Parents of students at one Florida public school are furious after the school’s new fifth grade teacher told students to use gender neutral pronouns when addressing her.
Chloe Bressack, who identifies as gender neutral, told Canopy Oaks Elementary school parents that their children should address her as “Mx. Bressack” in a note obtained by the Tallahassee Democrat. When referring to Bressack, the note said, the fifth graders should refer to her in the third-person plural: “they, them, their.”
The note unsettled some parents, the Democrat reported on Wednesday, with one mother posting in a local Facebook group: “What would your reaction be as a parent of 9 & 10 year olds?”
The school’s principal, Paul Lambert, told the paper that he has received some backlash from concerned parents but added that he fully supports Bressack. (RELATED: Transgender Person Arrested For Taking Pictures Of Woman In Target Dressing Room)
“We support her preference in how she’s addressed, we certainly do,” Lambert said, apparently forgetting to use gender neutral pronouns when referring to the teacher.
“I think a lot of times it might be decided that there is an agenda there, because of her preference — I can tell you her only agenda is teaching math and science at the greatest level she can,” he added.
Canopy Oaks is just the latest school to push transgender pronouns onto students.
Public school districts across the country have embraced policies requiring students to treat transgender students and teachers as their preferred gender, rather than the biologically accurate gender.
Chicago Public Schools, for example, implemented guidelines last year that would hold students who intentionally use the “wrong” pronouns in violation of the school’s sexual harassment policies. (RELATED: Chicago Students Now Required To Adopt Transgender Newspeak)