Gender Identity Conference to Discuss Private School Students as ‘Agents of Change’

Educators from private schools will meet next month to discuss gender identity and students as “agents of change.”

Called the “Independent School Gender Project,” the annual conference focuses on gender identity ideology and how to advance it in America’s private schools.

The 2023 conference, which will take place in Charlotte, North Carolina, in early February, will specifically center around the theme “Educators & Students as Agents of Change: 2023 Change Begins with Me.”

Past conferences have focused on “Indigenous Feminism & Queer Critique,” “Defining and redefining womanhood: the limits of language and the politics of gender,” and “Creating sex-positive, trans-inclusive health education.”

Last year, schools in attendance at the conference included Beaver Country Day School, Baylor School, Deerfield Academy, the Thacher School, and the Webb Schools. That conference discussed “incorporating gender into your curriculum,” as well as “the collision of race and gender” and “expanding gender culture in our schools.”

One of the keynote speakers for the 2023 conference is Dr. Carrie Hart, who will give a talk called “Where Can Gender Studies Belong In Your Curriculum?: Strategizing For Your School.” Hart is described as “a writer, educator, community organizer, and lifelong southerner who works in the overlaps of queer and feminist thinking.”

Justine Fonte, another keynote speaker for the event, will discuss “What Sex Ed needs in 2023: A focus on intersectional school programming.” Her biography notes that Fonte “founded the Health & Wellness Program at The Dalton School, a K-12 independent school, and served as its Director for nine years.”

Fonte frequently speaks at events concerning sex education. She gave a presentation called “The Case for Sexual Citizenship at Schools,” at the European League for Middle Education Conference. The description of the talk argues, “It’s on all of us adults to raise children to be sexual citizens” while also saying “We can start by destigmatizing sexuality by centering what’s relevant instead of what’s age-appropriate.”

When she spoke at the National Sex Ed Conference in 2021, she discussed with Cory Neering, the CEO of Planned Parenthood of Northern, Central, and Southern New Jersey, “the attacks made against her pedagogy, how she healed,” and the “necessity of intersectional sex education.” 

According to her website, she’s also given talks on “porn literacy,” “decolonizing romance and beauty,” “supporting trans youth in schools,” and “how gender limits us.”

The Independent School Gender Project specifically focuses on independent schools, some of which are associated with the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). NAIS has a history of pushing both critical race theory and “queer-inclusive,” transgender ideology on young students, as Breitbart News has revealed.

Spencer Lindquist is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerLndqst and reach out at slindquist@breitbart.com.