Washington state, Oregon teach kindergartners 'there are many ways to express gender'

Kindergartners in Washington state and Oregon public schools are required to learn "there are many ways to express gender."

The standards sparked a backlash last month after first-graders in the Edmonds School District were reportedly given materials about gender pronouns that taught gender can be broken down into three categories: a "girl," a "boy," and "neither or both." The district defended the assignment, saying it "is required to teach state standards."

Meanwhile, in Oregon, the state board of education adopted health education standards, also in 2016, requiring kindergartners and first-graders to "recognize that there are many ways to express gender" and to "provide examples of how friends and family influence how people think they should act on the basis of their gender."