Note: This is a ridiculous notion. I include it here because Trump keeps repeating this lie during his rallies and speeches.

“For example, under the Biden Administration’s proposed Title IX regulations, schools could be required to assist a child with a social or medical gender transition without parental consent or to withhold information from parents about a child’s social transition (e.g., changing their names or pronouns).” (Project 2025, Section 3.1: Department of Education, Lindsey Burke, pages 375 and 376.)

The claim that schools could be “required” to assist with a child’s social gender transition without parental consent or to withhold information from parents is inaccurate. The idea that schools could be “required” to assist with a child’s physical transition is a bald-faced lie.

The proposed (not yet imposed) regulations aim to ensure that students – including transgender students – are not discriminated against in schools. This could include respecting a student’s chosen name or pronouns to create a supportive environment. I’ll add here that respecting someone’s identity harms no one and costs nothing.

The parental consent issue varies by state law and school policy. Title IX’s proposed changes don’t dictate how schools handle parental consent. They focus on preventing discrimination and harassment. Some school policies, particularly in certain districts or states, may allow students to request changes to their name or pronouns without parental notification if doing so could lead to harm or hostility at home. This is meant to prioritize student safety and well-being, particularly for vulnerable students.

The claim that schools could be “required” to hide information from parents is also misleading. Schools might, in some circumstances, respect a student’s privacy or safety concerns, but this isn’t mandated in the proposed Title IX rules. Again, the focus is on preventing discriminatory treatment, not mandating secrecy.

Burke here is gravely offended by the idea that public schools SHOULDN’T DISCRIMINATE AGAINST TRANSGENDER STUDENTS, BUT SHOULD TREAT THEM RESPECTFULLY. So offended that she’s compelled here to lie about the intent of the proposed regulations.

“These statistics and others point to a social contagion in which minor children, especially girls, are attempting to make life-altering decisions using puberty blockers and other hormone treatments and even surgeries to remove or alter vital body parts. Heritage Foundation research finds that providing easier access to such treatments and surgeries without parental involvement does not reduce the suicidality of these young people and may even increase suicide rates.” (Project 2025, Section 3.1: Department of Education, Lindsey Burke, pages 377 and 378.)

“Heritage Foundation research finds…” is a red flag, considering they fabricated their research on government employees²⁹ in order to justify paying them less. This assertion, like that one, is completely wrong.

Legitimate studies have found that family and social support³⁰ are associated with reduced prevalence of suicidal thoughts and attempts in transgender youth. It should surprise no thinking person to learn that if you treat transgender kids like human beings worthy of respect, they’re less likely to kill themselves.

“Minority stressors, such as discrimination experiences, family rejection, and stigma, are commonly reported by transgender people and are associated with higher risk of suicide thoughts and attempts. These include experiences of discrimination, mistreatment, or violence in education, employment, housing, health care, in places of public accommodations, from law enforcement, and in other areas of life.”

In short, the policies Burke is proposing directly correlate with an INCREASE in suicide among transgender youth. Need more?

“Transgender people who need access to gender-affirming care, such as hormone therapy or surgical care, may experience barriers to receiving that care, including costs, lack of providers, and state laws. Over 45,000 transgender youth live in states where laws have passed or been proposed to prohibit youth from accessing gender-affirming care. Yet, gender-affirming care is associated with reduced prevalence of suicide thoughts and attempts for those who receive the care they need.” 

Do you know what else qualifies as gender-affirming care? Hair plugs. Breast implants. Lip fillers. Use of Viagra and other drugs to treat erectile dysfunction. Selecting clothing based on gender identity. Wearing makeup. Shaving one’s body hair (or growing facial hair). Almost everyone engages in some form of gender-affirming care for themselves. It’s a normal social construct.

“A recent study found that transgender adults who received pubertal suppression hormone therapy as adolescents were less likely to experience suicide ideation in their lifetime.” (Turban, J. L., King, D., Carswell, J. M., & Keuroghlian, A. S. (2020). Pubertal suppression for transgender youth and risk of suicidal ideation. Pediatrics, 145(2), 68-76.)

A research paper from the National Library of Medicine concludes in their abstract: “The suicide attempt rate among transgender persons ranges from 32% to 50% across the countries. Gender-based victimization, discrimination, bullying, violence, being rejected by the family, friends, and community; harassment by intimate partner, family members, police and public; discrimination and ill treatment at health-care system are the major risk factors that influence the suicidal behavior among transgender persons.” [Source]³¹

With such a preponderance of evidence against the Heritage Foundation’s conclusion, one wonders if perhaps causing suicidal ideation among transgender youth is the unspoken goal of such cruel legislation. Again, this is another example of the Heritage Foundation not being able to find ANY evidence supporting the conclusion they want, so they’ve simply fabricated their own “evidence.”

Burke goes on to mandate that no school employee or contractor shall use a name to address a student other than what’s on their birth certificate, or use pronouns that differ from a student’s biological sex on their birth certificate, without written consent from the child’s parents. Furthermore, even with written consent, she mandates that no school employee or contractor has to respect a transgender student’s name or pronouns, if “contrary to the employee or contractor’s moral convictions.” (page 378, bulleted list.) In other words, legalizing the mistreatment/harassment/disrespect of trans kids if their teachers’ “moral convictions” are that they’re bigots. This is appalling. And it should go without saying that there is nothing “moral” about convictions that dictate that you mistreat others, but I will say it nevertheless.

The idea that nobody should ever be referred to as any name other than what appears on their birth certificate is hysterical. No nicknames for anyone! Sorry, politicians who anglicize their names to appeal to the white electorate! (I’m looking right at you, Rafael “Ted” Cruz,  and Nimrata Randhawa (a.k.a. Nikki Haley). And that’s to say nothing of Addison “Mitch” McConnell, Willard “Mitt” Romney, and James Donald Bowman, (a.k.a. J.D. Vance.)