I just don’t understand why 5th graders should even be exposed to that that early. For kids that haven’t even gone through puberty yet I think gender identity is a pretty mature topic, and I don’t think I’d want a teacher being the one to discuss it with my child.

And before someone says that I just want to suppress the info keeping it out of school, what about the flip side where a nut job teacher decides 2 genders is part of the lesson plan?

5th grade seems like an appropriate time to start educating students about this as part of their health curriculum. That’s the grade when they gave us the puberty talk in my old school district.

Some early bloomers absolutely start puberty during or before 5th grade.

The teacher was fired for teaching gender theory, not sex education. Those are very different things and I suspect you know that.

Yes they are two different things but they are related. Puberty can be devastating to a child who isn’t comfortable with their body. In some cases puberty blockers are prescribed to delay the physical changes for children with gender disphoria. So educating gender identity along with puberty isn’t a bad idea.

And yes, some children do start questioning their gender before they start puberty.

But this is all speculative. We don’t know what the context for this teacher reading the book, but calling it inappropriate for their age is wrong.

I think it's wrong. Gender theory is pretty radical. It has no factual basis. Reinforcing delusions is universally destructive in psychology. As long as those delusions aren't reinforced, most kids reconcile without intervention. This study found that only 37% of children still identified as dysphoric five years later. This study found that 88% had desisted (they were no longer dysphoric). This mirrors other historical research into various areas of child psychology. Children frequently change identity and beliefs around identity.

As for puberty blockers, they don't just delay puberty. They also have devastating side effects, including osteoporosis and diabetes. That is why puberty blockers for gender dysphoria has now been banned in Sweden, the United Kingdom, and other European nations.

In one particularly shocking case, a girl who wanted to become a boy began taking hormone-blocking drugs at just 11-years-old. Almost five years after the treatment began, the puberty-pausing drugs induced osteoporosis and permanently damaged the teen’s vertebrae, severely limiting the teen’s mobility.

“When we asked him regularly how his back felt, he said: ‘I’m in pain all the time’,” she added.

This topic is rather personal to me, so I've researched this topic to the best of my abilities. I'm happy to concede this isn't settled science, but must reinforce that this isn't settled science. It's not clear that affirmation is beneficial, and in fact, research indicates the opposite.

NYRAG? You serious bro?

Google tells me that NYRAG stands for the New York Regional Association of Grantmakers. I'm sorry but I don't understand how that relates.