Schools are ground zero in the current culture war on sex education. The LGBTQ+ agenda is a political movement foisted upon schools under the guise of diversity and civil rights. United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE) strongly opposes these efforts to confuse and sexualize America’s children.

The Week of April 24, 2023 Blythewood High School (BHS) of Richland School District Two in Columbia, South Carolina hosted “No Place for Hate Week.”  No Place for Hate is an Anti-Defamation League education program designed to combat prejudice and create effective tools to address these issues in the classroom and community. “No Place for Hate” claims to be “the leading provider of anti-bias education.” They want children to “explore identity, challenge bias, and champion justice,” and “build the capacity to recognize and confront bias within oneself, others and institutions, and examine the relationship between individual biases and systemic oppression, including the impact of intersecting oppressions.”

The week kicked off with a Hallway Parade.

Tuesday’s schedule included SELF CARE: Care Bear Day – Motivational speaker, free kool-aid and line dancing.

Wednesday was Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Wellness Day including a teacher breakfast with student speeches, a dancer, and a video.  First period teachers were sent a 15-minute SEL lesson plan with videos on racial bias and microaggressions to show during class. SEL has become the latest panacea in a long line of progressive “education reforms” that have only served to distract from the fact that American public school children are failing academically. Presented as an effort to support student mental health, it is a veiled attempt to indoctrinate and categorize children. This national movement influencing states like South Carolina is led by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL). In December 2020, CASEL announced its revision of the definition and framework for social emotional learning (SEL) to highlight the value of SEL as a weapon for social justice.

Thursday’s theme was “Everyone is Welcome: Pride Day at BHS” led by the Blythewood High School Gay Straight Alliance. There was a presentation from the Harriet Hancock LGBT Center. While attendance was not mandatory, they provided pizza and a well-known DJ to entice and lure children to the event. So even if there were children who wanted to attend for the pizza and music, they were still exposed to the material which aims to desensitize children to a sexual lifestyle. The fact that this was offered for children funded by tax dollars is unacceptable.

Friday consisted of a “No Place for Hate Festival.” 

The week was also filled with three days of interruptions with threats being sent out to students via social media and a false fire alarm.  The first threat prompted a mass exodus from the school by parents rushing to pick up their children from the high school.

People are quick to say that this is not happening in their school or in their district, but in fact, this harmful pedagogy has been adopted by nearly every school district in the country.  

With roughly half of their students proficient in English and less than half proficient in math, Blythewood High School, and the Richland Two School District in South Carolina is churning out functionally illiterate social justice warriors.

A brave mother who lives in Blythewood, SC recently spoke out at school board meeting.

U.S. Parents Involved in Education is dedicated to exposing and stopping the liberal indoctrination happening in government-funded schools. Please “Join the Movement” on our website to get involved in your local chapter.

If you have a story like this that you want to share, please email USPIE Communications Director April Few at afew@uspie.org. Thank you!

Donate to USPIE today!

The following article is from The Epoch Times. USPIE has pasted the article below for those who were having difficulty reading it.

Two attempts to publicly show the documentary film “Truth and Lies in American Education” were thwarted this month by threats of violence from self-avowed Antifa activists.

The one-hour movie advocates for parents’ rights, the abandonment of what it sees as the sexualization and political indoctrination of school children, and a return to classical education in public schools.

The film also urges that the lowering of academic standards be reversed and presents homeschooling and private schools as alternatives to public education.

It was produced by a national, non-profit, organization of volunteers called United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE). The $150,000 cost of production and introductory marketing was paid for through mostly small donations.

Along with select public showings, the film may be viewed online for a small fee.

Two Venues Back Out

The day before the scheduled free public showing, the management of a community theater in suburban Chicago backed out of a commitment to allow the Illinois chapter of USPIE to use the public building to show the documentary and conduct a panel discussion of its content afterward.

The event’s organizers quickly found another venue, a southside Chicago tavern, that was initially willing to accommodate them. At the last minute, its management backed out too, citing anonymous threats to “shoot up the bar” and concern for the safety of patrons and staff as the reason.

USPIE national founder and president, Sheri Few, told The Epoch Times, “So-called anti-fascists claimed credit for both cancellations on social media. They had threatened that if the film was shown ‘bullets would fly.’”

Few said that in the first instance, Antifa activists pressured the city council to stop the showing, posted threats on the internet, and bullied the facility’s manager. Before the second cancellation, they intimidated the bar owner into a change of mind.

