In a troubling sign of how far public education has strayed from its duty to parents and students, Carlsbad Unified School District recently defended its decision to let gender transition activists speak to minors behind closed doors while barring concerned parents from even entering the room.
During Sage Creek High School’s “Ally Week” this March, the school’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance Club invited speakers from Trans Family Services and DAP Health. These organizations promote what is commonly referred to as “gender-affirming care,” including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgical procedures. These are serious, medically irreversible interventions that many experts now it carry significant risks, particularly for minors.
The event was held during lunchtime in the school cafeteria, and it was d to the entire student body. Yet parents were not allowed to attend. One speaker, Mita Beach, was removed from the schedule after parents raised alarms about Beach’s public promotion of BDSM content online and a history of giving workshops titled “Kink 101” and “Self-Injurious Behavior, Erotic Play, and Body Modification.”
But other speakers remained. Joscelyn Inton-Campbell and Karl Pongyingis addressed students on topics including how to diagnose transgender identity, how to access gender-affirming medical services, and how their organizations work with minors, often without parental consent.
When parents found out and attempted to attend the presentation, they were denied access. When they filed a formal complaint, the district rejected it. Their justification? The Equal Access Act, a 1984 federal law designed to protect student-led religious clubs, which the district argued prohibited interference with student meetings. District officials claimed the event was a private meeting of the GSA club, not open to parents or outsiders.
But that claim didn’t match reality. Posters around campus invited all students, and the location — lunch in the cafeteria — was anything but private. By California law, parents have the right to attend any school activity in which their children participate. The district’s response seemed designed to shut parents out, not follow the law.
One parent, Scott Davison, whose child attends Sage Creek, asked for permission to attend the event and was denied. According to public records, Principal Joshua Way justified the decision by claiming Davison would “interfere” with the meeting. Davison is a longtime school volunteer and the executive director of the Carlsbad Education Alliance. His presence was deemed disruptive, while a speaker promoting life-altering medical interventions for minors was welcomed without hesitation.
This is not an isolated incident. Across California, parents are increasingly finding themselves sidelined as schools introduce gender ideology into curriculum and campus life without transparency. In some cases, schools are even encouraging students to socially or medically transition without informing parents. Several districts, including Encinitas Union School District have already faced legal action for violating parents’ rights.
Carlsbad’s case stands out because of how openly the district defended the practice. Parents asked for information about the speakers. They asked to attend. They asked to opt out. They were ignored at every turn.
If an outside speaker came to a school to promote religious beliefs, military recruitment or even a political campaign, you can be sure the district would provide notice and seek parental approval. Yet in this case, outside speakers were given direct access to students to promote a highly controversial and medically fraught topic, and parents were intentionally excluded.
There is a clear line here that should never be crossed. Schools should not be partnering with medical advocacy groups to promote irreversible procedures to minors without full parental involvement. And they certainly should not be claiming that a public lunchtime event in a cafeteria is a “private meeting” just to keep parents away.
In Carlsbad, parents were treated as a problem to be managed rather than partners to be respected. The only people who remain unwelcome? The very taxpayers who pay the teachers’ salaries and raise these children. It is time for the district to acknowledge that parental rights are not optional and that, without transparency, the educational mission of any public school is compromised.
Reichert is a San Diego-based parent advocate and the chairwoman of Restore San Diego.
