Please read if you have time inquiring minds would like to know.

My daughter was accepted into a magnet program at LaVilla School of the Arts through the Florida lottery. The school has been rated an “A” school for more than 20 years, so I was very excited about the opportunity. However, after she started attending, she kept telling me that she really didn’t like the school. At first, she wasn’t specific, but eventually she explained that she felt uncomfortable because many of her peers identified as LGBTQ or Therians.

She told me about one particular incident where a new friend confided that she was transgender and then asked my daughter to be her girlfriend. My daughter said no, but after that she began noticing more and more classmates openly identifying as LGBTQ. Some even wore buttons on their backpacks to express their identity.

My daughter is only 11 years old and just transitioned from 5th to 6th grade, so she shared with me that she felt like she was being pressured into being part of something she wasn’t ready for. As a parent, this concerned me deeply, and I struggled with what to do. In the end, I made the decision to withdraw her from LaVilla and enroll her in Florida Virtual School (FLVS), where she is now homeschooled for 6th grade.

This experience made me wonder if other parents have faced similar situations with their children as early as middle school.