By Thomas Ultican 9/1/2024
Less than 2% of Americans are born with gender-dysphoria, a mismatch between gender identity and their own personal sense of gender. Republican culture-warriors have made this group of people their latest victims, to insure evangelicals vote. Despite a strong showing of support by Americans including Republicans for LGBTQ+ equality, Republican dominated states have bombarded us with anti-LGBTQ+ legislation since 2020, particularly anti-transgender bills.
This month in San Diego County, the culture war bloomed in the Cajon Valley School District. All five board members voted to expand parental rights, including the right to review curricula and challenge books in the school library. However the most controversial part of the rules that had parents lining up to speak was the requirement that administrators must inform parents if any student under age 12 was requesting to change their gender identity by asking to be called by a different name or pronoun or use a different restroom.
In September 2023, Chino Valley School District enacted a similar rule and was immediately sued by California State Attorney General Rob Bonta. Judge Michael Sachs came down on the Attorney General’s side stating that “mandatory gender disclosure policies are facially unconstitutional as they violate the Equal Protection Clause of California’s Constitution and discriminate against transgender and gender nonconforming students.” In other words, students also have rights.
The state department of education has previously interpreted the equal protection clause to mean that schools must not notify parents or others of a student’s transgender status without getting the student’s consent; claiming doing so could endanger student safety.
In July 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new law barring school districts from passing policies that require schools to notify parents if their child asks to change their gender identification. Cajon Valley was aware of this law which takes effect January 1st but apparently wants the fight.
The San Diego Union reported the new law came about after several California school districts passed policies requiring that parents be notified if a child indicated wanting to change their gender identification. This led to push-back by Democratic state officials, who say students have a right to privacy.
Parent’s Rights and Children’s Rights
Jill Filipovic in an opinion piece for CNN wrote, “And while ‘parents rights’ or ‘parental rights’ may seem like common sense – of course parents should have the broad ability to guide their children, keep them safe and make decisions that children are too young to take on – those terms are too often trotted out to strip children and teenagers of their basic rights …”
Some people refuse medical care for children in the name of Christ. Others have adopted a fundamentalist Christian child-rearing book called To Train Up A Child which advises raising children to obey without question by starting to spank when they’re just a few months old. The book has been implicated in the beating deaths of several children. Forced childhood marriages, which are get-out of jail free cards for statutory rapists, are still a common practice in much of this country.
Where do parent’s rights end and children’s rights begin?
Filipovic continued:
“In the meantime, many conservatives have exploited understandable parental fears about their kids making significant emotional and physical changes, casting transgender people and those who support them as ‘groomers’ and dangerous sources of indoctrination. They have drawn gender-affirming care and even the simple recognition of transgender people under the umbrella of ‘parental rights,’ and essentially tell parents, ‘No one should be making decisions about your child’s gender identity but you.”’
In an article for EdWeek, on the same subject, Libby Stafford reported that groups like Moms for Liberty (M4L) have been behind much of the criticism of schools when they don’t disclose a student’s transgender changes to parents. M4L supports eliminating mention of gender identity and sexuality from school curriculum and accuses schools of “indoctrinating” students with “woke” values through pride celebrations and other efforts affirming LGBTQ+ identities.
Two years ago, Florida passed an attack on LGBTQ+ rights known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law. CNN’s report by Zachary Wolf says, “Suffice it to say the new Florida law suggests a minor child should not have the ability to speak in confidence to a counselor at school.”
Commenting on the new Florida law, medical director of the Thrive Gender Development program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, Dr. Scott Leibowitz noted, “It basically sends a message to these young, vulnerable people that politicians are willing to sacrifice the youths’ emotional and physical well-being and health for political gain.”
Politico reported on a Saturday Night Live Weekend Update segment about the Florida anti-gay law. Colin Jost said to cast member Kate McKinnon, this bill “means that you can’t acknowledge that ‘gay’ exists at all.” McKinnon heatedly replied, “I am deeply gay — sorry, deeply concerned. It just seems like this is going to make kids, gay and trans — sorry, depressed and suicidal.” It is a valid point.
Killing Trans Kids
Many of the new laws popping up in Republican led states block physicians from providing care to trans children and block insurance companies from paying for it. Lillian Rivera, director of family programming for the nonprofit Gender Spectrum observed, “It’s very confusing when people put forth legislation that will harm the health and well-being of children and teens.” In some states, doctors are caught in a vice between living up to their Hippocratic Oath and following state law.
For many trans kids, finding good medical care and guidance is literally life or death. Ignoring the impulses is not an option. Some kids must have both the physical and psychological relief to survive.
A typical issue with trans children was shared by a Texas mom, Cindy Crawford. She and her gender fluid child, who just made a serious suicide attempt, were in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. The 14-year-old was saved but the pain that led to an attempted suicide remained.
Today Crawford says, “Gender-affirming care is what is keeping my child alive, literally.” After receiving a diagnosis of gender dysphoria and the accompanying therapy and hormones, the depression and anxiety lessened. While there are risks associated with medical interventions, there are also significant risks associated with continued untreated gender dysphoria.
Reporter, Lisa Selin Davis, shared, “Despite rumors that parents are rushing their kids into body-changing hormones and surgeries, the opposite … is true.” And Lillian Rivera noted:
“No parent is having their 8, 9, 10-year-old undergo surgery to change their bodies. But that’s the narrative that folks are putting forth.”
In Texas and other states, laws are being considered that redefine “child abuse” to include administering gender-affirming care. Ignorance is a frightful thing. Making life saving practices illegal is senseless but led by lies and bad politics right wing politicians are attempting to do just that.
The GOP Embrace of Homophobia is Despicable
How benighted is the evangelical community that GOP politicians think attacking trans children will keep them voting? Both homosexuality and gender dysphoria are naturally occurring phenomena. They are not a mistake. There is nothing wrong with either set of human beings other than living with the craven fools in their environment.
I grew up on a ranch in Idaho where we had homosexual animals regularly appearing in our herds. For cattle and sheep ranchers, this just meant you were not going to select them as breed animals. In other words, homosexuality is a naturally occurring phenomenon throughout the animal kingdom. The same can be said about gender fluid individuals.
In the human realm, we have many examples of creative members of the LGBTQ+ community making significant contributions in science, art, law and so on. When the HIV/aids epidemic tore through the gay community in the early 1980s, Broadway and Hollywood were devastated spiritually and critically. Some of society’s greatest leaders are members of the gay community.
The bigotry and lack of human understanding shown the LGBTQ+ community and gender fluid children is unacceptable.
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