Officials at Mitchell Primary School in Maine have issued an apology after a book about a transgender child was read to most of the school's K-3 students.
"We have a practice of if a topic is considered sensitive, parents should be informed," Superintendent Allyn Hutton told SeaCoastOnline.com on Friday. "In this situation, that didn't happen. The whole culture at Mitchell School is about teaching tolerance and respect. The people presenting the lesson thought (the book) was one more piece of teaching that lesson. In retrospect, we understand that toleration is tolerating people of all opinions."
Hutton also said that educating students about transgender people is important because there are students within the district who identify as such.
As part of the guidance department's mission to promote tolerance and acceptance, the book "I Am Jazz" by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings was included in lesson plans for 20 out of the school's 22 classes.
The young girl in the story is described as having a "boy's body but a girl's brain," and depicts the struggle that she faces (along with her parents) to understand what being transgender means.
The book is based on true events centered on the life of now 14-year-old Jazz Jennings, a teenage trans girl who is a YouTube star. She is also a well-known LGBT activist.
TLC will premiere a new reality series this summer called "All That Jazz," which will be based on Jennings' transformation. In the 11-episode series, Jennings - who has been dubbed as "The New Face of Transgender Youth" - seeks to educate her suburban, South Florida community about trans individuals.
Parents at Mitchell were angered that they were not given advance notice that the book would be shared with the kids, and one mother wrote in to Hannity.com to express her frustration.
"I feel like my thoughts, feelings and beliefs were completely ignored....My right as a parent to allow or not allow this discussion with my child was taken from me," she wrote. "It is very upsetting to me that I didn't have an option at all."
She also expressed that her son is now confused as to whether or not he is transgender. The boy asked her if he's transgender, or if he could be "a girl in love with a girl."
The mother says that up until when the topic was brought up in school, her son had never said anything like that before, according to Hannity.com.
Other parents complained and said their kids are "too young" to be learning of transgender identities.
"Being 7, once you put something in their mind they don't forget so easily," the mother said.
"From the time she was two years old, Jazz knew that she had a girl's brain in a boy's body. She loved pink and dressing up as a mermaid and didn't feel like herself in boys' clothing. This confused her family, until they took her to a doctor who said that Jazz was transgender and that she was born that way. Jazz's story is based on her real-life experience and she tells it in a simple, clear way that will be appreciated by picture book readers, their parents, and teachers," Amazon wrote in its description of the book.
