How Schools Undermine Parents on Gender Identity | January Littlejohn

Transcript:

Rebecca Weber: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to Better for America. I’m Rebecca Weber and I’m excited for today’s episode where we will be diving into some of the most pressing issues facing Americans today, including our education and personal freedom. It’s a joy to have with me my next guest. Her name is January Littlejohn.

She’s a licensed mental health care counselor. She’s a parental rights advocate and she is a mother. Who has really been at the forefront of the battle to protect parental rights in school. Also joining us is Vernadette Royals. Vernadette is president and general counsel for the child parents rights campaign.

Ladies. It’s an absolute joy to have you both with me. And I’m thrilled to have you here to talk on such an important topic. Thanks for joining me.

January Littlejohn: Thank you so much for having us, Rebecca.

Rebecca Weber: Absolutely. I want to talk a little bit about, your story January and start there. There’s a lot for us to unpack today, but essentially your child’s school had initiated discussions with your daughter about gender identity and a gender support plan.

They did this without. You or your husband’s knowledge for input or consent, and I think the really alarming part here is, that the school seems to think that there’s nothing wrong with this. you did take legal action against the county school district. Can you tell us a little bit about, this legal action?

This did spark nationwide conversation about transparency, parental authority and school policies really regarding our minors.

January Littlejohn: Sure, I’d be happy to. Rebecca, you know my story well, and it started back in 2020 when really very little was known about gender identity ideology. we hear that a lot now, but we forget how much was unknown back in 2020.

So when our daughter was 13 at the time at the height of COVID and came to us and told us she no longer felt like a girl. what we were seeing with her and within her friend group at the local middle school really wasn’t corresponding with what I knew about gender dysphoria, which traditionally started very early in childhood.

It impacted mostly males. And you didn’t see clusters of friend groups all of a sudden, suddenly identifying as transgender. And so that word transgender no longer even has a coherent meaning. It means whatever the child wants it to mean. And so these children, it’s important to understand. With gender identity ideology, they are being taught that they have a so called gender identity that is completely separate from their sex and that they choose to be a boy, girl, neither or both.

And so at the time when our daughter told us that she no longer felt like a girl, we were very much in the dark about what she had been exposed to, the propaganda that she had Started to believe about herself that she was born in the wrong body, that she could actually be a sex, something other than what she actually is.

And so we were really struggling to get information and navigate this with our daughter. Abigail Shrier’s book irreversible damage really blew the lid off the social contagion aspect. But it did not come out until the summer of 2020, and I didn’t find that book until the fall of 2020. So we were really feeling around in the dark, like so many parents.

And, for myself and many parents, we didn’t know who to turn to. We didn’t know who to trust. And certainly when you Google this issue, Back in 2020, the only information you found were from NGO, LGBTQ advocate, activists groups like the Trevor Project, like Equality Florida. The information being given was completely false.

It was a lie. They were emotionally blackmailing parents like me to make us believe that if we didn’t immediately transition our child, they were going to kill themselves. So we were really struggling to understand what was happening with our child. We were watching her mental health spiral in real time.

And at the same time her mental health was spiraling, the things that she was asking for was escalating. So you know, she was asking for name and pronoun change. She was talking about breast binding and cavalierly talking about surgical interventions, things that I knew nothing about. And so we did reach out to the school.

I emailed a teacher. I thought I could trust the school, Rebecca, and, there are aspects of our legal case that I can’t go into, but two weeks after I emailed the teacher and let her know that we had elicited the help from a counselor, that I thought my daughter’s confusion was directly related to her friend group, and that we thought she would go by what we thought was a nickname.

My daughter got into the car and told me that they had a private meeting with her, that They asked her which restroom she wanted to use. So I immediately emailed the school counselor because, again, this was the height of COVID. Parents were not allowed on school campus. And I was called back with the guidance counselor and the assistant principal and was told they could not give me any information about the secret meeting they had with my 13 year old daughter because she was now protected by a non discrimination law.

