The International Boys School Coalition (IBSC) is making waves with its upcoming training on “gender-inclusive schools” slated for September 19 and 20.
The two-day workshop will feature an overview of gender-literacy concepts and critical terminology. It will be led by Gender Spectrum, a transgender activist organization that encourages children to attempt to transition into the opposite sex.
The IBSC is an international group of nearly 300 K-12 member schools, including several prestigious private schools such as Nashville’s Montgomery Bell Academy, Connecticut’s Fairfield Country Day School, and New York’s Buckley School.
And while the training will focus on “gender-inclusive schools,” many are concerned that Gender Spectrum has partnered with transgender surgical clinics and encouraged children to attempt to transition.
Gender Spectrum’s training director, Carla Pena, will lead the “Foundations of Gender-Inclusive Schools” course. Pena is described as an LGBTQ+ rights advocate and informs that the classes will “explore approaches for responding to resistance.”
The “Gender Inclusive Schools” framework will also be discussed, which instructs school officials to “interrupt binary notions of gender” and “use language that challenges binary messages about gender.”
In addition, Gender Spectrum has hosted online sessions with surgical clinics that perform medical interventions on minors, including “top surgery” and “facial surgery.”
The organization also advertises a book written by its founder and board chair, which has been “lauded as the most trusted source of information for families wanting to understand and affirm their transgender, gender-expansive, or non-binary child.”
The IBSC is not alone in teaming up with Gender Spectrum, as the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) is another organization that has hosted a similar conference. Despite the widespread criticism, both organizations remain insistent on continuing their involvement with the transgender activist organization.
The IBSC did not respond to a request for comment. While the “Foundations of Gender-Inclusive Schools” course may have been created with the best of intentions, many remain concerned that the transgender activist organization may be influencing the schools in measures that could carry long-term effects.
As we advance, it remains to be seen just how many of its members will actually embrace the new curriculum and adopt the “Gender Inclusive Schools” framework.
