I am a progressive liberal Texan, and the mother of a socially transitioned (by everyone but her parents and grandparents) 17 year old who has been identifying as trans for almost 4 years. So, do I think we should investigate parents of trans children, as Governor Abbot and Ken Paxton propose? Of course not!
I agree that all these powerful forces should be under scrutiny for promoting trans ideology. But ultimately, parents need a more active role in children's lives.
What I mean by this is that kids should be parent centered. Not peer centered. So-called "youth culture," had been a disaster for kids. Unfortunately, mandatory public education is the main culprit. It seperates children from parents and other adults actually. Before public education, kids grew up faster. They had to. And they had better guidance as well.
But there are ways to combat this as a parent. Even if you can't homeschool. But homeschooling is ideal. Ultimately, we have to look to tradition to re-establish the organic social relationship between parents and their kids. It doesn't have to look exactly as it did, but the content needs to be there.
The Republican Party and social conservative lobby, in their *present* incarnation, will never allow a non-partisan conversation of the deep family issues that they use to scare the daylights out of voters.
So many other comments here reflect blind anger and false accusation, not mutual learning that leads to common purpose: the welfare of our families.
I'm sorry, but gender diversity does originate naturally, despite the efforts of mass media, churches, and school officials to make everyone conform to one standard. The media, in particular, depend entirely upon advertising and ticket sales, and you can't advertise easily to a fragmented audience -- there is great pressure to steer society toward sameness, not variability.
Those who have survived conversion therapy know how much pressure there is, in conservative society, media, and church, to prevent people from simply being themselves.
While I understand your take, I see the statements by Paxton and Abbott as attempts to bring the discussions you mention into the light and, in the meantime, stop the unethical treatment of gender-dysphoric/confused kids. The goal is not simply "to investigate parents of trans children," but to stop medical and other professionals from taking advantage of vulnerable parents who are desperately seeking help for their children.
What makes puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries child abuse? Parents need to know. They don't know now because of all of the reasons you stated so well. Paxton/Abbott mean to force those discussions you want, not shut them down.
Hopefully, other parents and ill-advised health-care providers, counselors, teachers, etc. will become as well educated about the issue and treatments as you are. As you state, that is not happening now, and I'm afraid it won't as long as the narrative remains that Abbott and Paxton are politically-motivated transphobes. Let's not miss this opportunity. Let's use their statements to our advantage to actually find the best care for the kids, and help others do the same.
I am so disgusted with politics and how every issue is used to divide us. We need to ask better questions so we can work together to find sound solutions that promote wholeness and wellness. Questions like:
How is it more compassionate to treat a healthy body with surgery and wrong-sex hormones than to help that person accept biological reality and make peace with their body?
Is our profit-driven medical system working in the interest of our health and wellbeing or is it always on the lookout for the next big market?
How is our education system affecting our relationships with ourselves and our families? Is it working to create healthy, self-directed individuals who are resilient and have a sense of meaning and belonging so they're not vulnerable to dangerous ideology?
How can we infuse our communication with curiosity and compassion so we stand a chance of being heard? Is it possible to adopt needs-based communication? Can we imagine a world where people can identify and clearly articulate their own needs? How did we become so disconnected from our selves? Okay--maybe these are too big, but I think they're important to helping us figure out how we got to this crazy place we find ourselves in.
I wonder if this has taken off in the US in part because of the enthusiastic medicalisation of children (and adults) in that society as a whole. Millions of children are on medication for ADHD for example. Also I read over and over about parents taking their children to see a "therapist" at the first sign of any kind of mental distress. This would not have occurred to me as a parent in the UK. Many of my generation of mothers were all about keeping our children's bodies as pure and natural as possible. Organic food, healthy outdoor play etc etc. So a cultural phenomenon as well as the obvious social contagion (which is sadly the same here in the UK) and a kind of reverence towards doctors and pharmaceuticals that I certainly don't have. I avoid doctors like the plague! Just a thought.
I appreciate the many great points you've brought out in your article, but when you say Paxton and Abbott are extreme, I'm not sure how else you want them to accomplish the goal of stopping the indiscriminate transing of kids that you espouse. You have said they should be investigating Big Pharma, but Paxton is already doing that in his recent suit against Abbvie and Endo Pharmaceuticals. And just because they want to investigate abuses, how is that shutting down discourse? The politicians on the right are NOT the ones silencing the debate; the gender industry and all of its enablers are doing that.
