British charity defends promoting books about gender identity to two-year-olds
A British LGBTQ+ advocacy organization makes 'no apology' over book marketed toward 2-4 year olds discussing gender identity
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A British LGBTQ+ advocacy organization has defended promoting a book featuring a gender-neutral protagonist who ponders the question, "Are you a boy or are you a girl?"
The book titled, "Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?," is included on Stonewall's list of "LGBTQ+ inclusive books for children aged 2-4" under the "Trans Inclusion" category.
"When Tiny starts a new school, the other children keep asking whether they are a boy or a girl," the book's description reads on the Stonewall website. "The other children eventually come to realise that it doesn’t matter what gender Tiny is. What matters is that Tiny is themselves."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Stonewall warns at the top of the list that "As with any resources for children and young people, do make sure you check them first to make sure they suit you and your children's needs."
Children books that are fighting for survival at public schools because of their LGBTQ content are displayed at the annual Pride Town Hall at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, MD, May 21, 2022. (Photo by Astrid Riecken for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Kelsey Bolar, a senior policy analyst at Independent Women’s Forum, said there is no justification for introducing concepts regarding sexual identity and transgenderism to children as young as 3.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"As the mother of a 3-year-old, I find it outrageous," Bolar told Fox News Digital. "Those pushing this propaganda do so under the guise of kindness and inclusivity, but what they are really doing is encouraging perfectly healthy children to doubt and question their bodies."
"For some, these doubts and questions will manifest in the form of a transgender identity, which leads to puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and irreversible surgeries," she added. "For any children’s book to push children down this path is reprehensible."
But, the organization defended the book as appropriate for toddlers.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}People hold signs during a joint board meeting of the Florida Board of Medicine and the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine gather to establish new guidelines limiting gender-affirming care in Florida, on Nov. 4, 2022. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
A spokesperson for Stonewall told Fox News Digital that it is "absolutely right that children learn that everyone has the right to be themselves without feeling that there is anything wrong about doing so."
"Whether it’s learning that some families have two mums or two dads, or that some people are trans and non-binary, we make no apology for wanting future generations to grow up understanding that LGBTQ+ people exist and are valid," the statement continued. "This book [Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl] does not push any point of view, its message is one of tolerance and acceptance of diversity."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The book's author, Sarah Savage, is a chief executive for "Trans Pride Brighton" and illustrator, Fox Fisher, is an activist and filmmaker with "My Genderation."
Other categories targeted toward the 2-4 age range include "Celebrating Difference," "Challenging Gender Stereotypes," "Coping with Change," "Different Families," "Emotional Literacy," "Friendship," and "Trans Inclusion."
NYC LGBT Pride March on the streets of Manhattan on June 26, 2011 in New York City. (2011 Getty Images)
James Esses, co-founder of Thoughtful Therapists, a group of psychologists and psychotherapists in the UK who are concerned about "the impact of gender identity ideology on children and young people," told Fox News Digital the book was "deeply concerning" for toddlers.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It’s deeply concerning that children as young as 2 are having it suggested to them that they might be trapped in the wrong body," Esses said.
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"It makes it increasingly less likely that a child will become comfortable with their own bodies," he added. "It potentially places them on a slippery slope towards medication and even surgery, which can cause irreversible damage."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Other books included in the "Trans Inclusion" list category targeted toward 2-4 year olds include "I Am Jazz" by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings.
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The book details Jazz's story as someone who "was born with a girl’s brain in a boy’s body," the description states. "This confuses her family until they go to see a doctor, who tells them that Jazz was transgender and that she had been born that way," the online description states.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Another book "Red: A Crayon’s Story" by Michael Hall is described as a "lovely book that can be a great starting point for talking about trans people and how it might feel to be trans" told through viewpoint of a crayon named Red who "was given a red label," but "is actually blue" and "However hard he tries, Red can’t be anything apart from blue."