Sam Brinton, the nonbinary ex-Energy Department nuclear waste official facing major prison time, once helped a nonprofit group craft a model school policy adopted in several states that tells schools to hide alleged gender identity or sexual orientation changes from “unaffirming” parents.

Between 2017 and 2020, Brinton was head of advocacy and government affairs at the Trevor Project, an LGBT group focused on youth suicide prevention, according to Brinton’s LinkedIn. In 2019, Brinton played a role in developing a 37-page booklet titled “Model School District Policy on Suicide Prevention,” which puts restrictions on how much teachers can talk to parents or guardians if their LGBT child is suicidal.
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