An Illinois library is teaming up with an elementary school parent-teacher organization to host a "pronoun seminar" for children considering cross-dressing or sex changes.
The event is scheduled to take place at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 26. It is being hosted at the Wilmette Public Library, which is working with the McKenzie Elementary School parent-teacher organization.
The event will feature the co-authors of A Kids Book about Pronouns, Dr. Courtney Wells and Lee Wells.
The library's event page states, "Dr. Courtney Wells (they/them) and Lee Wells (she/her) are queer, married Chicagoans committed to justice and inclusivity for their own and all kids. Courtney is an award-winning trauma psychologist with a super cool TEDx talk on dismantling the gender binary. Lee is a therapist working with LGBTQ+ kids and families and co-founder of Mind Chicago. A Kids Book About Pronouns recently won the Chicago Reader Best of Chicago award for Best Nonfiction book by Chicagoans."
The couple also authored the Basic Parent Guide to Gender-Inclusive Language, which the North Cook News describes as offering "tips to parents on how to speak and not offend gender dysphoric, cross-dressing children. They include eliminating the use of 'boys' and 'girls,' references to clothing like a 'dress' and other 'non-inclusive language.'"
Earlier this month, the library hosted a virtual "Understanding Gender Identity" event.
Lizzy Appleby, the Pride/Share Director at Youth Services in Glenview, hosted the event.
"Since 2015, she has overseen the Pride Youth Program, which provides opportunities for more than 250 LGBTQ+ youth and their families across the North Shore through social, support, and leadership programming," the event description stated. "Additionally, Lizzy frequently provides professional development training and consultation to educators, administrators, therapists, librarians, and others focused on creating affirming spaces for LGBTQ+ young people. She believes in the power of story-telling, relationships, and experiential learning to help us grow and change our world."
The library noted that the event would not be recorded.