Thank you for another important voice on this issue. Your convictions and perspective are key to helping reverse the push for medicalization of so many of our young people who desperately need adults in the room to take a stand... together. I understand your opposition to the actions of the Texas governor and AG; I agree that transitioning minors is child abuse but I don’t believe well meaning parents are the instigators. Likewise, I do not believe the Governor and AG intend to prosecute parents who are acting in good faith to protect their children from harm. Parents are called to protect their children from abuse, but they also should be afforded the benefit of the doubt, especially when we are hearing that many parents have been told they MUST “affirm” their child’s delusion lest they lose them to suicide. What is a parent to do? We are talking about life and death. With growing skepticism about the validity of suicide data pushed by TG activist ideologues, hopefully parents and families will be empowered to seek supportive exploratory psychotherapy for their children. A growing number of physicians and therapists must stand ready to help parents respond to the onslaught that is targeting their children during a key developmental time when they are perhaps most vulnerable to external influence. In my opinion it will take firm stances from all involved to correct this wrong turn, educate and introduce extraordinary levels of caution. Firm stances should be taken by conservatives and liberals (and everyone in between) who essentially are in full agreement over this issue. There will be different mechanisms to put up roadblocks against harming children, and some will be more controversial than others, but I think in the end they will work in unison to protect minors.
Incredible piece So important. I hope this gets shared a billion times. I don't know why being human is a problem that some "professionals" feel they need to medically correct. Yes, i went through puberty and it was very hard, awkward, mood swings, zits...the works! We ALL go through it. It's NORMAL. There's so much about being human that is difficult/uncomfortable/miserable...But does not necessarily necessitate a remedy. A boy who is effeminate is not necessarily born in the "wrong body" or has "gender dysphoria" and needs to have surgery to "correct this". Maybe he's JUST a boy who is feminine! A girl who prefers short hair and playing with trucks instead of Barbi can simply have these preferences. It doesn't necessarily mean she's a girl trapped in a boys body and then should have surgery and hormone "therapy" to "cure" this. Just let it be. Maybe later in life she will decide she is a gay OR heterosexual or whatever she decides. Maybe she will want to have children some day (tons of people can't even fathom this when they are young but desperately want it when they are older). Point being; this is not the time to make life altering irreversible decisions. Being a kid, growing to an adult is hard for EVERYONE. It's not a medical problem to solve. Shame on those who make this "trendy" and create an profitable industry around it. If your daughter at some point decides she doesn't want to live as a woman anymore than she has her whole life to decide this without being influenced by cultural zeitgeist or some idiotic therapist. I don't doubt that gender dysphoria is a real thing. I also know that some people ARE indeed intersex and have difficult decisions to make about how they will address this, but I believe the numbers are FAR lower than society/therapists and bad science would have you believe Read/listen to Abigail Shrier. She too describes this perfectly. Social Contagion. Shame on us.
Your last paragraph says it all. The transitioning of children is not a gray issue. It is truth versus lies, health versus profits, our children versus a pernicious ideology. Instead of becoming the best informed state in the country regarding the scientific distortions propping up the gender industry, Texas is using its considerable resources to demonize and blame parents. Could Texas be any stupider, any lazier? What kind of ass-backwards strategy is that? It's almost as if they're trying to sabotage their own efforts on purpose.
Is the transitioning of children a form of child abuse? Yes. But the abusers are not the parents, who've been lied to and browbeaten into believing that their children will kill themselves if they're not allowed to transition. The abusers are the opportunistic medical professionals and their educator and politician minions, playing fast and loose with human biology for profit and power.
Medical malpractice perverting every institution of society...this is the crime.
I mean, this was the natural progression of progressives. It says it in the name. Lol You progress and progress and progress. There's never a wall that is enough progress. Progressives just keep going. The insanity can be at least nodded to the blame on the people who push progressive politics. This was always where it was going to go.
I'm not a progressive or a conservative. Both are insane, but I can at least respect conservatives for trying to conserve the health of children.
I agree that all these powerful forces should be under scrutiny for promoting trans ideology. But ultimately, parents need a more active role in children's lives.
