FAIR News: Standing Up for Parental Rights
FAIR News: Standing Up for Parental Rights
Newsletter
FAIR Sends Letter to California Department of Education Over Parental Rights Violations in School Gender Policies
On August 10th, FAIR’s legal team sent a letter to Tony Thurmond, California's Superintendent of Public Instruction, challenging the constitutionality of proposed policies for informing parents about their children’s gender identity in school.
During the 2021-2022 school year, it was reported to FAIR that the Ventura County California Special Education Local Plan Area office had sponsored a webinar, available to all interested public school administrators, titled My Name Is....A Legal & Practical Framework for Affirming Students' Identities in the School Setting. The webinar was offered by a law firm and included legal advice on how schools can and should withhold information from parents regarding their children's gender transition.
FAIR immediately began investigating the advice given in that webinar, as well as the guidelines posted by the California Department of Education. Our legal team's research revealed a host of instructions by the California Department of Education that violate parental rights. Among other policies, the Department prohibits schools from disclosing transgender students’ gender identity to their parents, unless the student consents or the school believes there is a “specific and compelling need to know,” which the Department considers “very rare.”
FAIR’s letter states that while we appreciate that the Department may be seeking to protect its transgender students and create environments of dignity and respect, its policies go too far.
FAIR in Medicine Fellowship for Graduate Students in Healthcare
FAIR in Medicine, the official network of healthcare professionals advancing FAIR’s mission in medicine and science, is hosting a Fellowship for Graduate Students in Healthcare. This is an opportunity for medical students and graduate students in healthcare-related fields to learn about FAIR’s tools, strategies, and principles of peaceful change, and to spread FAIR’s message on campus or in healthcare settings.
Fellows will help promote FAIR’s message by participating in a FAIR project, which they will share through their networks at their school or workplace. Projects may include working on webinars, podcasts, writing, research, and planning virtual or in-person events.
Applications are open July 1st – August 31st.
Help FAIR in the Arts Join South By Southwest in 2023!
FAIR in the Arts has submitted a proposed panel for next year’s South By Southwest Festival, and they need your help!
The panel, "Creating Art in a Culture of Conformity", organized by FAIR Action Fellow Brent Morden, will feature FAIR in the Arts Fellows Winston Marshall, Rosie Kay, and Meg Smaker discussing the challenges and opportunities that artists face today—including whether art still a safe haven for free speech, how we separate art from the artist, why we should encourage a culture of open-mindedness, excellence, and creative freedom in the arts, and the ways forward for artists facing intolerance and conformity of thought in their fields.
To join the festival, we need your support! Vote for this panel by creating an account, hitting the “Up” arrow, and leaving a comment about why this event is an important one to feature!
Do You Have a Pro-Human Perspective to Share? Write for our Substack!
We want the FAIR Substack to be the go-to publication for diverse perspectives on culture and civil rights. Whether you’re a seasoned author or an amateur writer with a story that can contribute to our mission of promoting a common culture based on fairness, understanding, and humanity, we would love to receive your stories, opinions, investigations, reviews, interviews, and more!
Please send your piece to submissions@fairforall.org along with a short personal introduction and a brief, one-paragraph summary of your piece.
Submission guidelines:
Complete articles only (i.e., no “works in progress”).
No previously published submissions—this includes personal blogs as well as online or print publications.
We have no hard word count limits, but prefer submissions between 1,000 and 2,500 words.
We hope to hear from you!
Stand with Salman: Defend the Freedom to Write Event in New York City
Writers around the globe stand in solidarity with Salman Rushdie and celebrate his tireless advocacy for the freedom of expression and the plight of imperiled writers around the globe.
FAIR is proud to support PEN America, The New York Public Library, and Penguin Random House on Friday, August 19th at 11:00 a.m. ET at the New York Public Library in New York City as we gather with friends, supporters, readers, and members of the literary community to read from selected texts from Rushdie’s body of work.
Readers include FAIR Advisor Douglas Murray, Paul Auster, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Tina Brown, Kiran Desai, Andrea Elliott, Amanda Foreman, Roya Hakakian, A.M. Homes, Siri Hustvedt, Hari Kunzru, Colum McCann, Andrew Solomon, Gay Talese, and others.
