By Dr. John Adams, Executive Director • Moral Action
According to Family Research Council, local church congregations are important social institutions in each community. Any effort to mobilize like-minded parents to express concern about school policies regarding human sexuality should not overlook the church.
Discuss your concerns with your pastor. Ask if the pastor would be willing to serve as a spokesman for community efforts or to speak to the congregation in a workshop service. Ask if you can be given time to make an announcement to enlist support.
Some people may be concerned about the church becoming too political. These issues do involve public policy decisions made by elected officials; they are not partisan — they should not involve political parties or elections. The church has an obligation to play a prophetic role, not just an evangelistic one, in its witness to the community, and seeking to influence the education of our children is a crucial area of concern.
Why are we hearing so much about the transgender movement in general, and about who should use which bathroom, locker room and shower in particular? The term “transgender” is now commonly used with the opposite sex from what they actually are biologically. A person who was born biologically male, but who wants to be, or feels psychologically that he actually is, female, would be considered transgender; as would a person born biologically female who wants to be, or feels she is, male.
How to Talk to Your Children about Transgender Issues
The most important thing for parents to communicate to their children about this issue is that God created each of us either male or female, as it says in Genesis 1:27: “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” This short but profound verse implies several things:
• Our “maleness” or “femaleness” is an essential part of our humanity as God created us.
• It is good to be male, and it is good to be female, because in either case, we have the image of God; and
• We have neither the right nor the power to change the sex (male or female) that God has given us, because it is part of his created order.
Our sons should be taught to appreciate and celebrate being boys, and our daughters should be taught to appreciate and celebrate being girls.
Girls can grow up to be astronauts or truck drivers, and boys can grow up to be nurses or ballet dancers. Only a girl can become a mother or a wife; and only a boy can become a father or a husband.
The fact that some boys want to be girls and some girls would prefer to be boys may be disturbing and confusing to young children. It is not wise to bring this issue up unless the child has already been confronted with it in some way. There is no need to create unnecessary anxiety.
The child’s first exposure to the transgender issue may come through the school’s sex education curriculum, which may have an innocent-sounding name such as “family life and human development.” Even very young children are being exposed to concepts such as sexual orientation and gender identity using tools like a cartoon character known as “the Gender Unicorn,” according to Family Research Council.
If anyone makes your child feel uncomfortable in the restroom, locker room or shower, the child should immediately inform someone in a position of authority at the school (such as a teacher, nurse or administrator) and notify you, the parent. If the school insists that the transgender student has the right to use that facility, have your child ask to use a more private facility, such as a single-user, faculty or nurse’s restroom.
According to Dr. Peter Sprigg, “if you have concerns about what your child is being taught or exposed to in the school curriculum, the first person to talk to is your child’s classroom teacher.” Identify which teacher’s class contains the material, such as a health teacher.
If you have concerns about what your child is being taught, a conversation with the teacher can help you understand who is ultimately responsible for the material being taught. In that case, you know that complaining to or criticizing the teacher will do no good, and you need to go to a higher authority.