And so that’s really what propelled us into this nightmare, dealing with the school, realizing that we could no longer trust that the school had our best interest, or that we’re going to honor our parental authority in any way, shape, or form.

Rebecca Weber: I am so grateful that you had the courage, both you and your husband, the courage to step up and speak out on this issue.

So many people are suffering in the same way. And it’s folks like you that really are empowering and inspiring other people to stick to their guns and do what is right and fight for what is right. Because if we don’t fight for what is right, slowly, bit by bit, we’ll see the values And what I’m seeing is really a cultural, transformation, a massive divide that’s creeping into our nation, that’s trying to upturn the way that we, societal norms, and attacking, sexual, binary, which we know God created them male and female.

And anything other than that is, is absolute ludicrous and stupidity. So we’ve got to fight on this front. So many people are suffering. We’re hearing from more and more people, even those AMAC members that have been in similar situations. And so they’re rallying behind you, and praying and hoping that, that this case is brought to light.

Can you share a little bit about the 11th circuit court, and their ruling on your case?

January Littlejohn: Sure. And I’ll defer to my attorney about that. I wish I could tell you that our case has a happy ending and that parental rights are being upheld and protected in our country. And unfortunately, that’s just not what us parents who are standing up are finding out.

Our case was dismissed first at the federal level in December of 2022. And so we chose to appeal to the 11th circuit court of appeals. And we just received that ruling last week on D trans awareness day, nonetheless. it was just a shocking thing that, had happened. So I’ll let Bernadette explain what that ruling is and what it means moving forward for parents and parental rights.

Vernadette Broyles: yeah, happy to share about this. Rebecca, because it’s interesting to me that the decision came out approximately two weeks after President, the President recognized January Littlejohn in the gallery. and it’s just when, during his address to Congress, I just, find that interesting because we had been waiting on that decision for, not exact, quite a few months.

For many months and then all of a sudden it comes out, but more importantly is what the decision held, which is shocking, quite frankly, it the there’s a three judge panel. That’s how it works. when you initially go before a circuit court of appeals and the majority of the panel where there’s 2 judges that sided with this reasoning.

One who vehemently didn’t was that it is not sufficient for a parent. To allege or to show a court that their fundamental parental rights that are protected by the due process clause of the Constitution, it’s not sufficient for them to just allege that. Now, let me just pause right there. What does that mean?

Even there, the Supreme Court has held for over a hundred years that the 14th amendment of, of the Constitution has a due process clause. and so they have held that there are certain rights that are so fundamental to our society that you cannot have true liberty. You cannot have ordered liberty without protecting those rights.

One of which is the right to direct the upbringing of your child, of your children. If people don’t have that fundamental right, we really don’t have a truly, free society is basically what the. What the Supreme Court had ruled starting over a hundred years ago. And that’s that makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it, Rebecca?

So, understanding that parents have had a fundamental parental right protected by the due process clause of the 14th amendment. now this court, 11th circuit comes along and says it’s not enough that a parent alleges that their Fundamental right has been violated even and the Constitution is violated.

They now they have to Additionally allege that it shocks the conscience that the violations shocks the conscience So it’s not good enough that you violate the Constitution. You have to shockingly Violate the constitution in order for the parents to have their day in court. that’s not even proving the case that’s even to have a case that will be allowed to move forward in court.

Do you even have your day in court? And then you have to go on and prove it to a jury. And so as a result, they upheld dismissing the little John’s entire case. Because in their mind, the test is that you have to shock the conscience and it doesn’t shock the conscience that adults, teachers, government employees would bring a minor child into their office without their parents and query them and fill out a seven page document.

That is part of the record about what sex they’re going to treat this child as. Whether their child is gonna be used, gonna use the what, bathroom they’re going to use. That’s right. That puts them at risk.

Rebecca Weber: this in my view, what you’re saying here is if that doesn’t shock the conscience, what does, this is, something that can, lasting emotional impact on children.