Can’t be in Manhattan? You can still show your support by:
Hosting a public reading of Salman Rushdie’s work in your community.
Posting your own home video reading a quick passage of Rushdie’s work; make sure to use #StandWithSalman and tag @fairforall_org and @penamerica.
Following the live coverage @PENamerica on Twitter.
FAIR Wellness Webinar Series
Join FAIR Advisor and licensed clinical social worker Zander Keig in an eight-week series of free Wellness Webinars covering the following topics:
Week 1/Week 5: Cultivating Mental Fitness
Week 2/Week 6: Styles of Conflict Management
Week 3/Week 7: Strengthening Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
Week 4/Week 7: How To Form New Habits
Session are on Tuesdays from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET beginning August 23rd.
FAIR Pro-Human School Board Leadership Webinar: Part 1
Please join us on August 25th at 8 p.m. ET for a free webinar on key issues related to school board governance. Learn how to communicate to a broad audience on current educational issues, and to help promote a common culture based on fairness, understanding, and humanity in K-12.
The Webinar will be led by FAIR Action Fellow, FAIR in Education Fellow, and member of the FAIR Twin Cities leadership team, Tanya Simons.
This webinar is open to current school board members, candidates, or individuals involved in school board governance.
What Can We Learn From Tuskegee? A Discussion on Pro-Human Medicine
Join FAIR in Medicine on Thursday, September 8th at 7:00 p.m. ET for our free webinar "What Can We Learn From Tuskegee? A Discussion on Pro-Human Medicine," where we will reflect on how medicine’s mission to heal can end up doing harm.
We will also discuss Miss Evers’ Boys, a 1997 dramatization of the Tuskegee experiment as seen through the eyes of the lead research nurse, Eunice Rivers. The film won 5 Primetime Emmys and many other awards and nominations. It is currently available only on streaming service HBO Max, Max Go, and Hulu.
A Pro-Human Approach to Adolescent Gender Dysphoria, with Dr. Erica Anderson and Grace Lidinsky-Smith
Join FAIR in Medicine on Monday, September 19th at 5:00 p.m. ET for our webinar, "A Conversation With Dr. Erica Anderson and Grace Lidinsky-Smith: A Pro-Human Approach to Adolescent Gender Dysphoria."
Moderated by FAIR Senior Advisor Zander Keig, LCSW and featuring world renowned clinical psychologist specializing in gender dysphoria Dr. Erica Anderson, and detransitioner and patient advocate Grace Lidinsky-Smith.
Join us as we continue to explore the pro-human approach to transgender healthcare.
Registration is free and open to all!
Free Grassroots Training Opportunity: How to Be FAIR Without Starting a Fight
Do you want to share the message of FAIR with others but are worried that it may start a fight?
There is a better way: Empower yourself with the knowledge and skills to have better conversations, share FAIR’s pro-human message, and engage without risking your relationships.s
Register today for this highly interactive live virtual training, happening on September 20th and October 25th!
FAIR in the Arts Virtual Meetups
Join our FAIR in the Arts team and FAIR in the Arts Fellows to meet other artists and creatives who share pro-human values and want to make a difference in their own communities.
Arts practitioners, advocates, and media professionals—anyone who wants to create a culture where artists and others are free to express themselves, and where we model pro-human values in arts and media institutions—are welcome.
Meetings will include updates on ongoing FAIR in the Arts initiatives, as well as facilitated discussion group sessions. Join us on the following dates:
September 20th:
7:00 - 9:00 p.m. ET
Resolving the Race(ism) Dilemma Conference
On September 24th in Lexington, Massachusetts, join FAIR Advisors Dr. Sheena Mason and Greg Thomas, along with Dr. Carlos Hoyt, for a day-long conference designed for everyone interested in overcoming racism—teachers, parents, scientists, scholars, social justice leaders, mental health professionals, journalists, and political leaders.
