Three school counselors in Amherst, Massachusetts, have been placed on administrative leave since mid-May after a student newspaper reported anonymous accusations of “misgendering” and “anti-LGBTQ prayer at school,” which triggered a Title IX investigation.
Adjustment counselor Hector Santos and guidance counselors Delinda Dykes and Tania Cabrera of Amherst-Pelham Regional Middle School were first placed on leave after the Amherst-Pelham Regional High School’s student newspaper published an article alleging years of complaints about the Christians to school leadership. Santos and Dykes are now facing a Title IX investigation.
In the article, anonymous sources criticized the counselors for repeated “misgendering” and expressions of their “religious views at work.” “Misgendering” is a term used by LGBT activists to describe referring to a person by the pronouns that correspond to his or her natural sex, rather than a transgender persona. Many Christians and even non-Christians feel a moral responsibility to use pronouns that reflect truth and reality.
One anonymous source claimed that in a before-school prayer circle — which “did not involve students or teachers” — Dykes included a petition to “bind that LGBTQ gay demon that wants to confuse our children.” An unnamed family reportedly terminated counseling sessions for their child to avoid “religious comments.”
The counselors, who have “denied the allegations and said that an investigation would show they have not engaged in ‘any wrongdoings,’” did not offer The Federalist a direct comment on the situation, as their attorney explained they are “waiting for the Title IX investigation to be completed.”
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