Theater Gets Bullets in Mail

Mailing bullets to a venue manager’s home, smearing the place with dog feces, and aggressive social media doxxing are common tactics of the woke mob to send a message, Few said.

“Woke people are afraid if the general public learns what is going on in their schools they will stand up against the evil.”

Antifa frequently proclaims on social media that its mission is to shut down the “racists, transphobes, and the anti-LGBT terrorists” by any means necessary.

“It’s ironic that they call us terrorists for just trying to educate people. They are the ones that threaten violence,” said Few.

“The woke accuse us of censorship and violating free speech when we push to remove obviously pornographic materials from our children’s classrooms. Yet, they are the ones shutting down an opportunity to educate others by canceling our documentary.”

Few said she expected the woke activists to fight back and that, despite their threats, USPIE will stand firm for what’s right.

She pointed to Terry Newsome, founder, and president of the Illinois chapter of USPIE, as an example of a “strong and courageous leader.”

‘A Real Fighter’

Newsome, 61, a father of three who opposed mask mandates in schools and publicized the existence of pornography in the library of his local school, has been relentlessly attacked and doxxed on social media for his actions.

His promotion of the documentary is one of the latest reasons he is being doxxed.

“Like most parents, I was working hard to make a living and wasn’t paying much attention to what was going on at school beyond the sports program,” he said.

He told The Epoch Times that he was first alerted to what was happening in the schools when one of his children came home disturbed about anti-American ideas being taught in English class.

“I called the principal and was told the ideas weren’t being taught. They were just being ‘discussed.’ The Left uses semantics to conceal what they are doing and control the language and the narrative,” said Newsome.

‘Just Comic Sketches’

He told The Epoch Times that when a group of parents appealed the stocking of pornographic books in the school library, school authorities told him they could not immediately define pornography and deferred answering his questions about it.

“When presented with the actual materials containing examples of what Webster’s Dictionary defines as pornography, school officials insisted the explicit drawings displaying sex acts were ‘just comic sketches.’

“They said it was ‘not the author’s intent’ to stimulate or to sexually arouse the student and therefore could not be construed as pornographic.”

Dissatisfied with the administration’s response, Newsome ran copies of the material and walked the neighborhoods distributing them to residents.

He also made poster-size enlargements and took them to a school board meeting.

“People in the neighborhoods told me they were sickened and disgusted by the material and could not believe such things were being presented to school children.

“Some whipped out their cell phones and made calls to other parents, friends, and even school kids in their families to fact-check me.

“Once people see this stuff for themselves, the vast majority say it’s wrong for the schools to be using such materials,” Newsome said.

‘Gender Queer Is Not Pornography’

In an email to Newsome and school board members, District 99 Superintendent Hank Thiele commented on the appeal of the school library stocking “Gender Queer,” a children’s book many parental rights organizations around the country have deemed obscene and inappropriate for school use.

Thiele stated it was up to the school board’s attorney and not school librarians to determine the legal definition of pornography.

“Based on my conversations with the board’s attorneys, I do not believe the book qualifies as pornography. If it had, I would have removed it from the library immediately.”

“Gender Queer” was subsequently reviewed by a seven-member panel appointed by the superintendent comprised of parents and educators from the district.

Thiele told The Epoch Times in a Feb. 24 email that “the challenge was resolved by Board of Education action in June of 2022 and the resource remains in our library.”

“Parents have for too long put their blind trust in the public schools, believing they were acting in good faith to always protect the best interest of the children,” Few told The Epoch Times.

Newsome said that his part of Illinois, an area west of Chicago, is heavily Democrat and woke.

“Too many Democrats really believe this stuff is fine. They are too far gone, completely unpersuadable. If they are all there is, we would have no hope.

“We are in a war for the future of America, and we are losing. Most parents don’t know it yet. Some that do know are too afraid to fight—afraid to lose business, afraid to lose their job, afraid to lose friends, afraid of retribution on their children,” he said.

Signs of Awakening

As more suburban Chicago, parents, grandparents, and concerned citizens became aware of the situation in their schools, they began flooding school board meetings to voice their opposition.

Their presence provoked increasing hostility from board members and school administrators, according to Newsome.

“They strictly enforced ridiculously short time limits on parents trying to speak. They started kicking people out and abruptly going into closed session. No more poster-sized visual aids were allowed.

