As a transsexual woman in Connecticut I want to raise the alarm about bigotry and discrimination happening in a growing number of our Connecticut schools.

Remarkably, while some children are prevented from even ingesting a Tylenol without parental consent, others are encouraged to socially transition to another sex while in school as the school hides it from their families. 

Amazingly, a teacher cannot secretly administer an Advil to most children, but other children can be secretly socially transitioned by non-parental adults, who then deceive parents. These children, often already feeling like outcasts, are now left defenseless and without the protection afforded by their parents. Why are these children less deserving of parental support, protection and care? Seems like a form of discrimination to me.

You might ask, what is the big deal with a social gender transition? The big deal is that social gender transition leads to puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgery. At a rate of 94%, according to a 2023 published study, children who begin a “social transition” are still committed to that transition and all of the medical implications five years later. 

Five years later that child has likely been on puberty blockers, started cross-sex hormones and in some cases, undergone surgeries to either remove and/or add to their private parts. The long term medical outcome of a gender transition can result in loss of sexual pleasure, sexual dysfunction, loss of fertility, increased risk of suicide ideation, bone fragility, delayed mental and physical maturity, surgical complications, a lifetime of artificial hormone use and more.

Adding insult to injury, there is robust evidence that children who are permitted and encouraged to maintain their original sex identity through their teenage years, cease to experience the distress of gender dysphoria after puberty at up to a rate of 80 – 90%. The implications of a social gender transition are clear and children must be protected from well-intentioned adults who are ignorant to the life experiences of that child and the knowledge of their family.

Growing up in the suburbs of Connecticut, I wasn’t always sure that I belonged. I struggled as a kid to find friends and relate, much like many children experience today. As it turned out, I was destined to realize as an adult that I was more comfortable as a transsexual woman. As an adult, I transitioned from appearing as a man into presenting quite well as a woman. The mental health I enjoy now has its foundation in the trusting relationship between me and my loving parents, not puberty blockers and experimental surgeries. I want that trusting relationship, protection and opportunity for mental and physical wellness preserved for future generations of Connecticut children.

Attorney General William Tong and some Connecticut schools are undermining that trust. He filed a brief against a Connecticut mom who sued her children’s school district for social gender transitioning two of her children and, in the case of her son,  hiding it from her and his father. Tong, state agencies and school boards that support secret transitions, discriminate against these children by removing the same parental protections and safeguards that other children have.

Tong remarkably argues in his brief that the transient child-teacher relationship and the need to keep transgender secrets is more important than a parent-child relationship. This is ridiculous, harmful and a misguided thought train. All children, even those experiencing an identity crisis, deserve their parents to know and protect them. We should not make an exception for children experiencing gender dysphoria, in fact, they need their parents more.

You see, the suicide rate for children with gender dysphoria is high. Many of these children have underlying, undiagnosed or untreated mental health or physical ailments. They need their parents involved so those parents can get them the treatment they need. Schools, teachers and administrators are not trained medical professionals and they shouldn’t be acting as such. Except in rare circumstances, schools do not employ psychologists or child psychiatrists. These children need true mental health care and resources only their parents can provide.

Our state elites will not always agree with a family’s decision, but it is not their decision to make. Absent a court order removing parental authority, they don’t know that child better than their parents and the medical professionals they choose to utilize.

I encourage our legislators to have an honest discussion about the discrimination taking place in our schools against children with gender dysphoria. The lowering of standards for them and the need for a more balanced approach when addressing their mental health needs.

I am a proud member of a broad coalition working on a bill to protect gender dysphoric children against secret transitions in school. Please check out our coalition’s website at letparentsparentct.org for more information and encourage your legislators to end this discrimination today.

Christine Rebstock lives in Middletown.