Education

Seattle Public Schools Offer ‘Gender Affirming Care’, Hide Transgender Status From Parents

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Two Seattle public schools are offering unspecified gender transition services they refer to as “gender affirming care” through in-school clinics, according to public documents and initially reported by Parents Defending Education.

Nova High School and Meany Middle School offer on-site health services including both medical and counseling services through Country Doctor Community Health Centers (CDCHC), a local non-profit that also runs two primary care clinics, according to the schools’ websites. While the school websites do not specify what “gender affirming” services they offer in their clinics, the CDCHC offers cross-sex hormones, referrals for cross-sex surgeries and help with obtaining letters of support for those seeking such procedures, according to their website.

CDCHC does not offer puberty blockers, according to its website.

“At Country Doctor Community Health Centers, gender-affirming care is integrated into everyday primary care, so that you can get your hormones in the same place you get your wellness exams, cancer screenings, and treatment for acute and chronic health conditions,” the CDCHC website reads.

Seattle Public Schools has a policy in place explicitly discouraging teachers from disclosing a child’s transgender status unless legally mandated to do so and encourages teachers to avoid pronouns when discussing transgender students with parents if they’re unsure how the child identifies at home, according to documents unearthed by Parents Defending Education.

“The Nova Wellness Center offers no cost comprehensive, trauma-informed, and gender affirming care, conveniently at the school,” the school wellness center’s website reads. “The Wellness Center is staffed full time by a clinic administrator, medical providers, and a behavioral health specialist.”

The euphemism “gender affirming care” encompasses a wide array of mental health services and physical medical interventions that affirm a patient’s transgender status and perceived gender identity rather than helping them come to terms with their natural bodies and biological sex.

Nova High School and Meany Middle School did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.