“And they moved the location for their meetings from our big new auditorium to an administration building that could seat about 10 visitors. That’s what we’re up against.”

Newsome said one of his main adversaries at the school board meetings is another parent who openly claims affiliation with Antifa and Black Lives Matter on social media.

Doxxing Begins

 “I think this person put them on to me. Soon the aggressive doxxing and full-blown, brutal attacks on social media started,” he said. “They call me a Nazi, bigot, racist, LGBT-hater. They say I hate women.

“Let me tell you, I don’t hate women. Six moms were the first people involved in our reform movement. Later, when the big crowds started overflowing the school board meetings nine out of 10 were women.”

Newsome told The Epoch Times that he does not hate LGBT people and cares for the safety and well-being of all children.

“Despite what Antifa and their allies in the media mob say about me, I’m not for the wholesale banning of books. There are some gay books in the school library that may legitimately help young people sort out who they are at a difficult time in their lives. I am not against those books.”

Newsome said the real fascists are the radical leftists who use lies and slander “to destroy my credibility in proclaiming the truth.”

Hate and Terrorist Watch Lists

Few told The Epoch Times that Newsome’s activism caught the attention of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which placed him on its “Hate Watch List.”

“Violent Marxists use that list to choose their targets,” she said.

Newsome was recently abruptly pulled aside at O’Hare airport and detained. He was subjected to a comprehensive search that caused him to miss his scheduled flight, according to Few.

A coalition of leftist groups, including many woke community members, Democrat activists, educators, and some paid professional protesters, have labeled parental rights meetings as “hate gatherings.”

They harassed many meetings and shut down several events in the last six months, according to Newsome.

Antifa Is the Vanguard

“When they show up at an event, their typical formation is 10 to 12 Antifa right up front, with a 100 or so woke banner wavers behind them. They don’t succeed in canceling every event, but every meeting they do shut down encourages them to keep at it,” he said.

Newsome told The Epoch Times that, in his opinion, the content of the documentary was not the main impetus for the Left to go all out to cancel the showings.

Rather, he believes it was the impressive credentials and diversity of the experts on the panel prepared to discuss it afterward that was their main motivation.

“The broad demographic representation of those united in opposition to pornography in public schools poses a big threat to the woke agenda.

“Because all of our panelists were highly qualified and very diverse, I think the woke left-wing leaders were really worried. They believe they own the idea of diversity. It troubled them to see that it was not just going to be old white men on the panel,” he said.

One of the panelists was Jaimee Mitchell, founder of the Gays Against Groomers organization.

Though Newsome believes the picture in Illinois is bleak and that parents are losing the war, he is determined to continue to fight.

“I’m fighting for my children and for the rights of parents to be respected, especially in having a voice in what their kids are being taught.

“If you won’t stand up and fight for your kids, what will you fight for?” he said.

Few said she is optimistic about the future and is heartened that more parents are waking up to the damage that is being done to their children.

“I have never seen so many parents getting actively engaged at their local school boards despite the risk of being labeled a ‘domestic terrorist’ by their own government.”

USPIE has established a network of grassroots leaders from around the country who are working to 1) expose the lies being taught in government schools that harm children and threaten freedom, 2) encourage parents to take back responsibility to educate their children, 3) initiate and support efforts to return complete local control of government schools, and 4) encourage states to wean themselves off the federal education dole. It is the vision of USPIE to create a culture where parents, empowered with the authority to choose what and how their children learn, are the undisputed, primary educators of their children, where local schools operate in support of families, and where education is unencumbered by federal mandates. Please consider a tax-deductible donation today and even consider a recurring donation to support this vital work.​​​​​​​ Thank you in advance for your generous support!​​​​​​​

USPIE documentary uncovers insidious plot to undermine parental authority and brainwash children with leftist ideologies

A 17-year-old girl was confronted with a naked transgender “woman” in a local YMCA women’s locker room. When she asked the staff why someone with male genitalia was allowed to be naked in the women’s locker room, she was reprimanded and told the trans woman had every right to utilize the YMCA female changing rooms. In addition to the millions of concerned Americans, members of the LBGTQ community were also scandalized. Famed transgender media personality Caitlyn Jenner (formerly Bruce Jenner) commented on the situation, stating, “If you’re in the trans community, you have to have a little discretion and some class. You just can’t do these things — it’s just not right. These activists have hijacked the trans community,” adding that it would be appalling if Jenner’s own children or grandchildren were exposed to an individual in this manner.