Learn how racialization produces the illusion of “race” and racism, how to deracialize your worldview, practice antiracialization, and recognize the racelessness of the human species. Explore methods of translating the misleading language of “race” into the actual issues that drive discrimination and oppression. Build connections with others who are eager to not only understand how to move beyond racism but take meaningful action, and consider joining an effort to improve our government's approach to addressing race-based discrimination—one that does not require perpetuating self-racialization.
Submit Questions for an Upcoming FAIR Perspectives Q&A Episode!
Do you have a burning question you’d like to ask FAIR Perspectives hosts Melissa Chen and Angel Eduardo? Submit it for an upcoming Q&A episode of FAIR Perspectives!
We want to give you the opportunity to ask questions about FAIR, the pro-human movement, the podcast, and more.
Send us a question via comment on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, FAIR Community, or in a reply to this email!
FAIR News Podcast
For audio versions of our FAIR News and FAIR Weekly Roundup newsletters, subscribe and listen to FAIR News Weekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or via RSS feed.
Zander Keig: There is a Diversity of Thought in the Trans Community
For FAIR’s YouTube channel, FAIR Advisor Zander Keig discusses the issue of stereotyping and perceived conformity of thought within the trans community. Keig notes that “Large majority groups are often assumed to have differences of opinion within them. But in smaller communities, especially when people have only had limited contact with that group, groups are assumed to all believe what only a small handful of their activists push for.”
For example, while certain members of the trans community deny the existence of biological sex, many of us do not. I have no issue recognizing that my biological sex is female, even though I present as a man. This truth matters; for example, it has numerous effects on my health. A heart attack doesn’t look the same in biological men as women. Drug dosing can be different based on sex. My risk to develop many diseases is different. Yet referring to this truth is often called “misgendering” and “transphobic”, cited as "hateful ideology" and getting people banned off of social media. Is this helping the trans community?
On a Positive Note: Bridging the Divide With Words and Music w/ Daryl Davis & Eric Hölljes
On June 13th in Durham, North Carolina, FAIR Advisor Daryl Davis joined artist and songwriter Eric Hölljes on stage for a jam session and discussion on how to use art and music to bridge divides in our polarized nation.
If you missed the event back in June, you can now watch it on YouTube!
FAIR Diversity Trainings
FAIR Diversity Conversation Series
For all FAIR Members and volunteers. These events are typically held on the first Monday of each month from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. ET.
Register on Calendly to tune into the next one!
Meet FAIR Diversity: What Is Pro-Human? Meetings
For all FAIR Members and volunteers. These events are typically held on the last Monday of each month from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. ET.
Register on Calendly to join the next conversation!
FAIR Chapter Events
Chapter Events
August 18th:
London, Ontario chapter launch with FAIR Advisor Lisa Bildy
7:30 p.m. ET
September 10th:
FAIR Twin Cities Chapter IN-PERSON Grassroots Leadership Training
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. CT
Golden Valley, MN
Join the FAIR Community
Become a FAIR volunteer or join a FAIR chapter:
Join a Welcome to FAIR Zoom information session to learn more about our mission, or watch a previously recorded session in the Members section of www.fairforall.org.
Sign the FAIR Pledge for a common culture of fairness, understanding and humanity.
Join the FAIR community to connect and share information with other members.
Share your reviews and incident reports on our FAIR Transparency website.
Regarding FAIR's letter to the California Department of Education:
What is the current status of the U.S. Department of Education Policy Letter on Transgender Students, released in April 2016? In the section entitled "Confidentiality of Personal Information," it states: "Students' right to privacy about their personal information is protected by federal law. Revealing a student's transgender status, birth name, sex assigned at birth, or medical history to classmates, PARENTS (emphasis added), teachers and others may violate the federal educational privacy law, known as FERPA." It also states that "the guidance applies to all K-12 schools, preschools, colleges and universities that get federal funding...if it gets any federal grants, contracts or loans, or if any of its students get financial aid from the federal government. That includes every public school across the country--including public charter schools-and most private colleges." Of course, this includes the California Department of Education.
http://www.transequality.org/sites/default/files/ED-DCL-Fact-Sheet.pdf
Is this U.S. Dept. of Education Policy still in force? If so, how does FAIR plan to address the current policies of the California Dept. of Education which are in line with the federal government's policies?