A transgender clinical psychologist joined a lawsuit against a Maryland school district over a policy that allows educators to hide students’ gender transitions from their parents.
Last week, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty filed an amicus brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to reverse a ruling from a District Court judge in August that dismissed a complaint from parents against the Montgomery County Board of Education over the policy.
According to The Washington Post, three parents argued that the policy hinders their ability to “direct the care, custody, education, and control of their minor children” under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The psychologist, Dr. Erica Anderson, reportedly joined the lawsuit because the school district’s policies to keep parents out of their children’s lives will “rip families apart” and “teach children that deceiving one’s parents is acceptable.”
"As a psychologist who works with these kids and families, I have seen instances of family rupture when children don't advise their parents of what's going on with them, and then they proceed down a path that sometimes is interrupted only when parents are surprised to learn some of these things," Anderson said in an interview with Fox News Digital.
"So on all accounts, I am opposed to schools depriving parents of the knowledge of what's going on with their children," Anderson added.
In the brief, Anderson pointed out that there is “growing awareness of adolescents who come to ‘regret gender-affirming decisions made during adolescence’ and later ‘detransition.’” And, studies have shown that gender incongruence in young people is often associated with other mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety.
“It should go without saying, but parents cannot obtain a professional evaluation, screen for dysphoria and other coexisting issues, or provide professional mental-health support for their children, if their school hides from them what is happening at school,” the brief added.
"It's well established that one of the most important factors in helping gender-questioning children is family support," Anderson told Fox News. "So to deliberately deprive a child of support at a time potentially when they most need it is, I think, a serious error in judgment."
Anderson previously served as the first transgender president of World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s branch in the United States until resigning over disagreements in 2021.
“The immense challenges one faces while searching for identity and meaning can be bewildering,” Anderson’s website states. “You are a unique and precious human being deserving of compassion, honest counsel and guidance.”
In the interview with Fox, Anderson described the school district’s transgender policy as a “terrible idea,” adding “where does it stop?”
"It is never constitutionally permissible to usurp parental authority solely at the say-so of a minor, without requiring any evidence or allegation of harm, or providing any process or opportunity for the parents to respond or defend themselves," Anderson wrote in the brief.
"At bottom, [MCPS] simply disagrees with parents who might say 'no' to an immediate transition," Anderson concluded. "That is not sufficient to override their parental role."
In a piece published by The Washington Post last year, Anderson argued that the mental health establishment is “failing” transgender children.
“The treatment pushed by activists, recommended by some providers and taught in many training workshops is to affirm without question,” Anderson wrote, adding that apps like TikTok influence teens to transition without understanding the “constellation” of issues to work through.
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