NYC elementary school blasted for teaching 'gender identity' course to kindergarteners

A New York City elementary school is being called out for teaching a gender identity class to kindergartners after a copy of the course began circulating on social media.

Hillside Elementary School, part of the Hastings-on-Hudson Union Free District, has been teaching a "gender curriculum" to elementary-level children in an effort to promote "inclusion" in the school, according to the course description reviewed by Fox News Digital.

The course includes showing kindergarten students photos of other children which are used to "introduce vocabulary to describe characters of different identities," including teaching them about the terms "cisgender, transgender, and non-binary," according to a message to parents regarding the curriculum.

"Our gender curriculum focuses on Hillside's core value of respect and aims to center discussions on gender identity. The students will learn and discuss that there is a lot you can't tell about a person by simply looking at them," the kindergarten level course description reads. 

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"The students will look at pictures of children and talk about what they notice and what they think they know about the children just from the pictures. Using their observations, we will then take the opportunity to introduce vocabulary to describe characters of different identities," the school writes.

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The "identity" being taught to children includes discussing "gender and the pronouns that you use," and that "as we learn and grow, the words we use to describe our gender identity can grow too," as described by the school.

When asked by Fox News Digital about the curriculum, the Hastings-on-Hudson Union Free District communications team said that the lessons have been in place for several years and are rooted in "Hillside’s core values of respect and fostering dignity for all students."

"One 30-minute gender lesson is taught in each class one time per year. The classes are led by a certified educator, following a specific set of lessons designed to help students value the full diversity of their classmates," Superintendent William S. McKersie said in a message to faculty and parents. "The lessons have been created in alignment with the NYS Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education Framework," he wrote. The school noted that the lessons do not address sex education or sexuality.

The school district said that while they usually have the courses posted publicly online, the gender lesson description has been taken off the website since going viral. 

LibsofTikTok, a social media account known for posting content geared toward calling out the far-left, posted a copy of the message to parents, which quickly received millions of views.

"Our kids can’t read or write or even possess a basic understanding of history, yet the gender communism indoctrination of kindergartners continues unabated," New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino said in a repost of the curriculum. "This won’t stop until these people face real consequences."

Kemberlee Kaye, managing editor of Critical Race Training in Education, a database that allows viewers to see which schools identified have been practicing critical race theory teachings, responded on X to "get your kids out of government schools."