Gender Identity Resources In Elementary Schools

[Jeanette Moss]

Dear School Board,

   I recently had a good conversation with Principal Jones regarding 8 LGBTQ books that were added to the library.  My concern was with how these resources were going to be used.  While I believe that everyone has the right to raise their children the way that they choose.  I also, believe that everyone should be treated with kindness and respect.

   While the LGBTQ lifestyle is against my religious beliefs, that is not my main concern.  I have 3 daughters, one in early elementary school and the other two at the high school.  My concern is that the LGBTQ community has 3 times the number of mental health issues.  While some may say that it is because they are not accepted, which I'm sure is the case in some instances.  My daughters' experiences at the high school and junior high have not been the case.  In fact my oldest has been made fun of for being straight.

  To give you an example of the mental health issues facing the students, I would like to reference an experience one of my kids had.  My freshman on one of the first days of school sat down at a table in her German class.  The teacher asked the students to introduce themselves to each other.  Her table decided to go around and give their name and mental health problems.  Their were 5 or 6 students at the table, my daughter was the only one without a mental health issue and the only one who was not a part of the LGBT community.  What was very concerning to her, besides the fact that these complete strangers were sharing this very personal information with her.  Was that one of the students said that they had the normal 5 mental health diseases. 

  My concern is that the elementary kids do not have the maturity, or emotional and mental capacity to deal with such complex ideologies that exist in the LGBT community.  My older girls have told me some very sad stories of the mental and emotional struggles of some of the students in the LGBT community.  If the students in the older grades struggle, how are the younger ones going to handle this information.  I would ask that we do more research on the subject before we introduce these topics to the elementary students.  I would also ask that if the school board does decide to move forward with introducing LGBTQ ideology, that you give the parents the option to opt their students out of the class or the story times, until they feel that their student is ready to handle the information.

  I appreciate your time.

Sincerely,

Jeanette Moss