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Dear John,
Protecting children from experimental "gender transition" procedures shouldn't be controversial.
Yet, we have seen time after time that elected officials and policymakers are either too easily swayed by the Left's well-funded hype and hysteria... or too afraid of backlash from the woke mob to stand up for vulnerable, underage, children.
The fact is, every state, school, and family is going to be confronted by radical gender ideology (if yours hasn't been already).
Family Research Council has been at the center of this fight since 2017, long before the first legislation protecting children from the ramifications of this ideology was passed. We cannot--we will not--stop pushing until every child in America is protected from dangerous, life-altering gender experimentation.
For years, we have been educating leaders on the dangers of what is deceptively called "gender-affirming care," especially for vulnerable children. Our experts have examined the social science, developed model legislation, published resources, and testified before state legislatures on the irreversible harms that puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and mutilating surgeries inflict upon boys and girls who are too young to truly consent.
While speaking up on your behalf, FRC has also been committed to elevating some of the most powerful voices: those of brave men and women who have lived through the horrors of gender transition and regret it.
Men and women who have detransitioned--like Walt Heyer, Chloe Cole, Morgan Keller, and so many others--are standing up to stop the predatory industry that wants to silence their stories.
Will you support FRC so we can continue to stand with them?
STAND WITH US
As Christians, we understand the power of sharing our testimonies to change hearts and minds. The same principle applies when people who have experimented with "gender transition" are given the opportunity to share their stories--it can persuade the most unlikely audiences.
Just listen to the courageous testimony Morgan Keller shared in November before a room full of Ohio state senators as they debated their state's Save Adolescents from Experimentation (SAFE) Act...
This week is the fifth anniversary of my first testosterone shot... I wish I had been told "no" by practitioners I trusted. I wish I could say I'm the exception to the rule, but... I come to you wearing the scars of this medical scandal.
After realizing that all of the hormones and surgeries failed to resolve her mental health issues, Morgan decided to detransition by quitting "testosterone cold turkey" and "endured four of the most brutal months" of her life. Morgan continued her story, hoping the senators would listen:
I would cry upwards of 10 times a day -- shocked at what I had been allowed to do to my body in such a vulnerable state... I would lay in bed all day, sitting with the realization that I would never be able to breastfeed children that I didn't even know I wanted at the time [of] my mastectomy. I didn't know if those feelings would ever go away. So, I started to make plans to commit suicide.
Morgan's bold testimony, along with the work of FRC and the voices of everyday Americans like you, emboldened the Ohio state legislators to not only pass the bill but ultimately override Gov. Mike DeWine's (R) veto a few weeks later.
One of the most pervasive lies the predatory gender transition industry peddles to vulnerable children and their parents is that if we don't affirm a child's gender confusion, then they will certainly self-harm or take their own lives.
But Morgan's story illustrates that this unethical scare tactic could not be further from the truth!
Researchers in Europe have reviewed the studies used to promote transgender procedures on minors and have acknowledged that the science is biased, low quality, and does not support good mental outcomes. To the contrary, the evidence shows a rise in adverse mental health outcomes and completed suicides among trans-identified people when compared to the general population. As a result, many European gender clinics have shut down or greatly walked back these harmful transgender procedures on minors.
In fact, some experts are questioning if these pre-existing mental health issues, which were supposed to be treated by administering cross-sex hormones, are potentially leading to a rise in acts of violence. Unfortunately, it appears that our society is paying a high cost for the improper treatment of those suffering with gender confusion.
"Gender-Affirming Care Is Dangerous. I Know Because I Helped Pioneer It." This was the headline of an October article in The Free Press by Finnish doctor Riittakerttu Kaltiala. She oversaw the establishment of one of the world's first clinics devoted to offering "gender-affirming care" to adolescents. Over the course of 12 years, she personally oversaw the assessment of over 500 minors. Now, she's raising the alarm.
Even The New York Times is taking note!
On Friday, February 2, this left-leaning outlet published a lengthy opinion piece spotlighting detransitioners and noting that the old Dutch studies upon which our medical establishment built their entire model of "gender-affirming care" are about as solid as quicksand.
How many more young lives will Americans allow to be destroyed before we stand up, speak up, and demand that elected officials and doctors stop the experiments on children and keep them SAFE?
STAND WITH FRC
FRC has been fighting to derail this dangerous experimentation on children ever since we saw the trans train barreling down the tracks a decade ago.
Back then, many conservatives didn't want to touch this issue, much less lead on it. FRC Action Vice President Brent Keilen noted in The Washington Stand that "just a few years ago, areas like indoctrinating children and allowing men in women's sports seemed like a bridge too far" for many politicians to touch.
But we saw the far-reaching implications, and got to work:
- In 2017, FRC's policy team met with policy allies and pulled together the first comprehensive state legislative approach, the SAFE Act, as model legislation.
- In 2018, 2019, and 2020, FRC staff reached out to state legislators and state policy groups across the country, educating them about the need for this legislation and working with them to refine their existing bills or replace them with model legislation.
- In 2021, after years of behind-the-scenes work to educate lawmakers, Arkansas became the first state in the nation to enact such a law, passing a bill based on FRC's model legislation. FRC was honored to work directly with State Representative Robin Lundstrum, the Arkansas Family Council, and many other allies to overcome the governor's veto and see the SAFE Act enacted.
- That same year, 20 other states introduced bills banning gender transition procedures on minors.
- In 2022, Alabama--after years of FRC's expert testimony, advice, and advocacy--enacted its own bill, only the second ever to protect minors from gender transition procedures. It was an election year, but 13 states nevertheless courageously introduced SAFE Act-style bills to protect the children within their borders.
- By 2023, as more states began to pass these bills, some governors (including several weak Republicans) vetoed eight of them, but legislators overcame them. In all, courageous state legislators in Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, and North Carolina overrode gubernatorial vetoes.
- This year kicked off with the Ohio legislature mobilizing to successfully override the governor's veto of their SAFE Act.
So far, 23 states have enacted SAFE Acts or similar legislation to protect our children. The momentum is on our side, and there is more work to be done.
Pulling together the work of others into a cohesive policy strategy, FRC stood up when this issue was seen as radioactive, and stayed focused on the truth and on protecting children when others were looking for more "winnable" fights. I shudder to imagine where our nation would be today if we had not persisted and persevered.
We know the gender ideology lobby will stop at nothing to continue pushing its agenda. Policies to protect children face an uphill battle from fearmongering in the public square, leftist legislators, cowardly governors, and activist judges.
But we've seen what can happen when concerned citizens rally to make their voices heard. Thank you for standing with us to equip believers and policymakers with the truth to withstand the Left's lies and propaganda.
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2024 Family Research Council.