Rhode Island school board member says parents should 'never' be informed of child's gender transition

One member of the North Kingstown School District committee in Rhode Island advocated that the school "should never notify parents" if a child is having gender identity issues. 

In a video posted on X, during a school board meeting discussing the school's transgender policy, one of the board members said, "On parental right to information, I don't think parents should be notified." 

"Simply because society assumes that every child has a well-meaning family," She continued. "Sometimes the worst thing you can do is involve the parent into some of these issues, based on their own beliefs and their own cultures, and that will cause that student to commit suicide." 

"My point would be that we never notify parents on these issues," the woman added. "Unless the child's life is in danger. Then we have to err on the side of implied consent." 

The woman went on to admit that she doesn't "think we should notify parents on many issues we notify parents on." 

In recent years, there has been a large fight over schools hiding gender identity issues from parents. Several states have attempted to pass bills that would force schools to inform parents if their child was using a transgender identity. 

One of the most notable was Sage's Law in Virginia, which was named after a 14-year-old girl who was raped and became the victim of sex trafficking after her school adopted the girl's new name and pronouns, without informing the parents. Without the knowledge that their child was struggling, Sage ran away one night to meet a transgender friend that she had met online, where she was found nine days later drugged, gang raped, and sex trafficked. 

Florida's Parental Choice in Education bill, more commonly referred to as the "Don't Say Gay" bill by LGBTQ activists, was passed to make sure parents were aware of what is being taught in their kid's schools. The bill followed a lawsuit brought by parents of a 12-year-old girl in Clay County, Florida where a school hid their child's gender identity issues until the girl attempted suicide twice in two days. The school assumed because of their "Catholic faith" that they would not be accepting of their child. 

Other states like Pennsylvania have attempted to pass a Parent's Bill of Rights, to ensure schools are keeping parents informed about what is happening with, and being taught to their children.