Prominent mental health organizations have come out in support of transgender ideology, demanding that counselors affirm feelings of gender dysphoria in patients and advocate for policies that push transgenderism in schools.
The American School Counselor Association (ASCA), which reports a membership of 43,000 counselors and has certified trainers across the country, is demanding that school counselors “promote affirmation” for those who identify as transgender.
“Schools should make every effort to use students’ chosen/affirmed names on student records, even if a legal name change has not been made,” a statement from the organization reads, before saying that individual staff members should also use students’ “affirmed name.”
The organization, which hosts professional development events attended by thousands of counselors, goes on to push for policies that allow boys to have access to girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms. “Students have the right to use restrooms and locker rooms matching their gender identity,” it reads.
Another document from the organization, titled “School Counselors and LGBTQ+ Youth,” tells counselors to “support an inclusive curriculum at all grade levels” and “promote policies that effectively reduce the use of offensive language.”
“School counselors are being trained to only affirm students’ transgender identities, regardless of co-occurring mental health issues and often behind the backs of loving parents,” January Littlejohn, a Parent Advocate for Do No Harm, told The Daily Wire. “This is not in the best interest of the child or the parent/child relationship.”
The ASCA is not the only counseling organization that’s embraced transgender ideology. There’s also the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), which calls itself the “premier credentialing body for counselors,” and tests counselors on “core counseling attributes” in its National Counselor Evaluation, demanding they “demonstrate knowledge of and sensitivity to gender orientation and gender issues.”
The organization, which says that it has certified 69,000 counselors in 40 different countries, previously came out in support of operations that attempt to change peoples’ sex, writing in one post that “NBCC’s legislative advocacy team closely tracks actions taken by states to ban or protect gender-affirming care” and that NBCC believes that “equitable access to health care, which includes gender-affirming care, is fundamentally necessary for a productive and successful society.”
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The ASCA also tells counselors to “Provide a safe space for LGBTQ+ students and allies such as Genders and Sexualities Alliance Clubs” and to “understand the intersections of students’ sexual, gender and racial identities and the additional victimization experienced by LGBTQ+ students of color.”
Some schools have established LGBT clubs aimed at young children. Los Angeles Unified School District, America’s second largest school district, created a guide to organizing “Rainbow Clubs” aimed at elementary school students complete with lessons on “LGBTQ+ liberation,” activism, and “protest art.”
“Oftentimes it’s the school counselors running the GSA (Gender & Sexuality Alliance) clubs on school campuses as well,” Littlejohn also pointed out.
Some school counselors have made an effort to assist children in their social transition attempts. One Maine mom sued her child’s school district earlier this year in response to a counselor secretly giving her 13-year-old daughter a breast binder.
But while American organizations double down on transgender ideology, health officials in numerous European countries, including the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Norway, have recently taken steps to limit the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone therapy on minors.
“Kids who identify as trans are far more likely than their peers to be diagnosed with mental health challenges like anxiety and depression. The U.S. health establishment explains this as a phenomenon of ‘minority stress,’ alluding to the idea that depression and anxiety arise from dysphoria,” Do No Harm Research Director Ian Kingsbury explained in a statement to The Daily Wire, noting that this approach leads to “rapid social and medical affirmation” for children who experience gender dysphoria.
“European health systems instead acknowledge that kids with mental health challenges can arrive at trans identity as a reason for and solution to their challenges,” Kingsbury stated before adding that they “advise psychotherapy as the first line of defense and caution against immediate affirmation of a child’s expression of gender distress.”
The ASCA and NBCC did not respond to requests for comment.