I’m Kris Ullman, President of Eagle Forum, an attorney, and the mother of two daughters and one son.  I know firsthand, as most Americans do, that outside of extreme circumstances, parents should be the ones making crucial decisions about their children’s health and well-being.

No doctor “assigned” sexes to my children at birth because sex in determined by fetal development, in the womb. One of my daughters has always loved to wear dresses and the other, more like me, feels more comfortable in jeans and sweats.  But what one wears, or finds interesting, does not determine one’s sex.  Too many in our popular culture, schools, and government are telling our kids that there is something called “gender identity” based on how you “feel” and that kids can actually change their gender –boys can become girls and girls can become boys. 

This is a dangerous and deceitful ideology   Parents know this – that is why so many are speaking out against the Biden Administration’s new Title IX regulations that undermine the role of parents.  The new Title IX rules do not respect the rights of parents to control the education and upbringing of their children — they don’t even respect parents’ right to KNOW what is going on in schools. 

For example, in support of the new regulations, the Department of Education has cited a California legal advisory and a Nevada policy that allow a student’s gender identity to be hidden from parents in the name of “safety” and “privacy” if the school suspects that the parents are not in total agreement.  Parents love their children more than the state and have the right to know what is going on in their children’s lives.  But under these new regulations, kids are encouraged to hide their feelings and actions from their parents and are told that parents won’t understand and will reject them. 

Let me repeat, under the Title IX regulations, teachers and school administrators have no obligation to inform parents if a child changes their pronouns, openly questions their gender, requests to be called by a different name, use different facilities, or even seek medical or mental health interventions.  This policy encourages schools to give FALSE information to parents.   It encourages kids to live a “double life”–to have one “identity” at home and another at school.  This is psychologically damaging to kids, and disrupts, rather than strengthens, the parent-child relationship. The purpose of these policies is to cut parents out of decisions about their children and allows school officials to guide and direct students, in direct violation of parental rights. 

The proposed rule will also grant children the right to use school facilities and participate in activities “consistent with their gender identity,” regardless of whether their parents agree or are even aware of that identity. Schools will be free to allow students to select the sex-separated restrooms, overnight field trip accommodations, camp cabins, locker rooms, and other intimate facilities based on their chosen “gender identity”, not their sex — without parental knowledge or approval.  Most parents would be aghast to find out that their child is being forced, or even allowed, to use a restroom, locker room or hotel room with a member of the opposite sex WITHOUT their consent.  Not only does this violate parents’ rights, it places kids in potentially dangerous and uncomfortable situations.  Sex-segregated areas exist to protect young people’s innocence and modesty.  Parents must have a voice before such changes are made in a school.

What do parents want when it comes to defining parental rights under Title IX?  There are a few fundamentals that should be included in the regulations to protect the rights of parents.  The Title IX rules should be re-written to make clear that:

1. Parents have the responsibility and right to choose the education and medical treatment that they deem best for their child.
2. Parents should be able to determine the medical treatment that their child receives without facing political or ideological barriers.
3. Any medical professional, school official, or government employee should obtain written parental consent to treat a child’s mental or physical health.
4. Every mother or father should have the right to be informed by school officials about any changes in their child’s physical, emotional, and mental health.

These are not controversial ideas but simply clarify that parents have the constitutional right to direct the education, upbringing, physical and mental health treatment of their children in accordance with their own values and judgment.  Children are first and foremost the responsibility of their parents. The unique and intimate relationship between a parent and a child creates a duty and a corresponding natural right. Parental rights are natural rights that cannot be given or taken away by a government.

If enacted, the new Title IX rules would keep vital information from parents and prevent them from exercising their fundamental rights. This will harm, not help, confused and vulnerable children who need their families, not the government, to help them grow into healthy adults.