futures and leaves the trans takeover of public school schools as nothing more than an embarrassing footnote in history.