What Is Happening in Glendale Unified School District Locker Rooms?
Dear Parents,
You may not be aware of significant and important details of your children’s locker room experiences.
Male coaches at Glendale Unified School District have expressed concerns because they do not want to see biological females undress in front of them.1 In response to their concerns, Assistant Superintendent of Glendale Unified School District, Kelly King, has re-educated the male coaches that they are bigoted if they do not allow biological females to undress among the biological males. See for yourselves:
In the YouTube video above, you see Assistant Superintendent of Glendale Unified School District from a presentation she was doing about gender identity in K-12 schools. Kelly King described her method of re-educating male coaches when they express concerns:
“We have male coaches who are horrified at the thought of having a biological girl changing clothes in front of them. There is the stigma attached to abuse, and having a male teacher around any female student in that circumstance is just scary for them. And, you know, it’s one thing for me to keep on saying, ‘It’s not a girl, it’s not a girl, it’s not a girl. You only have boys in the boys locker room.’ Until they arrive, until they experience it and realize, ‘Oh, I only have boys in the locker room,’ then that helps.”
This video is from a Gender Spectrum YouTube channel, part of a larger video called “Gender Inclusive Leadership in Action - Episode 2 - Kelly King.”
As we see it, this is the complete demolition of previous child sexual abuse safeguarding practices. Have parents been notified that child sexual abuse protection practices have changed? Parents might be thinking that schools are similar to how it was when they were growing up, where a nude biological male would never be in an enclosed space, such as a locker room, with a nude biological female. Back then, it was impossible to even fathom the idea of a nude biological female child in a room filled with dozens of nude biological males.
And yet, in this video, the Glendale Unified School District Assistant Superintendent, Kelly King, is asserting that Glendale Unified stopped using the most basic of child sexual abuse protection practices for purposes of “inclusion” – in the event that the biological female articulates male pronouns.
What about the risks of abuse from biological males in the locker room who this biological female is nude in front of? What about when the male coach steps away, and it is just a biological female nude in a locker room of dozens of biological males?
Does this also apply to a biological male who articulates female pronouns and wants to undress in the girls locker room?
Some questions that come to our mind:
Are these female children being told that it is a safe practice to go into any male facility and undress in front of adult males?
What would happen if this child thinks that this is an acceptable practice, and engages in it in non-school environments such as community pools or adult fitness facilities?
Are we teaching girls to delude themselves and engage in activities that are fundamentally unsafe because it aligns with the ideas of “diversity” and “inclusion”?
We are concerned that these female children are being told information that are putting them in danger, during a particularly naive and vulnerable period of time in their lives when they need to be told accurate information about sexual assault risks, exploitation risks, and community safety.
We are concerned that a male coach is being told that his concerns about having boundaries with female children is inappropriate. I mean, really let that sink in. The male coach wanted to put down a healthy safe boundary, and Assistant Superintendent Kelly King told him no. Assistant Superintendent Kelly King states that male coaches at Glendale Unified are concerned about the stigma attached to abuse. We will put the quote again, “There is the stigma attached to abuse, and having a male teacher around any female student in that circumstance is just scary for them.” Please let this quote sink in. It sounds to us that Kelly King is saying child sexual abuse stigma is getting in the way of Glendale Unified’s inclusion practices. We are concerned that interactions such as those described by Kelly King with the male coaches may potentially destigmatize sexual abuse.
What does child sexual abuse include? It is not limited to penetration or touching. It also includes indecent exposure. If a young girl doesn’t want to see a penis, then she should not be forced to. Forcing young girls to see penises, potentially erect, for the benefit of someone else, used to be called child sexual abuse; now it’s called “being inclusive.”
Watching this video, we are also concerned about the general tone of this video. Do you feel comfortable with the long pauses, hypnotic repetition of the same phrases, “It’s not a girl, it’s not a girl, it’s not a girl.” We are concerned that school administrators have become so fixated on the ideas of “inclusivity” that they are now promoting situations at high risk for rape and exploitation for our young girls because they do not want to hurt people’s feelings.
Do you have concerns about what you just watched?
Feel welcome to email the school board, Assistant Superintendent Kelly King, and Superintendent Vivian Ekchian.
Vivian Ekchian: Superintendent of Glendale Schools, <vekchian@gusd.net>
Kelly King, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, <kking@gusd.net>
Greg Krikorian <gkrikorian@gusd.net>
Shant Sahakian <ssahakian@gusd.net>
Jennifer Freemon <jfreemon@gusd.net>
Armina Gharpetian <agharpetian@gusd.net>
Nayiri Nahabedian <nnahabedian@gusd.net>
If you live in Glendale, Burbank or La Canada and have documents or testimonials from your child’s schools, please send us information at <genderidentityk12@protonmail.com>. Your identity will always remain confidential.
If you found this article concerning or informative, please feel free to forward it to a fellow parent at your school.
Thank you,
The Gender Identity K-12 Team
This article was updated 3/25/22 to reflect new understanding of information. We are concerned parents, not journalists, and we appreciate the excellent feedback from the community.