Amber Lavigne’s 13-year-old daughter had gender dysphoria. At least that was the diagnosis the teen came up with; how better to explain her persistent anxiety and depression? When she went to her counselors at the Great Salt Bay Community School in Damariscotta, Maine, they agreed.
They began a simple treatment protocol. Daily use of a chest binder (they instructed her in its proper use), as well immediate adoption of a a new name and pronouns, to be used by all staff and students at the school. They neglected to inform Lavigne; this was a private mental health matter between Lavigne’s daughter and school authorities.
Lavigne found out anyway and sued the school. While the judge in the case acknowledged that it was reasonable for Lavigne to expect the school to keep her in the loop about the decision to “trans” her child, he could find no legal basis to hold the school liable and dismissed the lawsuit.
Yesterday Lavigne filed an appeal. In the meantime she has begun to homeschool her daughter.
Lavigne’s case is far from unique and is a cautionary example about the limited legal resources parents have once school or government has usurped their authority.
While the school overstepped its bounds, where did Lavigne’s daughter get the idea that she was the wrong gender in the first place? It’s not hard to imagine potential sources.
Take Scholastic books. Any parent of young children is familiar with the company’s colorful book order forms, which are sent home with students every quarter or so.
The latest such form comes with a “Read with Pride Resource Guide” highlighting “LGBTQIA+ children’s and young adult literature.” The guide features children’s books like “Llama Glamarama,” which depicts the titular character’s “coming out” party, and “The Beautiful Something Else,” about a girl’s realization that she is “nonbinary” after being sent to live with her transgender aunt.
Subscribers to the American Parents Coalition’s new, free text-based notification service, the Lookout, were quick to learn about this latest incursion of ideology into children’s education. It featured in the service’s inaugural alert.
According to APC founder Alleigh Marré, the Lookout is meant to be “an informative tool to keep parents up to speed on the latest threats to parental involvement, state and local school policies, social media trends, and more.”
The Lookout is just the latest tool APC has created to help parents protect their right to oversee their children’s education and health.
Last month, Align spoke to Marré about “TikTok is Poison,” the nonprofit’s guide advising parents how to fight the influence of TikTok, which arguably does more than any other platform to amplify and disseminate gender ideology to children.
TikTok’s Chinese-owned parent company, ByteDance, has fought back against a potential ban recently signed into law by President Biden.
The company claims that as an “online publishing platform” incorporated in the United States, it is protected under the First Amendment.
Contacted by Align, Marré scoffed at such claims: “TikTok is flat-out lying to the American public. Counting celebrities and elected officials among its users does not erase the fact that Chinese-owned TikTok manipulates millions of Americans every day and is particularly harmful to children.”
