A self-proclaimed transgender lawmaker in Montana has been shut down after he railed against a bill banning child mutilation in the state. Zooey Zephyr, the member in question, delivered a “hate-filled” rebuke of Republicans who are seeking to end the use of “gender-affirming care” on minors.

Zephyr claimed (The Daily Caller) that Republicans would have “blood on your hands” if they moved forward with the ban. He also described the provisions within the bill as “tantamount to torture.”

“This body should be ashamed,” Zephyr said Tuesday. “If you vote yes on this bill and yes on these amendments I hope the next time there’s an invocation, when you bow your heads in prayer, you see the blood on your hands.”

This kind of rhetorical hostage-taking is just grotesque, yet it’s becoming more and more common. In fact, it’s now the go-to attack from the radical transgender movement, i.e. claiming that if you don’t affirm their delusions and desires for self-harm, you are somehow the cause of high suicide rates within the demographic. Of course,

We have now reached a point in society where a large percentage of Americans (I’m speaking of the broader left) actually believe it’s “torture” to not chop the breasts off of young girls and sterilize young boys. That would have been unthinkable just a decade ago, but it’s where we are now.

Zephyr was censured and essentially barred from speaking on the Montana House floor going forward.

The Montana Freedom Caucus moved to censure Zephyr for the “hate-filled” rhetoric later that same day, calling the language Zephyr used “inappropriate and uncalled for.”

“This kind of hateful rhetoric from an elected official is exactly why tragedies such as the Covenant Christian School shooting in Nashville occurred,” the Freedom Caucus contended, adding a “desire for some to engage in violence over political beliefs … must stop.”

That’s exactly correct. The deranged claims from the left that not mutilating children will somehow cause suicides and incite violence is exactly why those two things are happening. Already mentally ill people are being convinced that they are the subjects of “genocide” just because rational people don’t believe a man can become a woman and vice versa. The rhetoric is absurd, but it’s also dangerous in that it’s clearly whipping up a group of militant transgender activists who do not shy away from the use of violence to make their point.

And why wouldn’t they? These militant activists suffer no consequences, with the mainstream press ignoring their bad acts while only promoting the supposed wonders of their ideology. It’s a perverse relationship that puts people in harm’s way across multiple fronts (self-harm, violent outbursts, and the damaging physical and mental effects of “gender-affirming” care). In response, we are all expected to just accept it as if it’s fine. It’s not fine.

Republicans must keep their hand to plow on this issue. It’s not going to be comfortable, and we won’t have broad instiuation support, but it remains the right thing to do. Children must be protected from the predations of mentally ill adults and profit-seeking doctors who will do anything to make a buck. The only “gender-affirming” care that actually exists is helping confused children accept who they biologically are.