Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis has a superpower: whatever he supports or implements in Florida makes Democrats come out of the woodwork 100% opposed to it. This reaction led to the beclowning of Democrat governors during the pandemic, record levels of net immigration to Florida, and DeSantis’s state driving Biden’s economic recovery. Democrats are so terrified of DeSantis’s national appeal within the Republican Party that even the Biden administration comes out in direct opposition to whatever Florida is doing.
Luckily, DeSantis picks issues on which 80% of Americans agree with him. The latest was the Parental Rights in Education bill he signed earlier this week. It prohibits schools from providing instruction in sex education, gender ideology, and sexual preference in kindergarten through third grade. It also requires any instruction in these subjects to remain age-appropriate. Polls show more than 2/3 of Americans agree with what is actually in the legislation, and even a majority of Democrat primary voters in Florida support it.
With those poll numbers, one might think Democrats would publicly oppose the radical transgender ideology that drove the legislation and allowed the person formerly known as Will Thomas to win the Women’s 500 Freestyle at the NCAA finals. Instead, the Biden administration decided to come out in support of medically transitioning kids.
Related: Even Caitlyn Jenner Wants to Protect Women’s Sports From Trans Wokeism
On Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Population Affairs (OPA) released a document titled “Gender Affirming Care and Young People.” A similar release came from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN). That agency titled theirs “Gender-Affirming Care Is Trauma-Informed Care.” Both might better have been named, “The Insane Proposition of Letting Minors Make Life-Altering Medical Decisions That Include Genital Mutilation.”
The OPA document classifies puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and gender-affirming surgeries for children as “gender-affirming care.” It never mentions that the effects of these medications can be irreversible or that they might pose other health risks. None has been subjected to randomized controlled trials or longitudinal studies, or approved by the FDA for use in transitioning children. The OPA also provides no data or information on the increasing number of people choosing to detransition as young adults.
The document asserts that gender-affirming care improves the mental health and overall well-being of gender-diverse children. These statements are in dispute, and courts in the U.K. recently banned puberty blockers and hormone therapy for children under 16. Finland urges caution about the use of hormones and surgery for gender dysphoric children, noting the unclear nature of the benefits. Instead, the nation prioritizes psychotherapy and does not offer transition to children under 18. For some odd reason, Democrats and academics in the United States are running headlong in the opposite direction.
The NCTSN recommends adults simply believe whatever children tell them about their gender identity and affirm it without question. Clearly, no one in this agency ever read Lord of the Flies. It’s also possible they’ve never met a child; children require care, guidance, correction, and redirection. For some reason, these agencies want children to be in charge rather than guided and questioned. They believe it would be best if you did not question the transgender orthodoxy at all.
Related: Lia Thomas Is Having It Both Ways on the All-Time Record Boards at Penn Too
To coincide with the release of these guidelines, President Biden decided to speak directly to transgender Americans on “Transgender Day of Visibility.” You may have noticed how “invisible” these people are when Thomas stood to accept his trophy at the NCAA meet with full twig and berries encased in his women’s swimsuit. The queer and transgender community are front and center for an entire month every year in every corporate logo, all over television, and even in high-level meetings at Disney. But still, Biden had to speak.
To transgender Americans of all ages, I want you to know that you are so brave. You belong. I have your back. pic.twitter.com/mD4F0m3rU1
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 31, 2022
“To everyone celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility, I want you to know your president sees you,” he said. “Jill, Kamala, Doug, our entire administration sees you for who you are.” Then he waxed poetic about the lack of respect trans people receive — as if any significant portion of the population feels comfortable doing anything but coddling trans-identifying individuals for fear of backlash. Even the female swimmers who lost to Thomas hesitated to speak out for fear of personal destruction.
We should all hope Democrats continue to cater to issues that matter to less than 20% of Americans. As the rest of the population struggles to deal with record inflation, the security risks posed by a wide-open southern border, rising crime, and uncertainty from the war raging in Ukraine, this hardly seems like a winning issue come November.
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