Last Wednesday was my son’s last day at his daycare centre. It had been a good place for him, starting since he was about 10 months old until just before his 2nd birthday. The staff were loving, the management professional, and the facilities the best I had seen.

I made the decision to abruptly pull him out of this centre upon scanning a recent email informing parents that the children would be the latest pawns in an ‘inclusivity’ agenda to combat homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia for the May 17 – International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism, and Transphobia Day (IDAHOBIT). This would be called ‘Rainbow Day’ and the small children, who can barely talk, would participate in activities exposing them into radical gender theory.

I remember when I first became a mother. Going from carefree independence to being responsible for a new life was like being sucked into a vortex of constant hypervigilance and cortisol. With time, and a couple more kids, the hypervigilance normalised as I established trust with people and institutions in society who assisted me in this parenting journey.

Putting trust in caregivers, babysitters, teachers, relatives, and friends saves one’s sanity; it is a social contract that reflects the shared values of our society. When the babysitter arrives you tell her about the kid’s mealtimes, bedtimes, and house rules, and there are certain things that are assumed which would be insulting to even mention: don’t watch R-rated movies with the kids, don’t invite your boyfriend over, hands off the whisky, etc.

I held similar assumptions for my son’s daycare, that he would not be exposed to inappropriate subject matter, sensitive topics, politics, and adult agendas, especially without my permission. With these assumptions thrown out the window, the social contract was broken and that felt like a betrayal.

Feeling sideswiped by the news of IDAHOBIT Day at the daycare, I called the centre manager. I was informed that not only was Rainbow Day on the agenda, but that LGBTQ material was a ‘part of the children’s curriculum’.

Now, I am very supportive of adults making their own decisions about how they live their lives, but it is wholly unacceptable to use children to make a group of adults feel validated about their own decisions and sexual lifestyles. It is no longer about doing what is best for the kids – but about making a group of adults feel better for the sake of ‘inclusivity’. This is the definition of narcissism, and we should know better.

You could argue that their intentions are in the right place and they are trying to make families feel welcome. But the reality is, LGBTQ activism casts a very wide net, and among their most prominent themes is trans theory and queer theory. You don’t need a degree in gender studies to know that these topics have already impacted children and adolescents in our society.

In Victoria in 2011, there were around a dozen referrals to the Royal Children’s Hospital of young people under 18 seeking gender treatment. In 2020 that number was just under 500, and last year in 2021 it was over 800. That was just in Victoria. These numbers are consistent with trends in both America and the UK.

Ask yourselves, parents, do we as adults bear the responsibility for any of this? What are we pushing our children towards, and who stands to gain over the long term from medicalising and sterilising children for life?

With two older children in primary school, I am on high alert. I can no longer assume any institution is immune from falling prey to the predations of this ideology.

Australian parents, check your school’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, look at the curriculum for health and wellbeing lessons, and know if there are any outside organisations being brought in to facilitate these lessons. If you find subject matter that simultaneously flies in the face of biological reality, science, human reason, and history, you have an ideological doctrine on your hands.

We have no choice but to be hypervigilant of what is happening in schools, even for the very young.

Deborah Tigard is a wife and mother to three children working in cyber security in Melbourne.