School counselors in Texas were reportedly encouraged to share information about students’ gender transition desires to a private LGBT advocacy group instead of parents, according to a letter from America First Legal.
On Feb. 21, school counselors at Clear Creek Independent School District spent a portion of a “day of professional learning” on gender ideology, according to the letter. The gender ideology presentation, which spanned approximately an hour and a half, was given by Laura Kanter of the Montrose Center, an LGBT advocacy group.
America First Legal alleges that during the first presentation, Kanter advised counselors to send students who wish to undergo gender transition to the Montrose Center, rather than notifying the child’s parents.
Read the full letter below:
Kanter has a history of making derogatory remarks against conservatives. In 2021, she called Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz a white supremacist, and said Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham was a “fucking piece of shit.”
Two weeks after the Montrose Center presentation, the Director of Counseling and Student Services for the district sent an email to counselors and staff to “clarify district expectations as it relates to working with gay, lesbian, and transgender students,” according to communications reviewed by the Daily Caller. (RELATED: Superintendent Who Implemented CRT In Loudoun County Is Overseeing A CRT-Inspired ‘Strategic Plan’ In Texas Schools)
The email directed staff to a state statute, board policies, and the state-required Texas Model for Comprehensive School Counseling Programs when working with students who identify as members of the LGBT community. The district said that these standards should “guide their work, rather than the practices and graphics shared by the Montrose Center.”
America First Legal claims that the Montrose Center and the school district refuse to share the virtual presentation with the organization.
A spokesperson for the district told the Daily Caller that the Montrose Center never provided the school district with the presentation, therefore it is unable to share them with America First Legal. The Montrose Center claims that the slides are “proprietary as intellectual property,” according to the district.
The Montrose Center did not respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.
“We have no objection to the release of the presentation however, we do not have it to release,” the spokesperson said.
Ian Prior, a senior adviser for the America First Legal Foundation, told the Daily Caller that he found it “terrifying” that school districts bring in outside LGBT advocacy groups that encourage shutting parents out.
“It is absolutely terrifying that a school district would bring in an outside vendor who would then instruct counselors that gender confused kids should go to that vendor and shut parents out,” Prior said.
“Only by continually challenging these schools on legal grounds will we be able to roll back these radical ideologies that are a clear attempt to put the government in between children and their parents,” he continued.