This State's Largest School District Just Saw a 582% Spike in Students Identifying as 'Non-Binary'

The largest school district in Maryland saw a 582% increase in the number of students identifying as non-binary over two years, according to a district official. 

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) collects this information by giving an intake form to students to fill out at the beginning of every school year. The form asks students for their "identified name," "identified gender" and their preferred pronouns, KUTV reports. 

According to the outlet, the form also asks students if their parents or guardians are aware of their recognized gender and asks students to rank on a scale of 1 to 10 their parents' level of support. The form notes that parents and guardians should only be involved in the completion of the form if they are aware and supportive of the child's gender identity.

KUTV reports three years ago only 35 MCPS students, the majority in middle school, indicated they were non-binary. But those numbers have drastically climbed. The data collected from the 423 forms that have been submitted over the last four years reveal that 45% of those students now identify as non-binary. It also shows that most students say their parents or guardians are supportive, with 55% giving them a score of 8-10.

A review by grade level shows most of the MCPS middle school students say they are non-binary, according to the outlet. 

A study published by the National Institute of Health (NIH) in 2018 reveals that for most children growing up with gender dysphoria, whether it will persist or desist is typically determined between ages 10 and 13.

Parents Complain to School Boards About 'Transgender' Policies

School board meetings across the country have increasingly become cauldrons for parental unrest and political division. What used to be orderly, even boring meetings with few in attendance are now bubbling into disputes about transgender policies, sexually graphic books, and critical race theory as these divisive issues have gained national attention. 

While some are calling for the suppression of parental input, legislators and parents are saying this is about protecting parental rights in schools. Some parents have gone to court to protect those rights. 

As CBN News reported in July, parents and teachers joined forces to sue the Harrisonburg, Virginia, City Public School Board. They say the board is usurping their parental right to direct the upbringing of their children and forcing school staff to violate their religious beliefs by affirming the board's view on gender identity. 

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorneys filed the lawsuit, D.F. v. Harrisonburg City Public School Board in the Rockingham County Circuit Court. 

ADF reports that, if a child makes a request, the school district's policy requires staff to immediately begin using opposite-sex pronouns and forbids staff from sharing information with parents about their child's request.

The policy, according to the ADF, resulted in the school district implementing Gender Transition Action Plans, which only allow students' families to be involved where the school deems it to be "appropriate."

Public Responds to Biden Admin's Proposed Title IX Rules Change

The Biden administration also proposed a dramatic overhaul of Title IX back in June. For the first time, the rules would formally protect LGBTQ students even though nothing in the 1972 law explicitly addresses the topic. The new proposal attempts to alter the law to include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

As CBN News reported in September, public comments on Biden's Title IX policy change hit record numbers before the feedback period closed, indicating Americans find the administration's efforts to redefine sex "unpopular" and "controversial."

The Office of the Federal Register, which lists the total number of comments made on a certain regulation, logged 210,594 comments at the close of the day on Monday, Sept. 12.

The new policy would end protections for girls and women by allowing men who identify as women to use women's restrooms and locker rooms and to compete on women's sports teams. It would also broaden the definition of sexual harassment to include LGBTQ students.

Additionally, it would eliminate due process protections for students accused of sexual harassment or sexual assault and remove protections for religious institutions that adhere to traditional beliefs on sexuality, gender, and marriage.

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