Liberty Counsel has sent a records request to Frank Allis Elementary School in Madison, Wisconsin, after angry parents expressed dismay over a science teacher at the school giving a “transgender lesson” to every student from kindergarten to fifth grade without parental permission.

The teacher, Mark “Vince” Busenbark, produced a video at home with his wife in which he dressed as a woman and referred to himself as “Vica Steel.” He called the recording a “transgender coming-out video,” and said the purpose of the video was “so [the children] can know who I am and who I am becoming.”

During the video, Busenbark read a book to the children titled, “They Call Me Mix.” A passage in the book says: “‘BOY or GIRL?’ Are you a boy or girl? How can you be both? Some days I am both. Some days I am neither. Most days I am everything in between.”

Busenbark told the students that anyone who disagrees with his stance on transgenderism is motivated by “fear” and “hate.” He went on to inform the students that he would now take his wife, Stella Steel’s, last name and asked the students to use the honorific “Mx.” to address him instead or Mr. or Mrs.

“And as for pronouns,” Busenbark announced, “you can call me ‘they,’ ‘them,’ and ‘their.’”

One parent commented online that there was “no warning, no heads up” given before the video was presented. “I’ve had to sit down with my kids and explain that what they heard is flat-out wrong and incorrect,” the parent wrote. “We will be kind to others, but we will not be involved in games of make-believe.”

Liberty Counsel said Busenbark “has no legal authority to force students to call him ‘Mx.,’ nor to manipulate them with the idea that they must obey him or be seen as ‘disrespectful’ or ‘hateful’ or ‘not loving.’”

Liberty Counsel suggests the video could violate the district’s wellness policy, which states that all instruction should be “age-appropriate, medically accurate, non-stigmatizing and inclusive for all students.” The law firm is seeking all communications from the school’s principal, vice principal or Busenbark requesting permission or notifying the district of the plan to show the video. It has also asked for any communications asking parental permission to show the video to students.

Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, said in a statement: “It is outrageous that school administrators would allow a male science teacher to expose children to propaganda that promotes confusion about basic biology and to instruct students to address him by a false name, title and pronouns. These impressionable students do not exist to validate Busenbark’s sexual identity. Parents send their children to school trusting that they will be taught academic curriculum, not become participants in a teacher’s play acting.”

Photo: Liberty Counsel Press Release