Press Releases

Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI) today launched an investigation into whether taxpayers helped fund “MyGender Dolls”—paper transgender dolls with removable genitalia designed to be used with children as young as four.
 
Walberg is demanding answers about who paid for the project, whether the dolls have been or will be used in public elementary schools, and what safeguards are in place to protect parents’ rights when schools introduce young children to these materials.
 
In the letter, Chairman Walberg writes: “The [Committee] is concerned about whether federal taxpayer dollars were used to fund the development of paper transgender dolls with removable genitalia (‘MyGender Dolls’) and their use in therapy sessions with children as young as four years old...”
 
The letter continues: “[T]he Committee seeks specific information about the MyGender Dolls research project and any plans to implement the project in public elementary school settings. The Committee is concerned about whether funds received under any of these ESEA programs have been or will be used by district or school staff for deployment of the dolls.”
 
Chairman Walberg also raises concerns about federal protections for parents and students, writing: “The project may also raise concerns under Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA). These laws require any recipient of Department of Education funding to protect parent and student rights that might be implicated by the deployment of the MyGender Dolls.”
 
The letter concludes: “Depending on the information received through the Committee’s investigation, legislative changes to ESEA, FERPA, or PPRA may be needed to better protect the rights of parents and students and to ensure that federal funding for mental health and school safety programs is not misused.”
 
Read the full letter here.