Detransitioner Asks Lawmakers To Require Parental Notification On Gender Identity

Detransitioner Simon Amaya Price testified in front of members of the Massachusetts State Legislature on Monday to support a proposed piece of legislation that would require schools to tell parents about their children’s gender identity.

“I was also a transgender teen. I was groomed at school with the ‘transition or die’ myth pushed on to me, and I truly believed it,” Price said to the Joint Committee on Education.

“My parents didn’t find out until recently that I socially transitioned when I was 16. And as you can see, despite my un-affirming parents, I did not kill myself. I wish that they had been kept in the loop, as I likely would have been able to become comfortable with my male body and masculinity sooner,” Price added.

The term “transition or die myth” is used by some organizations, such as the British advocacy group Sex Matters which advocates for laws and language to be based on biological sex and not gender identity, to refer to the claim that transitioning helps children with gender dysphoria avoid suicide.

While many studies have shown improved mental health outcomes among transgender teens who transition, the link between transitioning and suicide rates has not been well researched.

A 2023 study published in the medical journal Transgender Health suggests transgender teenagers are four times more likely to attempt suicide compared to their peers. The study also found that support and acceptance from trusted adults and friends decreases the risk of suicide attempts.

“If you believe that child abuse, neglect, and grooming, has no place in Massachusetts, then please vote for this bill,” Price concluded.

Bill H.551, introduced by State Rep. David DeCoste (R-Plymouth), would require schools to notify parents of “a change in the student’s services or monitoring related to the student’s mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being,” covering any kind of transition in gender identity, in addition to sexual assaults.

During Monday’s hearing, Price said that “in high school, I was sexually assaulted by another boy on a school trip.”

“When I told the chaperone, he dismissed my experience by saying ‘boys will be boys.’ He did not let my parents know what happened, and he effectively stopped me from talking about this traumatic experience until years later,” Price said, emphasizing that the bill’s mandate to notify parents would cover more than just gender identity.

The bill would also ban all instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity until the fourth grade.

This bill comes shortly after a court battle over the same rights in February. The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts unanimously ruled that Massachusetts students have the right to determine whether or not their parents are notified of their gender identity.

The case, Foote v. Ludlow School Committee, saw a parent sue a Massachusetts school district for not notifying him of his child’s transition. The parent alleged that the school’s use of the students’ preferred name and pronouns constituted medical treatment, meaning the parent had a right to be notified. However, the court ruled against this interpretation, saying the school’s actions did not constitute medical treatment.

The court also said this policy “plausibly creates a space for students to express their identity without worrying about parental backlash” in its February decision.