Another gay commenter noted, “If the LGBTQ community is truly serious about mutual respect and dignity, it’s not a respectful act to go expose yourself in a women’s bathroom to an underaged female.”

“Even members of the LGBTQ community acknowledge that the liberal agenda is harmful to American children,” said United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE) Founder and President Sheri Few. “The idea that the governing authorities are trying to normalize indecent exposure to children is horrendous in itself, but the fact that the bulk of the LGBTQ community disagrees with these policies is outrageous. The only people benefiting from these ‘progressive’ policies are radical leftists and groomers who are actively trying to undermine parental authority and traditional American ideologies.”

To help equip and empower Americans to make a change and fight for the welfare of children, USPIE recently released a landmark documentary titled “Truth & Lies in American Education.” This feature film uncovers the horrifying reality of what is happening inside the American school system, including critical race theory, anti-American ideology, sexualization, and outright Marxism, and features interviews with educational experts such as Karen England, Alex Newman, Dr. Duke Pesta, Dr. Carol Swain, Sam Sorbo and more.

“Parents need to be informed about the shocking content their children are being exposed to,” Few stated. “The film calls on some of the top education experts in the country to reveal the harmful effects of the current education model. The rampant sexualization of children must stop now.”

Vernadette Broyles, president and general counsel of Child & Parental Rights Campaign, stated in the film, “More and more, we are seeing officials affirming and endorsing children in their gender dysphoria and purposely excluding the parents from the conversation. Teachers are instructed to immediately affirm a child in school if they trans-identify, and do not tell parents! Deliberately, do not inform parents! We are failing to care about, explore, understand, quantify and treat the underlying causes for their dysphoria and instead propagating a false narrative that you can treat gender dysphoria with social affirmation, drugs, even surgeries. But it ultimately will not get at the root causes. We are already seeing many tragedies and broken lives as a result.”

“Truth & Lies in American Education” is available for streaming on SalemNOW, as well available on DVD. For more information about “Truth & Lies in American Education,” click here.

United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE) is a nonprofit, nationwide coalition that seeks to return education to its proper local roots and restore parental authority over their children’s education by helping parents and local communities to escape federal and other national influences. It is the vision of USPIE to create a culture where parents, empowered with the authority to choose what and how their children learn, are the undisputed primary educators of their children, where local schools operate in support of families, and where education is unencumbered by federal mandates.

Parents across the country are outraged at a recent article encouraging “race-conscious parents” to avoid raising “racist children” by openly discussing “history through the prim of racism.” “We live at a time when racism is on the front page of every newspaper, from racial killings to white supremacist rallies,” the author explains. The article targeted “white parents” for evading conversations on race with their children, urging them to not allow their children to grow up in a “colorblind” world.

Concerned parents lashed back at the thoughtless article, with many incensed at the increased instruction to insert divisive ideology into homes.

United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE) Founder and President Sheri Few commented, “Onlookers need to leave parenting to  parents. It’s bad enough that schools are indoctrinating children with woke ideology such as critical race theory, but the fact that they are trying to insert this discordant philosophy into the homes of millions of Americans is absurd.

“Critical race theory teaches children to identify as either a victim or an abuser based solely on the color of their skin. This nefarious pedagogy is infecting American children on a mass scale, and if concerned citizens don’t make their voices heard and fight back, it might be too late!”

To better equip parents to stand up and make a difference on behalf of their children, USPIE recently released a groundbreaking documentary titled “Truth & Lies in American Education.” This feature film uncovers the horrors happening inside the American school system, including critical race theory, anti-American ideology, sexualization, and outright Marxism, and features interviews with educational experts such as Karen England, Alex Newman, Dr. Duke Pesta, Dr. Carol Swain, Sam Sorbo and more.

The film is a true story that follows Few’s own daughter-in-law, April, as she learns about the alarming liberal agenda throughout America’s school system. Viewers witness firsthand the toxic propaganda taught to children and the devastating effects.

“Our hope with this film is to force parents to wake up to the realities of the American school system,” Few said. “The liberal agenda is slowly sneaking into the homes of millions of Americans, and if parents aren’t prepared to stop it, will overturn the very makeup of the American family unit. We must protect children and fight back!”

