During a recent appearance on "The Joe Rogan Experience," psychologist and commentator Jordan Peterson discussed the impact of progressive efforts to push gender ideology on children.
The conversation discussed how much things have changed in America’s understanding of gender. As progressives have managed to infuse their insane ideas on gender identity into K-12 classrooms and on social media, an alarming number of young folks have been influenced to buy into the idea that gender is malleable and not influenced by biology.
The focus of the discussion was a recent interview Peterson had with Tesla’s Elon Musk, who recounted his relationship with one of his children who identifies as transgender. Peterson pointed out that in the past, “It was typical for girls to undergo a fair bit of confusion when they hit puberty, and that would take the form of negative emotion.”
“They just rushed [Musk’s child] down the puberty-blocking and surgical pathway.”
Peterson continued:
That's inexcusable. It's evil. It's the worst thing I've seen professionals do, not only in my lifetime. I've studied atrocity for 40 years. I've never seen anything worse than what's happening right now. And that includes the things that were done in the camps in Germany. At least the goddamn Nazis admitted what they did was wrong. They tried to hide it. We trumpet it as a moral virtue. We're freeing the children. It's like, no, I don't think so, mothers. I think what you're doing is sacrificing your child to the parading of your moral virtue.
Peterson suggested that parents are subjecting their children to “gender-affirming care” treatments as a way of appearing to be virtuous.
Rogan responded, highlighting that “gender-affirming care” is often categorized as “life-saving medical care in order to get insurance for it” because “otherwise, insurance won’t pay for it.”
He added: “So, they were willing to describe it in that way to ensure that people would profit off of it, which is wild.”
Peterson brought up the role the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) played in pushing the idea that children with gender dysphoria should undergo puberty blockers, hormones, and even surgical treatments. He then made another comparison to what happened under Nazi Germany.
“These surgical procedures are so brutal and so experimental that they're, I'm going to say it again, they're worse than what the Mengele types did in the concentration camps in the '30s and '40s. And that's a pretty goddamn low bar,” Peterson said.
I’m not crazy about Nazi references – even when it comes to gender ideology. However, what is happening to far too many children is nothing less than an atrocity. Children who are experiencing mental health issues are being rushed into treatments that often result in irreversible damage and do nothing to help these individuals heal.
However, there is another point Peterson made that I would push back against: the notion that parents are allowing their children to be subject to these treatments out of some warped desire to virtue signal. Sure, this may be the case for some. But typically, these parents are emotionally blackmailed into this by medical professionals who terrify them by saying their children will commit suicide if they do not undergo “gender-affirming care.”
In many cases, those suffering from gender dysphoria typically have other mental health problems. Instead of exploring these issues, some medical professionals simply push them to start taking puberty blockers while convincing their parents that these treatments will save their lives. Studies have shown that this is not true – but the gender industry does not care.
The way to counteract this problem is not by treating it as an issue with virtue-signaling parents but by recognizing that these people love their children and want the best for them. Most parents are not knowingly trying to harm their kids, but they are being tricked into believing that this approach is the best way to ensure their children live healthy lives.
The solution lies in educating those who are not aware of the gender industry and the agenda to push this ideology on the younger generation. By showing them what this agenda seeks to accomplish and how it will damage their children, we can start changing enough minds to put an end to these nefarious practices.