A video posted to the Libs of Tik Tok Twitter account features a self-described “trans demiboy non-binary” elementary school teacher who argues parents’ claims that pre-K through third-grade children are not ready for indoctrination in gender ideology are signs of “internalized homophobia and transphobia.”
“Hi, I’m a queer teacher and I, 1,000 percent, do not support this bill,” states Amanda Tooley, who apparently now uses the name “Skye” and goes by “Mx. T” in her classroom at Saturn Street Elementary Arts and Media Magnet School in Los Angeles.
https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1513046467333689344
Tooley, whose Tik Tok account states she is a “trans demiboy non-binary” elementary school teacher who is also “autistic,” and uses the pronouns “they/them,” has much to say about Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill, signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis (R) March 28.
“And yes, I do know what’s in it,” Tooley says. “On itself, it’s just another way to stigmatize the LGBTQ-plus community.”
Tooley claims “heterosexuality” is “pushed on my kids on a daily basis”:
Kids as young as three and four are actually aware of their gender identity, even if they don’t have the language for it. So very aware of who they like and who they don’t like. Heterosexuality is pushed on my kids on a daily basis at a very young age – media, through books, the first Disney movie that you saw. To say that pre-K through third grade are not ready for such topics is actually internalized homophobia and transphobia.
“They’re very much ready for these topics and are way more accepting than adults when it comes to discussing these topics and talking about gender, gender assumptions, pronouns, all the things,” Tooley continued.
“And it is child development-appropriate and age-appropriate,” she added, claiming Florida’s new parental rights law was “literally created as just another means to other queer people, to basically say that us existing is not normal.”
In one of her videos, most of which appear to be focused on her gender identity and her “autism,” Tooley discusses her elective double mastectomy surgery, which she refers to as “top surgery,” and then, in other videos, celebrates her “flat chest.”
The new Florida law, House Bill (HB) 1557:
. . . prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through 3rd grade and prohibits instruction that is not age appropriate for students and requires school districts to adopt procedures for notifying parents if there is a change in services from the school regarding a child’s mental, emotional or physical health or well-being.
The Biden administration released documents March 31 that endorse “gender-affirming” treatments, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and transgender surgeries such as double mastectomies and castrations, for “Americans of all ages.”
Dr. Jane Orient, executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), says the gravity of the decision to permanently alter one’s body is far too great for a young person to comprehend.
“Minors do not have the ability to give informed consent to irreversible life-changing medical treatments,” Orient recently told The Star News Network. “The human brain is not fully mature before the early 20s. Children are easily manipulated and exploited by adults who have their own agenda, especially children who have psychological difficulties, as most or all gender-confused children do.”
In 2018 the UK’s Daily Mail reported about 150 vulnerable young autistic children at a British school had been “tricked” into believing they were transgender and given puberty blockers, according to a whistleblower teacher.
Similarly, parents with untreated mental health issues leading to family dysfunction may find the media and political attention lavished on transgender children and families a safe haven in which to hide from the severity of their own problems.
Orient emphasized biological sex is “genetically determined at conception”:
Every cell is either genotype XX or XY, with rare exceptions recognized to be pathological. This influences development of all systems from the very beginning. It is possible to produce eunuchs, but impossible to turn a male into a female, or a female into a male. Some rare persons who “transitioned” as adults appear to benefit, with constant medical treatments as with hormones, cosmetic surgery, and psychotherapy, as a last resort for a refractory condition that until very recently was recognized to be a psychiatric malady.
Wesley J. Smith summarized at the Discovery Institute’s Center on Human Exceptionalism the move by Finland, Sweden, and the UK to clamp down on puberty blockers for children because – unlike for the Biden administration – the “science” supporting them is clearly not settled.
In the UK, for example, BBC reported in April 2021 the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) determined evidence for using puberty blockers to treat young people with gender dysphoria is “very low,” and “subject to bias and confounding.”
The video posted at Libs of Tik Tok drew numerous responses from other Twitter users, including some who say Tooley’s reasoning is “dangerous,” and others who wonder which parents allow their children to be “looked after by this person.”
At age 3 or 4, knowing which other kids they like or don't like is nothing to do with a gender identity.
It's about learning to form friendships.
Quite naturally, those friendships change. Do they then have to reassess their gender identity every time?
Dangerous nonsense.
— Phil Sparkes (@starofstage) April 10, 2022
my questions is, who gives their kids to be looked after by this person?
— 0xAlfaRRoMinO (@Alfarromin0) April 10, 2022
Some responders observed Tooley’s comments suggest grooming young children:
https://twitter.com/TresFou1/status/1513051477786333185
Children are way more gullible than adults is what you really mean.
— felicia rembrandt 🇨🇦 (@ripsintolabels) April 10, 2022
https://twitter.com/Meercat80/status/1513094991576457220
“I diligently push to create a safe space and brave space for my students,” Tooley says in her Saturn Street bio. “We work on being uncomfortable, challenged, and communicating. We work to understand our identity, bias, and privilege.”
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Susan Berry, PhD, is national education editor at The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Skye Tooley” by Libs of Tik Tok.
