The 2025 New Mexico Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey has prompted concerns from parents and advocates after including questions on gender identity, including 'two-spirit,' for middle and high school students. Distributed by the state's Public Education Department and Department of Health, the survey aims to assess risk behaviors like drug use and suicidal thoughts. While parents can opt out their children, critics argue the questions introduce mature topics too early.
The survey, conducted every other year, partners with the CDC's Youth Risk Surveillance System to evaluate student behaviors. It poses detailed questions on sexual orientation and experiences to both middle and high schoolers. For high school students, options include identifying as heterosexual, gay or lesbian, bisexual, questioning, or other ways, alongside a specific query: "Some people describe themselves as transgender, two-spirit, or non-binary when their sex at birth does not match the way they think or feel about their gender. Do you consider yourself transgender, two-spirit, or non-binary?"
The term 'two-spirit' refers to American Indians identifying as both male and female, coined in 1990 by activist Myra Laramee. Additional sexuality questions cover the age of first sexual activity—starting from 11 or younger—number of partners, condom usage, birth control methods with opposite-sex partners, and experiences with males, females, or both. Middle school versions ask if students have had sex and their orientation, with choices like straight, gay, bisexual, or other.
Concerns also extend to mental health queries about considering or planning suicide. Defending Education, which flagged the survey to remove politics from classrooms, called the content troubling. Erika Sanzi, the group's senior director of communications, stated, "All 11-year-olds should not have to answer questions about their gender identity, sexuality, or suicidal ideation." She added, "As of now, parents can opt out. Perhaps it’s time to make these surveys opt-in instead. There really is no justification for asking asymptomatic children if they’ve ever made a suicide plan—that’s a scary question and it has no place in a school classroom."
Responses remain anonymous, per administrators. The survey links to a CDC system affected by recent Trump administration changes, blocked by a court order, leading to a website disclaimer rejecting gender ideology as inaccurate and divisive.