While not Fairfax VA, I remember this story from Nebraska.....
"" Nebraska school district has
instructed its teachers to stop
referring to students by “gendered
expressions” such as “boys and girls,”
and use “gender inclusive” ones such
as “purple penguins” instead.
“Don’t use phrases such as ‘boys and girls,’
‘you guys,’ ‘ladies and gentlemen,’ and
similarly gendered expressions to get kids’
attention,” instructs a training document
given to middle-school teachers at the
Lincoln Public Schools.
“Create classroom names and then ask all of
the ‘purple penguins’ to meet on the rug,” it
advises.
The document also warns against asking
students to “line up as boys or girls,” and
suggests asking them to line up by whether
they prefer “skateboards or bikes/milk or
juice/dogs or cats/summer or winter/talking
or listening.”
“Always ask yourself . . . ‘Will this
configuration create a gendered space?’” the
document says.
The instructions were part of a list called “12
steps on the way to gender inclusiveness”
developed by Gender Spectrum, an
organization that “provides education,
training and support to help create a gender
sensitive and inclusive environment for
children of all ages.”
Other items on the list include asking all
students about their preferred pronouns and
decorating the classroom with “all genders
welcome” door hangers.
If teachers still find it “necessary” to mention
that genders exist at all, the document
states, they must list them as “boy, girl, both
or neither.”
Furthermore, it instructs teachers to interfere
and interrupt if they ever hear a student
talking about gender in terms of “boys and
girls” so the student can learn that this is
wrong.
“Point out and inquire when you hear others
referencing gender in a binary manner,” it
states. “Ask things like . . . ‘What makes you
say that? I think of it a little differently.’
Provide counter-narratives that challenge
students to think more expansively about
their notions of gender.”
The teachers were also given a handout
created by the Center for Gender Sanity,
which explains to them that “Gender identity .
. . can’t be observed or measured, only
reported by the individual,” and an
infographic called “The Genderbred Person,”
which was produced by
www.ItsPronouncedMetroSexual.com .
Despite controversy, Lincoln Superintendent
Steve Joel has declared that he is “happy”
and “pleased” with the training documents.""
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/389862/school-told-call-kids-purple-penguins-because-boys-and-girls-not-inclusive
As for Cananda.......and Im no expert by any means, there was this story:
"" “Xe,” “Xem” and “Xyr”: These are the words
that public schools in Vancouver have added
as gender-neutral additions to he/she, him/
her and his/hers.
The gender-neutral replacement pronouns
were approved by the school board Monday
as part of a policy to better support
transgender students, the Vancouver Sun
reported.
Supporters of the change waved pink and
blue flags, while the Sun reported opponents
labeled the school board as a “dictator” and
“liar.”
The addition to the pronoun debate, a more
heated topic in the last few school board
meetings — that of gender-neutral restrooms
in the schools — was passed as well.""
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/06/18/the-gender-neutral-pronouns-schools-in-vancouver-will-use-in-addition-to-he-and-she/