The film addresses questions such as:

• Are standardized tests being used for data collection?
• Is there a federal education scheme to control the nation’s economy?
• Why is the study of history so often anti-American and anti-Christian?
• Are children being taught to become political activists?
• What is the true aim of “comprehensive” sexuality education?
• How much transgender influence is there in government schools?
• What about critical race theory and the 1619 Project?

“Truth & Lies in American Education” is available for streaming on SalemNOW, as well available on DVD. For more information about “Truth & Lies in American Education,” click here.

United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE) is a nonprofit, nationwide coalition that seeks to return education to its proper local roots and restore parental authority over their children’s education by helping parents and local communities to escape federal and other national influences. It is the vision of USPIE to create a culture where parents, empowered with the authority to choose what and how their children learn, are the undisputed primary educators of their children, where local schools operate in support of families, and where education is unencumbered by federal mandates.

As the world prepares for the start of a new year, many set resolutions to better themselves or their families in the year to come. Top resolutions often involve losing weight, spending less time on social media, or saving more money. For parents, however, United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE) Founder and President Sheri Few encourages resolutions that will benefit their children rather than themselves.

“Many New Year’s resolutions focus on personal goals,” Few commented. “Personal betterment is great, but parents need to be aware of the extremely detrimental agenda permeating government schools and put their New Year’s motivation towards saving their children from being brainwashed by the liberal agenda. Today’s federal schools are riddled with explicit sexual content, anti-American sentiments and harmful pedagogies like critical race theory. Parents all across the country are waking up to the harsh realities of the federal school system but need to take action in order to save their children!”

USPIE’s latest film, Truth & Lies in American Education, reveals the shocking truth about America’s government school system. With testimonials from educational experts such as Karen England, Alex Newman, Dr. Duke Pesta, Dr. Carol Swain, Sam Sorbo, and others, Truth & Lies in American Education informs and equips parents with the tools necessary to fight for their God-given parental rights. The film follows Few’s own daughter-in-law, April, as she learns about the alarming liberal agenda throughout America’s school system. Driven by her own desire to safeguard her children, April Few makes the shocking discovery that the government education system — the one intended to educate America’s children — has been infiltrated with toxic propaganda.

“Now is the time to make the change for the betterment of American children,” Few said. “If you want to stop your children from experiencing the disasters of the American education system, there are things you can do! First, parents need to take their children out of the public school system — if the children are gone, so is the money, which will force the government to reexamine their policies. Second, parents must get involved in education at the local level and make their voices heard at school board meetings. If you pay your taxes, you have a right to have your voice heard!”

“Most importantly, we can never give up the fight! Parents across America need to take the start of the new year to recommit themselves to the betterment of their children and fight for the education they deserve. Our hope with Truth & Lies in American Education is to kickstart parents into action with the horrifying truth about the state of the American education system. It’s clear that children need to be protected from the nefarious agenda in place from the government.”

Today is Giving Tuesday – a special day to give to a mission you believe in!

​​​​​​​USPIE is not afraid to sound the alarm and expose the indoctrination in government schools, but we cannot do it alone.

USPIE counts on your contributions to advance our mission of returning education to its proper local roots and restoring parental authority over their children’s education. Please consider a tax-deductible donation today and even consider a recurring donation to support this vital work.​​​​​​​

We pray you are moved to give to an organization you truly believe in! Consider USPIE, the organization working hard to expose the indoctrination our children face every day in public schools! Give to us, not because it is the day you should, but because it is a mission you agree with.

Can you help? We are believing God to raise $5,000 this Giving Tuesday and we can’t do it without amazing supporters like you. Please consider donating to end the indoctrination of children in America’s classrooms!

Elections were last week and school boards have been overturned all over the country. In Berkeley County, South Carolina parents flipped the school board. At their first meeting they voted to fire the Superintendent and the board attorney. They also had resolutions on the agenda to decrease the property tax, ban the teaching of critical race theory in any form, and to establish a committee to evaluate inappropriate sexual/pornographic content. They even did away with the chairs being 6 feet apart. USPIE considers this a huge win!

​​​​​​​Good, conservative school board candidates have been elected, but now they will be required to attend school board orientation and training that aims to indoctrinate them into believing they have no authority. 

USPIE is excited to share and recommends the following alternative trainings and associations:

1. Family Policy Foundation – School Board Academy (this training is Biblically-based)

2. National School Boards Leadership Council

3. School Board Training – The Heritage Foundation

Also, several states that withdrew from the National School Board Association have formed a new coalition: COSSBA- Consortium of State School Boards Associations.

