Washington school gives first-graders homework on their gender identity

A school district in Washington state has been criticized after leaked images online show first graders in the district were given a gender identity handout that said they could identify as “neither” or “both” genders.

The handout shows that students enrolled in state public schools should be taught as early as kindergarten that “there are many ways to express gender.”

Images of the online assignment, which is reportedly being managed by the Edmonds School District, were uploaded to Twitter last week by a concerned mother. This was reported by the National Desk.

By doing Twitter post the mother said, “My son’s first grade homework from yesterday,” adding, “I’m so sick of this.” A screenshot of the task, which is deemed to be credible, shows a pronoun chart indicating that the young children can be a boy, a girl, or “neither or both.”

The students were also instructed to read a book titled, Jamie and Bubbie: A Book About People’s Pronouns (Jamie Is Jamie). The book features a young child teaching their great-grandmother the importance of not assuming one’s gender.

According to the author, the book “…introduces children, through an accessible fictional narrative, to the nonbinary experience, the use of gender-neutral pronouns, and how to respectfully use personal pronouns. They will learn the importance of using the correct pronouns, and that sometimes a person’s name and pronouns can change.”

In an email sent to the Edmonds School District obtained by The Post Millennial, the parent expressed concerns surrounding the age-inappropriate curriculum, mentioning that parents were not warned beforehand.

“Our child is 7 years old and in the first grade! This material is completely inappropriate for children this age and is the reason the state of Florida is looking to legislate this issue. We were not given any type of prior notice that this was to be taught and had we been informed we would have denied consent and requested our child be excused from the lesson,” the parent said in the email.

When asked about the material, the Edmonds School District told The National Desk that it “is required to teach state standards” and cited documents from the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction detailing the standards. The district told the outlet that the lessons are in compliance with state education standards.

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