There's a saying that's popular with the political left, and that is that "It takes a village to raise a child." Most folks on the right disagree, including me; I would correct that to say, "It takes a family to raise a child." That may explain why the right is having to fight for what a decade or so ago was universally considered the basic rights of parents; primarily among those rights are the rights to approve or disapprove of any medical treatment (including psychological or psychiatric treatment) delivered to those kids.
Donald Trump campaigned on the side of traditional parental rights. Kamala Harris campaigned against them. The results of that election should tell us all we need to know about how Americans, by and large, view these issues.
At the New York Times, amazingly, opinion columnist Pamela Paul seems to be reading these tea leaves correctly. At least, in part.
At campaign events Trump attacked the idea of letting transgender girls and women play on female sports teams, and implied that children were having gender surgery in classrooms.
“Can you imagine you’re a parent and your son leaves the house,” he said at a rally in Wisconsin, “and you say, ‘Jimmy, I love you so much, go have a good day in school,’ and your son comes back with a brutal operation?”
Why did Trump and his allies devote so much attention and resources to something that seemingly affects a small number of people compared with top voter concerns like immigration, the economy, crime, abortion and democracy? Maybe because it worked. According to Harris’s leading super PAC, viewers shifted 2.7 percentage points toward Trump after watching one of these ads.
That last sentence is a cogent analysis, but there's more to it than just the ads.
Ms. Paul misses a couple of marks here. While she is correct as to how the issue played to Trump's advantage, consider this statement:
Why did Trump and his allies devote so much attention and resources to something that seemingly affects a small number of people'...
The number of people is irrelevant. If it is wrong to soak the taxpayers for transgender treatments for a thousand prison inmates, then it is wrong to soak the taxpayers for one such treatment. If it is wrong for a thousand schools to employ teachers who push gender ideology on children and lie to the parents of any kids who "transition," then it is wrong for one such school to do so. That's how principles work, and this is a matter of principle, not expedience. These things are wrong, not in aggregate, but in essence. There are no conditions to be placed on these principles. If these treatments are wrong, they are wrong. End of discussion.
Most American parents seem to understand this.
She continues:
It is not because most Americans are bigots or haters or anti-L.G.B.T.Q. people. But many voters, including liberals and Democrats, disagree with positions Harris and the Democratic Party have taken on transgender issues. Polls show that most voters, while largely supportive of existing legal rights and protections for transgender people, have complicated views on other policies that fall under the umbrella of what’s commonly referred to as trans rights.
Most Americans are not in favor of legal discrimination against LGBTQ in general or transgender people in particular. Adults are free to make what decisions they like, and it's nobody else's business. But when it comes to children who are unable to give informed consent - we don't even let them get tattoos, for crying out loud - that's quite a different cup of tea.
But here's the baffling part in Pamela Paul's column. She says:
Trump’s charge that children are undergoing gender transition surgeries in school is obviously absurd.
But later, she writes (emphasis mine):
The Democratic Party’s platform includes a pledge to defend gender-affirming care for minors. For people who are not well versed in the issue, this may sound like therapy to make children feel comfortable in their bodies; what it usually means in practice is allowing children to adopt a new name and pronouns, and in many cases, enabling them to change their bodies to resemble that of the opposite sex. This process can include puberty-blocking drugs, cross-sex hormones and, in some cases, surgery. More than 14,000 American children had gender-related medical interventions between 2019 and 2023.
Note the semantic evasion there. She claims Trump charges that children are undergoing these surgeries in schools. As far as I have been able to uncover, he has made no such claim - and Paul admits that the current federal guidelines allow these surgeries for children. That, folks, is a rather transparent dodge.
Here's the real kicker:
In my reporting, I’ve spoken with many parents of gender-dysphoric kids, overwhelmingly liberal and Democrat, who told me they felt betrayed by Democrats and by the Biden administration on this issue. They resent being labeled “anti-trans” for questioning whether it’s right to simply accept what their children say about their gender, especially since those children often suffer from other mental health issues.
Overwhelmingly liberal and Democrat. You don't say. And note that admission: "...especially since those children often suffer from other mental health issues." Frankly, that tells us a lot about these kids.
See Related: Release of Prolonged Study on Puberty Blockers for Transgender Kids Blocked for Political Reasons
But in this statement, there is an important - and accurate - point we must observe. Even these liberal Democrats, with gender-dysphoric kids (which, I would note, is a status symbol in some circles), are resentful of the reaction when they question the progressive dogma on transitioning kids. In other words, liberal and Democrat as they may be, they still believe that parents, not teachers, not school counselors, not activists, should be making the decisions about their children's care, be it transgender treatments or having a tooth pulled.
Elections have consequences. And after this election, at least some people on the left are looking at the electoral beating they just took, and a little reality is setting in. Let's hope that's a trend that grows legs.
