The premier organization that provides leadership, training and activism for many public-school superintendents and principals across Alaska wants the state to allow gender-confused biological males to compete as girls.
Executive Director of the Alaska Council of School Administrators Dr. Lisa Parady laid out her organization’s views in a July 21 letter to the Alaska State Board of Education.
The letter came just days before the Education Board held a July 26 meeting to consider amending state regulations to ensure that biological males who claim to be female cannot compete in female-only high school competitions.
In opposing the proposed amendment, Parady claimed that prohibiting males from competing against girls would “go against the principles of inclusivity and acceptance that we strive to uphold as educators.”
The Alaska Council of School Administrators (ACSA) is an extremely powerful and influential nonprofit that serves as an umbrella organization for the Alaska Staff Development Network, Alaska Superintendents Association, Alaska Association of Secondary School Principals, Alaska Association of Elementary School Principals and the Alaska Association of School Business Officials.
The organization includes superintendents and other central office administrators, as well as elementary and secondary principals and school business officials.
Writing on behalf of the entire Alaska Council of School Administrators (ACSA), Parady expressed the organizations “deep concern over the proposed amendments.”
She went on to suggest that letting biological males suit up against female athletes is somehow more “equitable” for all students.
“Education leaders in Alaska strongly believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to compete fairly and equally, regardless of gender identity,” Parady emphasized. “These amendments would not only be discriminatory, but they would also go against the principles of inclusivity and acceptance that we strive to uphold as educators.”
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Advocates of the proposed amendment note that biological males have a considerable physical advantage over females, and that to let males compete as if they were girls would jeopardize the integrity of girls’ sports, and diminish opportunities for biological females.
Parady’s letter avoided this issue entirely. Instead, she surmised that maintaining all-female and all-male sports divisions might lead to higher rates of suicide for students who claim a “transgender” status.
“Furthermore, these regulations would have a devastating impact on the mental health and wellbeing of transgender individuals,” Parady added. “By denying transgender individuals this opportunity, we are sending a message that they are not valued or respected.”
