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Pennsylvanians blasted their state's department of education's new gender identity page which suggested teachers should not make assumptions about students' pronouns, and listed "ne, ve, ze/zie and xe" as some examples.
Fox News Digital spoke with people from Pennsylvania, including mothers, about the education department's webpage.
"In addition to the traditional pronouns (he/him, she/her, they), some people prefer to use gender-neutral pronouns, such as ne, ve, ze/zie and xe. If you don't know a student's preferred personal pronoun, it's always best to ask," the Pennsylvania DOE said.
"This is grooming of our children," said parent, a chair at the PA Economic Growth PAC, Veronica Gemma. "[W]hen it comes to sexuality, whatever they identify as, that's their personal business. And it's not academics. It doesn't belong in the classroom."
A girl holds the Transgender Pride flag during the pride march held in one of the most important streets of Madrid. (Photo by Luis Soto/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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"They need to focus on the terrible memorizing scores in this state, the terrible math scores in this state… [Instead,] they're focused on indoctrinating this next generation to change the fabric of our country," she added.
The Pennsylvania website also claimed the concept of two genders, male and female, was a "faulty concept."
"As a Pennsylvania parent, I’d like to know what qualifies them to all the concept of biological gender as faulty?" said a mother named Megan Eileen.
"As a mom, my children know who they are and they were created in God's image. So God created a man and a woman and that's it. There's only two genders," said Gemma.
The Pennsylvania Education Department listed pronouns on its website, including ne, ve, ze/zie and xe as some examples. (Fox News Digital )
"Why do they feel that it’s appropriate to teach this to a third-grader? It’s not appropriate. So many children in Pennsylvania are struggling with grade competencies, particularly after the long COVID-19 mitigation disruptions," Eileen said.
"The [Pennsylvania Department of Education] needs to stop spending money and classroom hours on leftist indoctrination and focus on academics. I think that’s something most parents and teachers, regardless of political affiliation, agree on."
Proponents of teaching gender ideology in schools say that it helps maintain tolerance and an accepting environment for LGBTQ+ youth. According to the Trevor Project, an organization that advocates for the inclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals, "[O]ne in three transgender youth reported attempting suicide, almost one-third reported being a victim of sexual violence, and more than half reported a two-week period of depression."
Pennsylvania's education department had previously told Fox News in a statement that it was crucial to "support all learners" and to help them feel "welcome in their schools and communities."
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One of the web pages included an article written by an activist, who said, "A gender-diverse child’s best predictor of success is whether that child receives support at home and from teachers."
A Pennsylvania mom told Fox News Digital asked why gender identity would considered an appropriate syllabu for third-grader. (iStock)
Republican. state Rep. Barbara Gleim said, "I think that a lot of this is coming down from the Biden administration through his executive orders."
"I'm not anti-trans, but these discussions have a time and a place. And I don't think that elementary school [and] middle school are the time or the place for these discussions," she added.
Kara Kowalski from York, Pennsylvania, said, "I'm not a parent, but I have three nieces who are young. They're eight, six and three. And I pretty much spend every day and every second that I can with them. I'm gay myself. But I don't align with all of this."
Fox News Digital also spoke with the feminist writer of "The Abolition of Sex," Kara Dansky, who has been a vocal voice against the gender identity movement.
"I think that what we're seeing is a vicious combination of woman hatred and greed," she said. "I absolutely think that our society should be accepting of people who do not wish to conform to sex stereotypes. That's a good thing. We have been saying for decades that women especially, ought to be able to transcend sex stereotypes. And we should champion and accept that," she said.
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"But that's very different for a school or an education department trying to persuade children that they actually are the opposite sex," she added. "That's extremely dangerous."
"It may seem unrelated, but these efforts to use different kinds of pronouns are deliberately designed to make us dissociate our minds from the material reality of biological sex," Dansky said. "It may seem like just a nice thing to do to refer to someone using their ‘preferred pronouns,' but the problem with it is it desensitizes us. And… it dissociates our minds from the material reality of sex."
In his senior class president speech at graduation, MJ Knupp reflected upon the kind and caring administrators, teachers and support staff in the Ligonier Valley School District, and mentioned special memories of many of these individuals. Knupp’s fellow classmates in the Class of 2022 agreed with his sentiments, and agreed that they will most miss the support of so many in the Ligonier Valley community as they head off to the real world.
“I most appreciated the teachers at Ligonier Valley,” said Matthew Marinchak, who was a dedicated athlete who saw his 1,000th point scoring milestone during his senior year in basketball. “They were flexible and helped us get things done. They understood how hard we worked and were amazing at helping us understand things and get things accomplished.”
Marinchak said the Ligonier Valley School District is one big family. “Everyone has each other’s back,” he added. “I appreciated how so many people came to cheer us on in sports, but that didn’t end in the sports area. Everyone talks to everyone and is friendly to each other in all areas of life.”
Planning to major in elementary education and participate on the mens’ basketball team, Marinchak said his experiences at Ligonier Valley have prepared him for life at Pitt-Greensburg.“Building connections with teachers and fellow students at LV shows me the importance of building that connection at UPG,” Marinchak said. “I will definitely work to get out there and talk to everyone. I understand the importance of talking to people no matter what they look like, how they sound, etc.”
Fellow graduate and athlete at LVHS, Khorter Drury will be heading to Saint Francis University in Loretto, and he echoed Marinchak’s remarks.
“Ligonier Valley being a small community and small school allowed for everyone to be so well connected,” Drury emphasized. “Everyone knows each other and provides so much support to each other. That’s probably what I’m going to miss the most about school and participating in sports here.”
Drury said he had autonomy in his classes and class projects and he appreciated the project-based learning that took place. “I had an amazing internship with Navisec, an online cybersecurity company, and I learned so much. This takes me a step ahead right off the bat in entering college.”
An honors program student who will complete a thesis during his senior year, Drury said LVSD teachers’ emphasis on problem solving will help him to complete his tasks.
“SFU encourages the same project-based approach with a lot of individual choice,” Drury said. “Ligonier Valley prepared me to think outside of the box instead of doing something only one way. This will help me in my next steps.”
While working with Navisec, Drury was able to work alongside employees in the company to complete penetration testing and vulnerability assessments while also learning programs and codes that he will see in his studies at Saint Francis. “It will be so beneficial that I’m coming in with prior knowledge already,” he said.
A supporter of athletes and an athlete himself, Drury encourages current Ligonier Valley learners to take part in sports, or at least join a club. “I say go out and try whatever you can,” he encouraged. “Do something at Ligonier Valley because you will find people who will support you no matter what. There are always going to be negative people, but you will get constant support at Ligonier Valley.”
Drury said his family and his school have given him wings and he’s anxious to fly.
“I am excited to start my career at SFU with all of their courses and meet new people and teachers,” he said. “I’m excited for the overall experience and to see how I do. I know my school and my family have prepared me to be on my own and I know I will continue to build as a person while I’m there. I’ll see and experience new things, try new ways of learning, and I am excited to see my development.”
Abby Painter, who will head to Westminster College and participate on the track team, said the opportunities to take advanced courses and earn an associate degree in high school will (hopefully) help her finish college early.
“Everyone was so supportive and we had so many opportunities at Ligonier Valley,” Painter added. “I’m proud to have received a quality education and participated on teams that were extremely supportive. We had coaches and teachers who were amazing and opportunities that will help us go far.”
