They say conservatives are jumping at bogeymen. They act like there is absolutely no effort to influence your children, especially behind your back. But sometimes they make it so obvious one wonders why they even bother denying it.
The much-celebrated Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, a transgender woman, said young people must be empowered to receive “gender affirmation treatment.” During an appearance on MSNBC, Levine said youths dealing with gender dysphoria experience mental health issues, bullying, and political attacks and that we should focus on giving them gender-affirming care. This is a fancy way of saying these children should be influenced to transition to another gender.
“So we really want to base our treatment and to affirm and to support and empower these youth not to limit their participation in activities in sports and even limit their ability to get gender affirmation treatment in their state,” Levine told host Andrea Mitchell.
Levine’s comments come a month after President Joe Biden signed an executive order expanding access to transgender treatments for minors. His administration claims there is no debate or controversy in the medical community about whether it is appropriate to encourage young children to transition.
The “gender affirmation treatments” to which Levine referred include socially transitioning to the opposite sex, hormones, puberty blockers, and even life-altering surgeries – many of which cannot be fully reversed.
“Trans youth are vulnerable. They suffer significant harassment and bullying, sometimes in schools or their community,” Levine said. “They have more mental health issues, but there’s nothing inherent with being transgender or gender diverse, which would predispose youth to depression or anxiety. It’s the harassment and bullying.”
There has been some pushback against the Biden administration’s effort to push transgender ideology among children. A federal judge recently blocked a directive that would allow transgender workers and students to use restrooms that match their chosen gender identities. The order also forced schools to allow biological boys to compete in girls’ sports.
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) introduced legislation allowing adults to file lawsuits against doctors who performed gender transition treatment on them up to 30 years after they turn 18 years old. “Under the Protecting Minors from Medical Malpractice Act, patients or their legal guardians would be able to seek declaratory or injunctive relief against such practitioners, as well as compensatory damages and attorneys’ fees. The provisions would apply only to procedures performed after the bill becomes law,” according to Fox News.
The bill, if passed, would also prevent the federal government from compelling doctors to perform such treatments on minors and would also stop federal funding from going to states that do the same. The legislation would also define biological sex as “the genetic classification of an individual as male or female, as reflected in the organization of the body of such individual for a reproductive role or capacity, such as through sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones, and internal and external genitalia present at birth, without regard to the subjective sense of identity of the individual.”
The motivation behind Levine’s comments is the same behind efforts on the part of school districts to push gender ideology in K-12 classrooms in public schools. Not only are teachers providing instruction to young children on these matters, they are also encouraging – and helping – students transition to the opposite gender. In many cases, they are doing this without the parents’ knowledge or consent. It is an insidious effort to make younger folks desensitized to transgenderism and other far-leftist ideas on gender and sexuality.
This fight continues to rage as Democrats double down on pushing their LGBTQ agenda in schools. Meanwhile, they are also doing their best to limit educational choices for parents who do not want their kids subject to these teachings. The Biden administration has already tried to attack charter schools and progressives are doing their best to discredit other areas of school choice. So far, their efforts do not seem to be working. Public school attendance continues to drop while more parents are putting their kids in private schools or homeschooling. It will be quite difficult for Democrats to conceal their motives when folks like Levine are saying the quiet part out loud.
