Father calls out California school for having 5th graders discuss pro-trans book with kindergarteners

A California father has taken to social media to speak out against La Costa Heights Elementary School, where his 5th grade class had to discuss a book about transgenderism to kindergarteners.

Carlos Encina explains in a widely-circulated video how his 11-year-old son’s teacher read a book to the class called My Shadow is Pink.

The book, in which the main character’s father teaches him “everyone has a shadow that they sometimes feel they need to hide,” is “inspired by the author’s own little boy.” The young main character “likes princesses, fairies and things ‘not for boys.’” 

According to Encina, his son’s class not only read the book but was tasked with discussing it with the kindergarten “buddies” with whom they are paired throughout the school year.  

“And that’s really what made him uncomfortable, is he’s got this buddy,” Encina says, referring to his son’s discomfort with the assignment. “These older brothers, older sisters are buddies with them throughout the entire school year. They spend between a half hour and an hour each week together. What’s most concerning is the school is using a child to disseminate this information to someone that is clearly looking up to them, a 5-year-old.” 

Encina’s 11-year-old son also made an appearance in the viral video to verbalize his own thoughts about the experience. 

“I hoped that my buddy wouldn’t understand what any of it meant,” Encina’s son says, adding his concern that, “it’s not okay that they’re showing this to kindergarteners. 

“And after we had to do an activity where they drew a shadow with their favorite color. I never asked if I could opt out. But, I mean, because I didn’t want to get in trouble or anything.” 

Encina also shares in the video that when he and his wife reached out to the school district to voice their concern about the topic and activities, the principal denied that the book discussed gender issues and accused Encina of “making their teachers feel unsafe.” 

“The response was, ‘Well, this is just an exercise in colors. The buddies are just playing with their shadows and asking what color their shadows are, and, you know, it’s not gender identification, it has nothing to do with that.’” 

Scott Stuart, the author of the book in question, has authored several other books for children, including My Shadow is Purple; the description for that book calls it a “heartwarming and inspiring book about being true to yourself and moving beyond the gender binary.”