What I mean by this is that kids should be parent centered. Not peer centered. So-called "youth culture," had been a disaster for kids. Unfortunately, mandatory public education is the main culprit. It seperates children from parents and other adults actually. Before public education, kids grew up faster. They had to. And they had better guidance as well.
But there are ways to combat this as a parent. Even if you can't homeschool. But homeschooling is ideal. Ultimately, we have to look to tradition to re-establish the organic social relationship between parents and their kids. It doesn't have to look exactly as it did, but the content needs to be there.
The Republican Party and social conservative lobby, in their *present* incarnation, will never allow a non-partisan conversation of the deep family issues that they use to scare the daylights out of voters.
So many other comments here reflect blind anger and false accusation, not mutual learning that leads to common purpose: the welfare of our families.
I'm sorry, but gender diversity does originate naturally, despite the efforts of mass media, churches, and school officials to make everyone conform to one standard. The media, in particular, depend entirely upon advertising and ticket sales, and you can't advertise easily to a fragmented audience -- there is great pressure to steer society toward sameness, not variability.
Those who have survived conversion therapy know how much pressure there is, in conservative society, media, and church, to prevent people from simply being themselves.
While I understand your take, I see the statements by Paxton and Abbott as attempts to bring the discussions you mention into the light and, in the meantime, stop the unethical treatment of gender-dysphoric/confused kids. The goal is not simply "to investigate parents of trans children," but to stop medical and other professionals from taking advantage of vulnerable parents who are desperately seeking help for their children.
What makes puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries child abuse? Parents need to know. They don't know now because of all of the reasons you stated so well. Paxton/Abbott mean to force those discussions you want, not shut them down.
Hopefully, other parents and ill-advised health-care providers, counselors, teachers, etc. will become as well educated about the issue and treatments as you are. As you state, that is not happening now, and I'm afraid it won't as long as the narrative remains that Abbott and Paxton are politically-motivated transphobes. Let's not miss this opportunity. Let's use their statements to our advantage to actually find the best care for the kids, and help others do the same.
I am so disgusted with politics and how every issue is used to divide us. We need to ask better questions so we can work together to find sound solutions that promote wholeness and wellness. Questions like:
How is it more compassionate to treat a healthy body with surgery and wrong-sex hormones than to help that person accept biological reality and make peace with their body?
Is our profit-driven medical system working in the interest of our health and wellbeing or is it always on the lookout for the next big market?
How is our education system affecting our relationships with ourselves and our families? Is it working to create healthy, self-directed individuals who are resilient and have a sense of meaning and belonging so they're not vulnerable to dangerous ideology?
How can we infuse our communication with curiosity and compassion so we stand a chance of being heard? Is it possible to adopt needs-based communication? Can we imagine a world where people can identify and clearly articulate their own needs? How did we become so disconnected from our selves? Okay--maybe these are too big, but I think they're important to helping us figure out how we got to this crazy place we find ourselves in.
I wonder if this has taken off in the US in part because of the enthusiastic medicalisation of children (and adults) in that society as a whole. Millions of children are on medication for ADHD for example. Also I read over and over about parents taking their children to see a "therapist" at the first sign of any kind of mental distress. This would not have occurred to me as a parent in the UK. Many of my generation of mothers were all about keeping our children's bodies as pure and natural as possible. Organic food, healthy outdoor play etc etc. So a cultural phenomenon as well as the obvious social contagion (which is sadly the same here in the UK) and a kind of reverence towards doctors and pharmaceuticals that I certainly don't have. I avoid doctors like the plague! Just a thought.
Thank you!
I appreciate the many great points you've brought out in your article, but when you say Paxton and Abbott are extreme, I'm not sure how else you want them to accomplish the goal of stopping the indiscriminate transing of kids that you espouse. You have said they should be investigating Big Pharma, but Paxton is already doing that in his recent suit against Abbvie and Endo Pharmaceuticals. And just because they want to investigate abuses, how is that shutting down discourse? The politicians on the right are NOT the ones silencing the debate; the gender industry and all of its enablers are doing that.
