Dallas ISD is partnering with a sex education group that refers minors to an organization that facilitates transgender hormone usage.
The school district confirmed that it adopted an after-school program called “Positive Prevention Plus.” The program is run by the North Texas Alliance to Reduce Unintended Pregnancy in Teens (NTARUPT).
“It is a curriculum that addresses the importance of healthy and rational choices relating to interpersonal relationships and sexual behaviors,” said Robyn Harris, the executive director of Dallas ISD’s communications team, in a statement to The Dallas Express.
Harris said no campuses have adopted the curriculum yet, and if a school does, parents will have to “opt in” for their child to participate.
Healthy Futures of Texas (HFT), which took over NTARUPT last year, said it is working with Dallas ISD schools to adopt the “Positive Prevention Plus” program.
“The agreement was executed in the spring semester of 2023,” an HFT spokesperson told The Dallas Express. “We are currently working with principals to execute the program, and then opt-in forms will be sent to parents.”
“This is a voluntary after-school program for 9th graders that parents can choose to opt their teens into. It provides information on teen pregnancy prevention and healthy relationships,” the spokesperson said.
Both Dallas ISD and HFT declined to provide The Dallas Express with the curriculum, which they said must be obtained through a public information request. Earlier in September, the district demanded roughly $9,000 from The Dallas Express for communications dating to last year that included certain gender identity terms and the names of groups like HFT and NTARUPT.
HFT’s “data + resources for youth” webpage promotes a group called Resource Center, which facilitates transgender hormone usage and offers other services related to sex alteration.
“Based at the Nelson-Tebedo Sexual Health Clinic on Cedar Springs, Resource Center’s gender-affirming services include assessments, HRT, mental health counseling, clearance letters, social networks and group gatherings,” Resource Center’s webpage states, providing a link to schedule appointments. “Get in touch with a gender-affirming care specialist today to start putting together your tailor-made plan.”
Resource Center is described by HFT on its resource page as a “trusted leader that empowers the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQIA+) communities through improving health and wellness, strengthening families and communities, and providing transformative education and advocacy.”
HFT launched the Texas is Ready Coalition last year when it took over NTARUPT and the Texas Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (TCPTP). Together, the groups advocate against abstinence-only sex education and parental opt-in requirements in Texas public schools.
One of HFT’s educational curriculums is called “Pride Guide to STIs.” It includes sections titled “Tucking 101” and “Binding 101.” The sections instruct transgender “young adults” on how to hide their penis or breasts to conform to the sexual characteristics of the gender they identify as, which some medical studies have determined leads to negative health outcomes.
However, according to Columbia University’s Department of Psychiatry, “Research demonstrates that gender-affirming care — a medical and psychosocial health care designed to affirm individuals’ gender identities — greatly improves the mental health and overall well-being of gender diverse, transgender, and nonbinary children and adolescents.”
HFT’s resource page for children also links to a group called Sex etc., which promoted “National Masturbation Month” as a way to “give yourself some love.” Sex etc. has a “Condom Game” webpage, promotes abortion, and has a “Crash Course in Gender & Gender Identity” that promotes transgender hormone usage and surgeries.
Other groups linked on HFT’s resource page for youths include Power to Decide and Love is Respect, both of which promote transgender homage usage and sex alteration surgeries.
“Healthy Futures has been a leader in curriculum development since its founding in 2006,” the organization boasted in its latest financial report. “Health educators implement puberty education for middle school students and sex education for junior and senior high school students.”
The Texas State Board of Education adopted new standards in 2021 to teach students about birth control. Texas is one of five states that require students to be opted in by their parents to participate in sex education lessons, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
HFT saw a significant increase in its financial well-being after its merger with NTARUPT and TCPTP. Its financial report from last year showed it has nearly $4.5 million in assets, an increase from $1.8 million the year prior.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services gave $5.2 million of taxpayer money to HFT from FY 2015 to FY 2020 as a part of its federal Teen Pregnancy Prevention program.
The latest Form 990 tax filing for HFT in 2021 indicates a strong network of local support: $279,477 from Alamo Colleges, $100,000 from the Episcopal Health Foundation, $150,000 from Houston Endowment, $96,871 from Methodist Healthcare Ministries, $75,000 from the Rockwell Fund, $75,000 from the HEB Foundation, $100,000 from the Nancy Smith Hurd Foundation, and $250,361 from the Texas Foster Youth Initiative.
The Rockwell Fund lists one of its focuses as “women’s reproductive health.”