A superintendent in Washington state defended a first grade teacher’s decision to read her class a book about transgender children.
Greg Baker, the superintendent of Bellingham School District, said the teacher’s choice to read I Am Jazz to her class was in line with the district’s values. His statement on Thursday cited “hate speech and harassment” that began with “attention” given to the reading of the library book and “the private business owned by one of our school board members.”
“Reading diverse books and learning about all kinds of lives is consistent with our values in our strategic plan, The Bellingham Promise,” Baker said. “We believe all children should be loved, and we believe diversity enhances a strong and healthy community.”
“We continue to diversify our library collections so that all families and children’s identities and experiences are reflected,” Baker added. “Our teachers share books with children that are age-appropriate and that provide insights into lives of people who are like them and people who are different from them.“
I Am Jazz, published in 2014, has been “part of our library book collection in our elementary schools and has been in our libraries for several years,” Baker added.
The picture book tells the “story of a transgender child based on the real-life experience of Jazz Jennings, who has become a spokesperson for transkids everywhere,” according to an Amazon description.
The book-reading drew the ire of the Young America’s Foundation, a conservative youth organization, which said it received a tip and conducted an investigation that found the president of the Bellingham School Board runs a sex shop and posted on “concerns about pushing far-left gender identity politics in the classroom.”
In response to the backlash, Baker said, “Our zero tolerance policy regarding harassment, intimidation and bullying for our students applies to the treatment of any in our organization that results in their harassment, intimidation or bullying. We treat all adults, students and families in Bellingham Public Schools with dignity and respect.”
The school district’s communications manager directed the Washington Examiner to the statement from Baker when reached for comment but declined to respond to additional questions.
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Transgender rights and how children are exposed to the issue has increasingly come into the national spotlight in recent years.
Headlines in recent months have focused on Republican-controlled states pushing legislation aimed at transgender youth, particularly efforts to block transgender women and girls from participating with biological women in sports.
