Transgender activists have gone to war over five-year-old children having the right to make momentous, irreversible choices that will affect how they see themselves and how others see them for the next 75 or 80 years.
The activists want to be able to lobby babies to change their gender.
On most other planets and in many universes, this would be grounds for commitment. In America, in the 21st century, it’s celebrated.
Monumental decisions on gender choice should not be in the hands of children who are, by definition, confused about their gender. Nor should it be in the hands of parents who — conscientious as they may think they are — subtly influence their children to believe they have the ability to choose their own gender. And given that many doctors are on a gender-bending crusade rather than being concerned with a child’s health and best interest, input from a doctor should always be suspect.
But how old should a child be to get counseling for gender dysphoria? A good rule of thumb should be if a kid is old enough to change his gender, he should be old enough to vote for president.
This is America. Adults can be whatever or whoever they want to be. If they choose to be potted plants, no power in Washington or anyplace else in America should be able to tell them they aren’t potted plants — as long as they’re old enough to decide whether or not they are potted plants.
It should go without saying that the government shouldn’t grant people who believe they’re potted plants any special rights or dispensations. But as long as they aren’t trying to take root in their neighbors’ property, they should be free to be anything they want to be.
There is a controversy over Florida and Texas making medical treatment of gender-dysphoric kids a crime for doctors and child abuse by parents. The intrusion into the personal medical decisions of families and the violation of doctor-patient privacy need to be carefully examined — far more carefully than the Florida or Texas laws have done.
But when parents and doctors are leading a child — barely out of the toddler stage — to take gender-altering hormones and take other steps that could lead to gender transformation later in life, the state has a compelling interest in stepping in and making 100 percent sure that the child’s welfare is being taken into consideration. These decisions cannot be reversed easily, and without enormous psychological damage. It’s why only an individual who is sufficiently mature to make that kind of decision should be allowed to do so.
Naturally, the radical left opposes any effort to protect the vulnerable from their propaganda. That includes equating the bullying of LGBTQ kids with protecting children from people who may not have their best interests at heart.
[Press Secretary Jen] Psaki alleged that [Texas Gov. Abbott’s directive and similar action in Florida and other states are “designed to target and attack the kids who need support the most.”
Balderdash! Who is it that’s “targeting” kids when it comes to selling transgenderism?
“LGBTQI+ students are already vulnerable to bullying and violence just for being themselves,” Psaki said. “This isn’t an isolated action, as evidenced by multiple states pursuing this. We’re seeing Republican leaders take actions to regulate what students can or cannot read, what they can or cannot learn and, most troubling, who they can or cannot be.”
These proposed laws are in no way connected to bullying. Trying to connect the two issues is a distraction, not a real argument.
Let the kids grow up before subjecting them to political propaganda about gender transformation.
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