Top school psychologist promotes students leaving home in search of 'queer friendly' parents

Amy Cannava is the chair of the National Association Of School Psychologists’ LGBTQI2-S Committee, however she also works with Safe Space NOVA, a group that works to “combat social stigmas, bullying, and other challenges faced by LGBTQ+ youth.”

In a discussion board hosted by the Pride Liberation Front, Cannava was cited as someone who could help struggling LGBTQ students leave their homes to find more supportive parents.



According to the Daily Wire, which obtained access to the discussion board, the PLP included a section labeled “Resources for Outed Students,” which urged those “facing familial rejection or need to leave their home for another reason” to contact Cannava “immediately,” noting that she works with Safe Space NOVA and “can provide you with much more information.”



Those who wished to be “rehomed” could receive money from the PLP, as well as transportation to a “supportive, Queer friendly adult” after which they would be taken to a “kind and affirming home.”

Speaking with the Daily Wire, Safe Space NOVA’s executive director Jordan Costen-Sumpter said that the group does not participate in the “rehoming” of students, and urged the PLP, a student-run organization, to stop suggesting that it does.

Costen-Sumpter verified that Cannava was active on the PLP Discord chats, but added that her comments there were not monitored by Safe Space NOVA.

According to the Daily Wire, Cannava has used the Discord server to recruit school-aged children to “be interviewed on camera late next week about their experience” as “trans, gender nonconforming, gender fluid, non-binary, gender queer etc. in schools.”

Cannava, who works as a counselor at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, has a history of controversial statements regarding the role parents play in the lives of LGBTQ students.

In September 2020, she appeared on an episode of the “Out, What Now?” podcast, where she stated that many LGBTQ youth “have to make a choice between their life and their family,” adding that “it shouldn’t be that way, but I want to see a kid in a home with food and shelter and insurance and support.”

Then in July 2022, Cannava made it clear that she felt she knew better than parents.

“I recognize that parental consent is a big deal,” she said, “but when I’m doing anything LGBT, I don’t worry about that.”