EXCLUSIVE: School District Makes Staff ‘Honor All Gender Identities’ In Acknowledgment Statements

An Iowa school district tells staff to avow gender ideology, honor American Indian land and decry slavery at some staff functions, according to documents obtained by public records request.

West Des Moines Community Schools acknowledgment statements “thank and honor” all gender identities as well as slave descendants and Native Americans, according to documents obtained by parental rights group Parents Defending 🎓Education (PDE).

“We acknowledge the Indigenous Native Americans on whose ancestral land we meet today,” one statement adopted by the school system reads. “We thank and honor the elders, ancestors, communities, and children of the Native Communities still connected to this land!”

The acknowledgments are used district-wide for internal trainings and professional developments.

“We acknowledge the contributions and achievements of enslaved Africans and their ascendants and descendants to our country,” another statement says. “We thank and acknowledge the full humanity of a people who shaped America.”

“We acknowledge that sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression are distinct and dynamic concepts,” the next statement reads. “We welcome and honor all gender identities, and we thank and acknowledge the full humanity and the contribution of all individuals.”

Another statement acknowledges victims of violence and trauma.

“We acknowledge victims and survivors of violence, assaults, and trauma of all types,” it says. “We honor you and affirm your experiences. Victims and survivors, seen and unseen, in this room and outside of it.”