New York parents and political figures condemned a proposed charter school for its outspoken mission to share gender ideology with children.
Miss Major Middle is a proposed charter middle school seeking to become a reality in Brooklyn, New York, the New York Post reports. The organization has already received some criticism for promises to create an "inclusive and genderful environment" for children in grades 5-9.
The institution bills itself as a "Genderful school" and declared on its website that it "lives at the intersection of gender, choice, liberation, joy and creativity. Our ‘genderful’ students explore their gender, embrace their own identity, and decide how they will authentically walk through the world."
The school also emphasized that the institution will "harness the power of creative and self expression as a tool for community engagement, self-preservation, and academic exploration" and "embed arts (performing, visual, tactile, digital) into our daily schedules, community gatherings, social justice focus areas, and academic programming."
According to the New York Post, the school will also teach "gender-inclusive biology," a social-justice influenced learning model that emphasizes "authenticity, continuity, affirmation, anti-oppression, and student agency," allowing any lesson "to be inclusive of diverse gender, sex, or sexuality." In practice, this would mean referring to a mother as the "gestational parent" who "carries the fetus for nine months."
Critics of the school’s stated ideals argued to the New York Post that introducing such complicated ideology to children is dangerous.
"It’s horrifying. No charter school that’s aimed at gender ideology indoctrination should ever be approved for children this young," former local Democratic regional candidate Maud Maron, a community education council member and parental rights activist said. "In the most charitable light, there might be people who think they’re doing good. But this is a situation in which activists want to use and abuse children to promote their ideology."
She also argued that this school "rewards and encourages gender dysphoria," adding that such education would lead to "physical harm – to puberty blockers and surgeries, which are irreversibly damaging to children’s bodies."
Helen Qiu, an NYC mother who’s running for New York’s 65th State Assembly district in lower Manhattan said she was "shocked to hear about this school," and argued, "There’s a push in schools to normalize the transgender movement, to make it younger and younger in age, and to exclude parents from knowing about their children’s transgender inclination. These three things combined equals child abuse."
She went on to say, "We need to elect people to oppose it."
Natalya Murakhver, the co-founder of Restore Childhood and a mother from the Upper West Side, argued that the school’s "troubling" premise appears to be "another attempt to segregate children and prey upon kids with potentially preexisting mental health issues."
"You have these children who have underlying mental health conditions being courted by a colorful school where it’s going to be fun and ‘genderful,’ whatever that means," Murakhver, a registered Democrat, added, according to The Post.
The school says it is named after Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a Black transgender activist involved in the 1969 Stonewall riots who "dedicated her life to advocating for the rights and well-being of transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals." Miss Major Middle pledges to embody its namesake by creating "a space where students are at the center of justice, where they are safe, heard, and affirmed."
Fox News Digital reached out to Miss Major Middle for comment and has not yet received a response.
As it stands, the school's future is uncertain. It is one of many applicants for just nine charters that have been set aside for New York City starting in fall 2025, with the approval decision ultimately to be decided by SUNY in June.