There hasn’t been enough research to prove. That, supporting gender dysphoria in this way, in other words, allowing a child to call themselves what they want to call them and deny the science. There’s no proof that is better for children’s mental health in the long run. Everything I have read and understand, and furthermore, there’s, a, an element of danger here, in my view, when you have young girls that are.

Changing in locker, men’s locker rooms, boys locker rooms. the list goes on. We’ve heard so much of it, so this is, there’s something really wrong. It seems with society that this three panel, these, this ju, these judges of three would, rule,

Vernadette Broyles: what was it, two against? it was two. It was two.

Now, the dissent gave a powerful and, a, an accurate analysis of what the actual Supreme Court precedent is. Let me just say this. What was disturbing is that decision and that analysis is not even compelled by the Supreme Court case law. It was a distortion of the precedent. It took one footnote out of a case.

Previously decided by the court and it made that and it created a whole doctrine around that footnote and apply and use it as a And use it as a shield against parents to be able to block them from the court it was really an a very erode legally erroneous Decision with tremendous national consequences.

Thankfully, there was one judge that very powerfully, wrote what the proper analysis is. And as a result, we are giving very strong consideration to petition this to the Supreme Court in the United State of the United States because the implications you, as the dissent stated in his, the third judge, that’s the dissent stated, says.

If this analysis stands, you have basically said to this fundamental right, it no longer exists as a practical matter, because who, what parent is going to be able to bring that level of facts to be able to vindicate their fundamental constitutional right. So I believe the Supreme Court needs to bring order to this chaos.

Rebecca Weber: Bernadette, thank you so much. Excellent that you’re giving us this feedback and understanding. So the hope is that what is this ruling really mean for other parents across the country? And then how do you see this fight evolving in the legal system?

Vernadette Broyles: there’s actually been two circuits that have gotten it wrong, and I believe they’re getting it wrong because they have a fundamental, these, are judges that are either activists and have a fundamental misunderstanding of what it is to socially transition a child. It is not a benign intervention. It is a, it is an interv and perhaps they lack understanding, perhaps they don’t lack understanding and they’re activists. I don’t know. But, there, there clearly is not a, an understanding that you’re, when you socially transition your child, you’re placing that child on a conveyor belt that moves through chemical and surgical alterations to the body that sterilize children that has tremendous harms.

And so legally where this goes. I keep coming back to, I believe it’s going to happen, it’s one of two things. It is one of two things, Rebecca, either the Supreme Court is going to take up these two companion cases, the other case is out of Massachusetts in the First Circuit Court of Appeals, the Foote case, and then this one.

The Supreme Court is either going to take up these two cases, which by the way, they conflict, their legal analysis actually contradict each other, strangely enough, and yet come out with the same conclusion that parents are bored. Either Supreme Court takes this up and fixes this distortion of the law that bars the court, the courthouse to parents, or if they don’t, parents are going to start learning that their children are not safe in school because behind their backs, school officials, counselors, Can be radically altering the upbringing of their child and endorsing the denial of their child’s basic, most fundamental sex.

And it could be happening without their input, without their knowledge. And I’m, they will rude the day because school choice is going to take, is going to take hold in states across the nation. And parents are going to start fleeing the public school system. So the judges had better pay attention because otherwise they will destroy the public school system.

Rebecca Weber: Thank you for that. Now, January, you were personally invited by President Donald Trump to attend the Congressional State Speech. This was really a wonderful symbol of the parental rights movement. Tell us what that experience was like and maybe what message you’d like to leave. or a message that you want to send parents across the country.

January Littlejohn: I was just honored. And frankly, I was humbled. And I also, Rebecca, I felt the weight of not just representing what happened to our family, but representing thousands of families that are going through this nightmare with their children that are devastated, watching their child rapidly deteriorate in front of their eyes, and then have society and schools affirm their child’s self hate.

That’s what’s so incredibly disturbing about this entire agenda and movement is these are vulnerable, mostly girls, but we’re also seeing boys. These are kids that need help. They need support. They need to be tethered to the reality of their sex. Because adolescents having an identity crisis is nothing new.

