California school district to host lecture on how to raise 'transgender children'

A California school district has partnered with a local parent group to host a lecture for parents of so-called transgender children.

The event is organized by the Davis Parent University (DPU), a grassroots group of volunteer representatives for Davis Joint Unified School District, and St. James School, and features Rachel Pepper, author of the book "The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Parents and Professionals," the Daily Caller reports.

According to the group’s website, Pepper will be giving parents advice on how to love and accept their "gender diverse children and teens," and how to "understand and process the range of parental/caregiver emotions surrounding gender creativity."

"The event will include a 45-minute lecture by Rachel followed by a 30-minute Q & A session and then a book signing," the event's website states, which also contains a warning to those planning to attend that all "audience members are expected to behave respectfully throughout this event.  Any disruptive or disrespectful behavior will not be tolerated."

The event registration page describes Pepper as an "expert on gender identity development in children and teens" and a "sought-after public speaker and educator." Her book is described as a "groundbreaking, compassionate, and comprehensive GPS for offering understanding, love and support to gender expansive and transgender young people."

Pepper will explain "gender terminology" to the assembled parents, and "discuss why and how to meet gender diverse young people where they are." There will be advice on "how to understand and process the range of parental/caregiver emotions surrounding gender creativity,” and parents will learn “what there is to be hopeful about."

Davis Joint Unified School District and St. James School are partners for the event which is set to be held on January 11 at Davis Senior High School.

"The Transgender Child: A Handbook for Parents and Professionals" was first published in 2008 and a revised and updated version was published in 2022. It contains advice on how to affirm a child who believes themselves to be a member of the opposite sex, information about "medical decision making" and "how best to ensure school success, from preschool through the high school years."

But more and more experts are advising against affirming a child in their transgender identity. The National Health Service in England recently published interim specifications saying that gender identity in children and adolescents is often "just a phase" and advises against affirming and socially transitioning young people. Dr David Bell, a consultant psychiatrist who was one of the whistleblowers at the soon-to-be-closed Tavistock clinic in England, believes that being too quick to affirm a child in their identity comes with the risk of "doing irreversible damage to a child" who would likely have desisted and learned to accept their body without the need for medical intervention.