A Texas high school recently invited a psychiatrist to speak to students on LGBTQ issues during their lunch hour without parental knowledge or consent.
Champion High School in Boerne, Texas, recently hosted a psychiatrist called Dr. Sarah Ansboro. Ansboro is listed as the Founder of Cantera Psychiatry, and spoke to students about gender identity, Catholic priests, Christians not supporting LGBTQ individuals and drugs that assist with transition.
When questioned about the event, the school apologized and stated that they were unaware of the guest speaker.
The incident was first reported by Sarah Fields, who serves as President and Director of Advocacy for the Texas Freedom Coalition. Fields noted that Dr. Ansboro had been invited to speak during all three of the school’s lunch hours.
She also shared details of the bizarre situation in a Twitter thread posted on April 16, 2023.
The thread shows emails from several concerned parents, as well as Google classroom slides used by students at Champion.
Recently, @SamChampionHS invited a licensed psychologist named Dr. Sara Ansboro to come and speak during lunch hour to all students, 9-12, without parental consent. She spoke on gender identity, catholic priests, and drugs that assist with transition. A concerned parent emailed… pic.twitter.com/PElQhNgxYy
— Sarah Fields (@SarahisCensored) April 16, 2023
The Google classrooms are used for online learning.
Fields also added screenshots of an email that was sent to parents whose children attended Ansboro’s talks.
The schools principal, Beto Hinojosa, said that the meetings were not an approved campus event. He mentioned that student-led clubs need approval from the campus administration to not only host events on campus, but also use school facilities.
“The messages shared at this meeting were not reviewed and therefore are not endorsed by the CHS campus or the Boerne Independent School District. We apologize that this presentation was held on campus without proper approval. We are committed to reviewing our training of campus Faculty sponsors for student-led clubs, to addressing any staff involved, and to ensuring that this issue does not reoccur.”
In emails shared with Fields, one parent asked how the school’s administration didn’t question posters across campus that “specifically stated that a guest speaker would be present.”
“It seemed there were a lot of moving parts for just a club run by students. Who’s [sic] responsibility was it to obtain approval? Since no such approval was obtained, what course of action will take place to ensure this does not happen again?”
The same parent added she had concerns about her child discussing “matters of his sexuality” with a licensed professional during school hours, who is not employed by the school or the school district and was not approved to treat her son.
“I’m not specifically aware of the laws regarding consent to speak to a counselor/psychologist but it seems Texas law requires parental permission,” she said.
The email also describes how difficult it is for her child’s actual therapist to enter the high school and it “blew her mind” hearing that “just anyone can enter the school and talk to kids about mental health issues/sexuality.”
To date, the staff member(s) responsible for inviting Dr. Ansboro to speak on campus have not been named.
Following this incident, a mother whose 16-year-old attended a talk by Dr. Ansboro spoke at the next Board of Education meeting.
She was concerned about the materials shared with 9th to 12th graders without parental knowledge or consent.
“My child came home that day and told me a psychologist had spoken in the school about gender-affirming health care, drugs to take to alter your gender, politics, including current legislation in Texas courts, and even Christians not supporting the LGBTQ community,” the mother stated.
Upon hearing of the event, the mother emailed the school and its superintendent.
She was surprised to learn the district had no knowledge of Dr. Ansboro’s presence or what she shared with high school students. She only received an email about the incident because her child was present. Not all parents were informed.
“After I received the initial response from the principal I decided to investigate further into the Google group classroom. It was then that I discovered slideshows about banned books containing sexually explicit content, such as Lawn Boy. This book has been banned in several Texas libraries around the state due to its graphic sexual content.”
The mother expressed concern about a group’s use of taxpayer equipment to push a political agenda, including inaccurate and misleading information about the governor and House Representative Chip Roy. She questioned who was overseeing the group and was worried about such propaganda being used to educate students.
Her son is also a member of the school’s GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) club, which is sponsored by Amanda Pellitier. The club, according to Pellitier, exists to provide a safe place for students to discuss things happening in their lives.
The son in question also spoke to the board. He said he chose to attend the lunch hour event on April 11 in the school’s library. He added that the Gay Straight Alliance club recommended certain LGBTQ-themed books to check out.
Last night, this brave 16 yr old spoke up at a school board meeting in Boerne, Tx, about the indoctrination of the woke clubs and the incompetence of Champion High School for allowing an unapproved licensed psychologist to come and speak to children about transitioning.
Today,… pic.twitter.com/uA7rOgvzo6
— Sarah Fields (@SarahisCensored) April 25, 2023
One of these books was Hell Followed With Us. This story is described as a “furious, queer debut novel about embracing the monster within and unleashing its power against your oppressors.” The student said he found this book disturbing because it targets Christian values and paints Christians negatively.
He also said that during Ansboro’s talk he told her that not all Christians were bad. She allegedly responded by asking him to name “ten priests that are gay or openly support the community.” He said he wasn’t sure how to respond and sat down.
The teen made note that all clubs at Champion have Discord servers that parents must approve their child to join. Parents also have access to their child’s log-in information. The student said there was never any kind of permission needed to access the GSA Discord server, nor did parents have any inclination that the server existed, due to them never being notified by the school.
He closed by asking the school and the board to take action and accountability on these issues. “Our future and safety as students depends on it.”
Fields said that the student who had spoken at the Board of Education meeting had since been bullied by students who called him a “bigot and a transphobe”
Fields further stated on her Twitter account, “I was also harassed by students that used their student email accounts to do so, and was eventually doxxed by students attending the school. The teacher that was meant to be sponsoring the club and overseeing, had stepped down, and the school has not replaced her.”