What’s new is telling these vulnerable children at a time when they’re already experiencing discomfort with their body, that if they feel uncomfortable with their developing body during puberty, it may be because they’re trans. It may be because they’re born in the wrong body. And the only remedy to this is to have invasive, radical, experimental medical interventions done to them.

That is insanity. And what I will say is this is actually a unifying issue, Rebecca. For many parents like myself, left, all religions, all political backgrounds, nobody wants this in our schools. Nobody believes that it’s right to tell a child they can be born wrong and that we need to cut the breast off of girls as young as 12 years old in our country.

Because let’s be clear. That’s what is happening. And so this is a unifying issue. I was honored to attend the joint address to Congress and. It was an incredible honor to represent the families that have been suffering in silence for a very long time, because I know they all felt heard that night.

And they all cried tears of joy, hearing president Trump, hearing our federal administration say to every child, you are perfect exactly the way God made you.

Rebecca Weber: Donald Trump, he did call this, he was very explicit. He said, this is child abuse. This is evil. and he is really making parental rights a top priority with, President Trump in office. Do you think that there’s anything more his administration can do to ensure that this doesn’t continue to happen to families?

January Littlejohn: Absolutely. And I can tell you he’s got an incredible team with him. it was very clear from early on reading the executive orders that he has people on his team that fully understand this issue.

They understand the gravity of this issue. And this didn’t just happen overnight, Rebecca. This has been seeping into our federal laws, our schools, our medical programs, my own field of psychology, media. This has been happening for a very long time. And there are books that lay this out, like when Harry became Sally, Dr.

Ryan Anderson was trying to blow the whistle on this back in 2018. He was trying to warn people, a lot of this happened with a dear colleague letter under president Obama. another book that’s great for your viewers is Queering of the American Child by Logan Lansing and Dr. James Lindsay.

They explicitly talk about how queer theory was placed into schools intentionally to destroy the sex binary, to destroy the nuclear family. Because I can tell you, this was a direct attack. On the nuclear family, this created a huge wedge between us and our daughter. And these kids are being sent a very clear message.

Not only are you born wrong, and the only way to fix it is to escape who you are and become someone new, but also that if your parents don’t immediately affirm this lie, they don’t love you. And so this is a direct attack on parental rights and the family at large and on these children, frankly, any ideology that convinces a child that they need to cut up their body is evil.

Rebecca Weber: Bernadette, I’d like to turn to you the following question regarding child protective services. We grew up, I grew up always, understanding that this was a Good organization that was designed to protect our children, to rescue children in bad situations. But now we’re learning more and more that in fact, CPS has been weaponized.

Can you speak to that?

Vernadette Broyles: Oh, I can, because I have actually represented parents who have lost custody of their own child to Child Protective Services. These are loving and fit parents. These are engaged and responsible parents. Because they’re, and it’s been daughters, which is the most common, denied their sex and declared a transgender identity and these parents were, fixed on biological reality.

And, we talked about, in fact, this decision says, and many people think that these school officials are just helping children. let me tell you, no one who drives a wedge. between children and their parents is helping a child. That’s what people who have some other adult motive do.

I dare I say grooming a child for some other ideological purpose. And so what we have seen, what we have seen time and we’re seeing increasingly in part because of secret transition by school officials. Or some other adult that, these teenage girls get caught up in this, began demanding to be treated as something other than the sex.

And what they’re told on the internet, they’re told by other adults is if your parents don’t affirm and endorse this, they don’t love you and it’s best to get to the parents, leave them, reject them. And so they will literally want to divorce their parents, reject their parents. They will be told to claim that they are, that they will commit suicide.

They’re told to, encourage to, engage in actions of self-harm, all of which is to create a crisis situation that is a basis for child Protective Services come and getting involved and literally taking Cusing away. from the parents. I have a case right now. I have, I am fighting a case at this moment in California where that exactly has happened.

