PromiseToAmericasParents.org is from a coalition of groups including Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), The Heritage Foundation, and Family Policy Alliance.
ADF attorney Emilie Kao says the site is needed because parental rights are being violated, both in education and in healthcare.
"One of the rights of parents that is being violated in healthcare is that 20 states deny parents the opportunity to choose a counselor that would help a child who has gender distress to become comfortable with their body," explains Kao. "That's a right that every parent should have, but in 20 states, they're banning counseling for kids that would affirm a child's body and say that the child was born in the right body."
When it comes to education, Kao says parental rights are being violated through secret gender transition plans in which schools are treating children as a member of the opposite sex without telling parents.
"That's denying parents the right to be in charge of their child's mental health," Kao contends. "Those policies are being protested at the school district level."
She adds, though, that the policies do not originate at the school district level; they also originate from state and federal laws that would pressure schools to interpret Title IX of the Education Amendments to mean that gender identity would be protected instead of females.
The promise begins by pointing out that "children belong first and foremost to their families," and it provides guidance on parental rights and responsibilities to school boards, policymakers, and state and federal lawmakers. The initiative empowers parents, policymakers, and lawmakers to "ACT" to increase:
- Accountability for the government in conflicts between parents and the state.
- Choice for parents in their child's education and healthcare.
- Transparency for parents in their child's education and healthcare.
According to ADF, the Promise coalition consists of local, state, and national community groups and policy organizations that defend parental rights in the court of law and in the court of public opinion. Together, they represent the concerns of racially, religiously, and politically diverse parents.
