State funds ‘fat pride,’ ‘gender unicorn’ in government schools
Topline: The Maryland Department of Health has spent $7 million in federal funds on its True You Maryland program, which taught kids about “fat pride” and used a “Gender Unicorn” for professional development.
Key facts: Records obtained by FOX45 Baltimore showed that the Department of Health and Human Services has given Maryland $1.4 million each year between 2020 and 2024 for True You Maryland — formerly Maryland Optimal Adolescent Health Program — to run in six different counties.
The money is split between local health departments, Johns Hopkins University, and Healthy Teen Network, the nonprofit that runs the program.
The program included a training session for teachers called “More than Pronouns,” where Alicia Miller, a community health educator for the Wicomico County Health Department, told teachers that “Children start to recognize their gender identity at about two years old.”
Miller also said that the words “boy” and “girl” should not be used in sex education, because “Phrases like ‘people with penises’ and ‘people with vulvas’ are appropriate when discussing anatomy.”
“Fat pride” was included in a training session called “Body-Positive Beginnings in the Tween and Teen Years.” Zoe Bisbing, a therapist leading the presentation, told teachers that, “We want to prevent our kids’ first diet, and we want to foster their own ability to maintain their intuitive eating skills because we want them to eat without guilt and without rules, without restrictions,” according to FOX45.
Another training session used a purple Gender Unicorn to help teachers differentiate between gender identity, gender expression, and sex assigned at birth. Vanessa Geffrard, the vice president of education and outreach at Planned Parenthood Maryland, explained to teachers that, “Some women might have a penis and testicles. Rather than being like ‘this is women’s anatomy,’ or ‘this is men’s anatomy,’ we want to stick to ‘people with vaginas, people with uteruses.’ We want to identify the body part.”
The program aims to reduce the birth rate in Maryland rural counties by 15% and achieve a 20% reduction in “racial disparities in Maryland rural county teen birth and STI rates,” according to its website.
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Background: This questionable activity by Healthy Teen Network is a continuation of questions regarding other Maryland nonprofits that OpenTheBooks has covered for years.
Twenty-four of the 100 nonprofits that receive the most money from Baltimore City were not properly registered as nonprofits with the state as of January. Past nonprofits that were delinquent with the state included Strong City Baltimore, whose CEO was indicted for wire fraud. He pleaded not guilty in the ongoing case.
Summary: FOX45 reported that the True Maryland program is set to run through 2028. Perhaps a review from the Department of Government Efficiency is in order.
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