January Littlejohn: Yeah, absolutely. part of what I do now is I help parents get to the resources. They need to walk their Children through this confusion. And you do that by grounding your child in truth. From a place of love and compassion and affirm their pain without affirming the false identity. And I, I tell parents, I don’t sugar coat this.

It is very difficult. This is a radical ideology and it often takes radical steps. even withdrawing your child from the school or any environment that is affirming them because, Rebecca, when else do we allow? A 13 or a 12 year old child to determine whether or not their parents are going to be involved in critical decisions at school or in doctor’s office.

You talked about how it’s misplaced compassion. Where is the critical thinking? On the part of the adults when it comes to this, my child should have never been given the option. She should have never had the burden of making the choice to not have her parents present there to protect her. And so I want to be very clear about this.

This is a direct assault and parents have got to remove their child from any environment, even doctor’s offices. If they’re going to be exposing their children to the lie of gender identity or their parental authority is not honored. And so we have a lot of resources, one of which Bernadette and I worked on together.

It is the Church Transgender Response Guide. This is a wonderful resource we designed both for parents and pastors. And we even have started doing trainings in churches because I can tell you for many parents like myself. They don’t know who to turn to for help, and even many of them feel abandoned by their own churches, because if the pastors are not preaching about this issue, standing firm in biblical truth.

What, what chance do our kids actually have? We’ve got to get churches off the sidelines about this issue, preaching biblical truth to our children, to our youth, to our young adults, so that when they are exposed to the lies, they know that they are lies. And you can get this at childparent.org. rights. org and reach out to Bernadette or myself. I’m here in my personal capacity today, but I also have a wonderful parent resource page at do no harm medicine. org that parents can get podcast books, all types of articles and, actual information like the cast review. Other systematic reviews, like our white paper, that are based on actual facts and evidence, not propaganda and ideology.

It’s really important for parents to understand what the treatment options are, and the fact that the U. S. is now an outlier. And how we are approaching this issue with children and adolescents, because the bottom line is other countries are moving away from social affirmation and medical transition because the risk far outweigh the benefits.

And we know that children do not have the cognitive development to consent to these types of irreversible treatment options. And so we have got to start following the evidence in our country, but until then, Parents have to stand up, take back their authority because I can tell you, Rebecca, I am a proponent of public schools.

I don’t believe the vast majority of teachers and counselors are on board with this agenda, but it only takes one activist school counselor or teacher to infect the entire system. So parents do not be afraid to stand up, ask questions because you do not want to wait until this ideology comes roaring into your home before you try to protect your child and inoculate them from this ideology altogether.

Rebecca Weber: Yeah. And you talk about the risks outweigh the benefits. The only real benefits I’ve seen is the money trail that goes back to the doctors and the professionals that are pushing this on our children. and. And I see no benefit. I’ve heard of no good benefit or good health outcomes, after putting children through life altering, hormonal changes, sex changes, and such.

And if you’re a parent or grandparent and you’re tuning in and you get that sense of anger, when you hear of where you see or witness your child, your grandchild, your friend, this happening to a child, I pull that righteous anger, follow that voice, do something about it. Join a mat. Tell more and more people about what we’re doing.

Learn how you can support our community. this is such an important issue, not only to me personally, but we’ve pulled our members. Millions of Americans are behind protecting our children. We’ve got to protect them for future generations. I want to thank you, January Little John. It’s always an honor to be here with you.

And so nice to meet you, Vernadette Broyles. Thank you for the great work you’re doing. And I do hope to have you back on with us again soon. Thank you so much for

January Littlejohn: having us. We’re so pleased

Rebecca Weber: to be on with you. Take care. Thank you so much. that’s it for today, folks. If you’ve enjoyed this episode, if you think it’s important, please be sure to share this with friends and family.

Don’t forget to join or renew with AMAC, go to amac. us. That’s it for today, folks. We’ll see you again soon. Have a blessed day.