Below is a testimony that was shared with the Highline School Board:
Good evening. I’m Patricia Bailey, a retired Seattle teacher.
Highline School Policy and procedure 3211 is contrary to fact and leads children into harmful behavior. I will quote a teenage girl who underwent hormone and surgical procedures based on the egregious lie that she could change her sexual orientation as Policy 3211 promotes.
“I’m a 17 years old girl with a flat chest, a deep voice, a visible Adam’s apple and some facial hair. There’s no reason for me to continue to live. I destroyed my life and… I don’t think any person will ever wanna date me. There’s nothing I can really do without getting reminded of my past and how much I miss it. I feel ashamed of what I did… I was just a kid and I would have needed someone to help me accept myself but my therapist didn’t question my “transness.” I can’t stop thinking about the life I could have had….
I love my mom… She stopped me the first time from transitioning but the second time she was also brain-washed and sadly thought that when all these professionals say it’s the right thing to let your kid transition, then it must be the right thing… I wanna kill myself… It’s too much for me to handle. There’s no joy in my life any more.”
There are hundreds of these reports of irreversible damage that began with the poisonous lie that people can change their sex to match “how they feel inside.” It all starts with so-called “compassionate adults” affirming the child’s self-loathing. Policy 3211 needs to be rewritten so our district will not be party to sad stories like this one.