Thank you for another important voice on this issue. Your convictions and perspective are key to helping reverse the push for medicalization of so many of our young people who desperately need adults in the room to take a stand... together. I understand your opposition to the actions of the Texas governor and AG; I agree that transitioning minors is child abuse but I don’t believe well meaning parents are the instigators. Likewise, I do not believe the Governor and AG intend to prosecute parents who are acting in good faith to protect their children from harm. Parents are called to protect their children from abuse, but they also should be afforded the benefit of the doubt, especially when we are hearing that many parents have been told they MUST “affirm” their child’s delusion lest they lose them to suicide. What is a parent to do? We are talking about life and death. With growing skepticism about the validity of suicide data pushed by TG activist ideologues, hopefully parents and families will be empowered to seek supportive exploratory psychotherapy for their children. A growing number of physicians and therapists must stand ready to help parents respond to the onslaught that is targeting their children during a key developmental time when they are perhaps most vulnerable to external influence. In my opinion it will take firm stances from all involved to correct this wrong turn, educate and introduce extraordinary levels of caution. Firm stances should be taken by conservatives and liberals (and everyone in between) who essentially are in full agreement over this issue. There will be different mechanisms to put up roadblocks against harming children, and some will be more controversial than others, but I think in the end they will work in unison to protect minors.
Incredible piece So important. I hope this gets shared a billion times. I don't know why being human is a problem that some "professionals" feel they need to medically correct. Yes, i went through puberty and it was very hard, awkward, mood swings, zits...the works! We ALL go through it. It's NORMAL. There's so much about being human that is difficult/uncomfortable/miserable...But does not necessarily necessitate a remedy. A boy who is effeminate is not necessarily born in the "wrong body" or has "gender dysphoria" and needs to have surgery to "correct this". Maybe he's JUST a boy who is feminine! A girl who prefers short hair and playing with trucks instead of Barbi can simply have these preferences. It doesn't necessarily mean she's a girl trapped in a boys body and then should have surgery and hormone "therapy" to "cure" this. Just let it be. Maybe later in life she will decide she is a gay OR heterosexual or whatever she decides. Maybe she will want to have children some day (tons of people can't even fathom this when they are young but desperately want it when they are older). Point being; this is not the time to make life altering irreversible decisions. Being a kid, growing to an adult is hard for EVERYONE. It's not a medical problem to solve. Shame on those who make this "trendy" and create an profitable industry around it. If your daughter at some point decides she doesn't want to live as a woman anymore than she has her whole life to decide this without being influenced by cultural zeitgeist or some idiotic therapist. I don't doubt that gender dysphoria is a real thing. I also know that some people ARE indeed intersex and have difficult decisions to make about how they will address this, but I believe the numbers are FAR lower than society/therapists and bad science would have you believe Read/listen to Abigail Shrier. She too describes this perfectly. Social Contagion. Shame on us.
Your last paragraph says it all. The transitioning of children is not a gray issue. It is truth versus lies, health versus profits, our children versus a pernicious ideology. Instead of becoming the best informed state in the country regarding the scientific distortions propping up the gender industry, Texas is using its considerable resources to demonize and blame parents. Could Texas be any stupider, any lazier? What kind of ass-backwards strategy is that? It's almost as if they're trying to sabotage their own efforts on purpose.
Is the transitioning of children a form of child abuse? Yes. But the abusers are not the parents, who've been lied to and browbeaten into believing that their children will kill themselves if they're not allowed to transition. The abusers are the opportunistic medical professionals and their educator and politician minions, playing fast and loose with human biology for profit and power.
Medical malpractice perverting every institution of society...this is the crime.
I mean, this was the natural progression of progressives. It says it in the name. Lol You progress and progress and progress. There's never a wall that is enough progress. Progressives just keep going. The insanity can be at least nodded to the blame on the people who push progressive politics. This was always where it was going to go.
I'm not a progressive or a conservative. Both are insane, but I can at least respect conservatives for trying to conserve the health of children.
Keep writing
Keep speaking
We are ready for a radical middle movement - let the detransitioners speak and the truth will come out!
Excellent. Thx
I just wrote an email to the Morning Joe Show on MSNBC.
I urged Mika and Joe to look more in this issue, because I think they are convincible people if they can break out of the bubble.
I linked to this piece, because it speaks to something that is happening now and very clearly lays things out.
Who knows if they will even get it- but I can hope.
Wonderful piece! YES!
Yes! Yes! 1,000 times yes! I hope you’re submitting that piece all over the state. It needs to go viral. Well done!