USPIE has guides and resources on our website to help parents navigate and learn how their local school boards function! USPIE also provides templates for school board policy prohibiting Critical Race Theory. View Resources Here.

USPIE is thrilled to shine a light on Christians seeking to put God back in the American classroom. As an all-volunteer, grassroots organization, USPIE counts on your financial support to promote the newly released documentary Truth and Lies in American Education. Your contributions help USPIE gain more national attention as we fight to protect children and America’s freedom. Please consider a tax-deductible donation today and even consider a recurring donation to support this vital work.

Donate online or mail a check to USPIE, 998 Guion Drive, Lugoff, SC 29078.

Thank you!

When America’s first law banning “gender transition procedures” for minors was passed in Arkansas last year, it spawned a wave of similar legislation. But legislative proposals in a dozen other states withered on the vine, while the Arkansas law faced an immediate court challenge that temporarily blocked the law from taking effect in July 2021.

Since then, Alabama and Arizona moved forward and passed their own versions of the Arkansas act, while California took a 180-degree turn to counteract the bans. Last month, California became the nation’s first “sanctuary” state welcoming out-of-state youths who seek puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries.

And now, the Arkansas law, called the Save Adolescents From Experimentation (SAFE) Act, remains closely watched from all sides as it heads to trial in Little Rock starting Oct. 17. The outcome will determine how lawmakers and activists nationwide plan their next moves in the evolving controversy over medical intervention for transgender-identifying minors.

‘Necessary’ or ‘Experimental’?

U.S. District Court Judge James Moody Jr. must decide a case that pits the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) against Arkansas officials who are defending the SAFE Act.

The ACLU contends that the SAFE Act unconstitutionally denies “medically necessary” treatments for youths suffering from gender dysphoria, which is persistent distress about one’s gender. In its lawsuit, the ACLU is representing four gender-dysphoric children, ages 9 to 16 at the time of the filing in May 2021, and two doctors who provide “gender-affirming care.”

The children’s parents described seeing marked improvements in attitude and reduced anxiety after counseling and, in some cases, treatments with hormones. The parents worry about what would happen to their children if the law were to take effect, requiring the treatment to abruptly stop.

Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge counters that the state is obligated to protect juveniles from “experimental” treatments that can permanently alter their still-developing bodies. She and other supporters of the SAFE Act say that long-term effects of the treatments remain unknown.

Multiple Appeals Likely

The case serves as the nation’s first test of the constitutionality of this type of law, Danielle Weatherby, an associate professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law, told The Epoch Times. Regardless of which way the judge rules, “this is just the beginning of a wild ride,” Weatherby said.

She predicts multiple appeals will follow, along with legislative proposals in a number of states.

From a legal standpoint, Moody’s decision will be considered a precedent only within the Eighth Circuit, a six-state federal court region that includes Arkansas. At least two Eighth Circuit states, Iowa and Missouri, had introduced bills resembling the SAFE Act. (The remaining states are Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.)

If the ACLU prevails and Moody strikes down the SAFE Act, “it will mean that any state that is in the Eighth Circuit will not be permitted to pass one of these laws,” Weatherby said. When Moody agreed to temporarily block Arkansas from implementing the SAFE Act, he was required to base that decision on a “reasonable likelihood” that the ACLU would prevail in its lawsuit.

Arkansas sought a reversal of Moody’s decision, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld the preliminary injunction. Thus, Moody’s court and the appeals court both appear to have telegraphed that they’re leaning toward the ACLU’s contentions in the case.

But Moody is expected to have five long days of testimony to mull over, leaving open the possibility that he still may uphold the SAFE Act.

Court Disputes ‘Reversible’ Tag

On a personal level, Weatherby said she cares about the outcome of the case because she knows several transgender people and their families. “I know that firsthand, having worked with transgender children, they do not make this decision lightly,” to undergo gender-altering medical procedures, she said. “And I think that gets lost in the conversation.”

She also is aware of the debate over whether “gender-affirming care” is safe and effective. She said that’s a decision each family has to make, in consultation with doctors, and “do the best we could do with the knowledge we have, because these kids are suffering from certain fear, anxiety and depression.”

One atypical argument in favor of the SAFE Act relies on a British court ruling, as opposed to one in the United States.

“When there’s no precedent, we look elsewhere,” Weatherby said.

Rutledge, the attorney general, wrote, “The SAFE Act responds to widespread, growing international concerns” over body-altering medical treatments being performed on minors’ still-developing bodies. She noted that, a few months before the SAFE Act was approved, the high court in the United Kingdom “determined that children likely cannot ever understand the irreversible consequences of using puberty-blocking drugs as a transition procedure.”

The UK court also disputed assertions that puberty blockers’ effects are “fully reversible,” if the patient stops using the medications. Instead, the court found: “Missed development and experience, during adolescence, can never truly be recovered or ‘reversed.’”

In its initial complaint against Arkansas, the ACLU declared: “Puberty-delaying treatment is reversible.” But further down on the same page, the ACLU cites professional guidelines describing the “partly irreversible effects” of those prescriptions. Such conflicts arise because the science is unsettled, Arkansas officials have argued.

Odd Battle Lines Drawn

Another unusual aspect of the case: the unexpected mix of people on both sides. A  large number of medical organizations, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have thrown their support behind the ACLU, along with other groups supporting civil rights and LGBT rights, plus 20 states, predominantly Democrat, as The Epoch Times reported in a previous story.

On the other side, backers of the SAFE Act include 19 mostly Republican-dominated states, along with a number of “detransitioners,” who say medical transitioning didn’t solve their problems—it just created more issues. Those people express regret over their gender-altering medications and surgeries.

Additional supporters of the SAFE Act include a handful of individual doctors, the conservative Family Research Council, and a nationwide feminist group, the Women’s Liberation Front.

The somewhat unexpected alliances within each camp show “what an anomaly this case is,” attorney Vernadette Broyles told The Epoch Times. Broyles, who holds a Harvard University law degree and an undergraduate biology degree from Yale University, is positioned as a rare authoritative voice when legal and medical battles intersect.

Conveyor Belt Approach?

Broyles and her team with the Child and Parental Rights Campaign filed a brief that shares stories of 10 families whom the SAFE Act would have protected.

The brief reveals a pattern.

Medical professionals often told the parents that “gender-affirming care” is essential—and without it, their gender-dysphoric children would likely kill themselves. Caregivers told Kristine W.: “Transgender identity is very trendy in the hospital setting right now.” They said she should ask her anorexic, bulimic child, “How can we help you with your gender identity?”

With little assessment or attempt at non-medical treatments, “a conveyor belt” whisks away young people into the treatment queues, as “one-page marketing materials gloss over the harms,” the brief said. The drugs often render the children infertile and cause numerous potential side effects, Broyles said, such as deteriorating bones and cardiovascular problems—without solid evidence that shows the risks are worth taking.

Studies are of low quality and are flawed in many other ways, she said. Sometimes, one parent gets shut out of the process. A father, Ted H., learned that his son was taking “gender-affirming treatments” only after his health insurer sent a statement showing payment rendered to an endocrinologist at a gender clinic: $210,000, the brief said.

Rank-and-File Dissent

Broyles said only “a sliver of the medical community” favors prescribing these treatments, but the ACLU-aligned medical groups are claiming most doctors agree with this practice. Few people realize that the large medical associations do not submit position statements to their entire membership for approval, Broyles said. Rather, committees put them together and send them to the board for a vote.

“These medical associations have become captive to activist professionals who made it their business to get onto the board or to get onto the critical policy-making committees,” Broyles said. “There is an effort to suppress any opposition to the ideological narrative.” Among the information that is being tamped down: puberty blockers are an “off-label” use for those drugs. “None of these treatments have been approved by the FDA … they couldn’t satisfy the requirements,” Broyles said.

Broyles expressed grave concerns over “the distorting effect … on the medical community,” damage to the public trust, and the impact on children and families. “The idea that we would hijack a child’s adolescent developing body, override their genetic operating manual, without the gold seal of appropriately controlled clinical studies … it is unjust to our children,” she said. She believes that mentally vulnerable children are being used in a mass experiment, which is “beyond the pale.”

Regardless of how the case ends, one of its most important effects might be this, Broyles said: “It finally brings to light, to put onto the public record, what these interventions actually do to children, adolescents, and young people—what they do to their developing bodies.” This article was published by The Epoch Times and can be found here.

Vernadette is featured in USPIE’s recently released documentary Truth and Lies in American Education which is available to stream or to purchase on DVD at TruthandLiesFilm.us.