Your daughter confides in you that she feels like she is in the wrong body — that she should have been a boy. Or perhaps if she’s been exposed to gender ideology at school or elsewhere, she believes that she actually is a boy.
How do you respond? As a parent, chances are you’d want your daughter to get real help so she can feel comfortable in her God-given body. Unfortunately, though, activists would prefer that your child start puberty blockers and (depending on her age) cross-sex hormones. They may even advocate for surgeries like a double mastectomy — an operation no child should be subjected to, let alone a child in a perfectly healthy body.
That’s why at Family Policy Alliance we, along with our state and national partners, have led the charge to protect children from these dangerous interventions and ensure that they have access to real help, not harm.
The national discussion on this topic is heating up. Here are 5 things you need to know about the current debate:
1. The American Academy of Pediatricians is backpedaling on transition for minors.
For years, the American Academy of Pediatricians has pedaled gender ideology, including so-called “transition” for minors. But recently, after an article called out the organization in the Wall Street Journal, the Academy published its own reply. While the response stopped far short of abandoning gender ideology, it nonetheless attempted to backpedal its stance on supporting transgender interventions for “the vast majority of children.” While this may likely be more of a political move to save face than a real change of heart, it was an important indicator that supporters of these interventions are being forced to go on defense in the public eye — and that’s a step in the right direction.
2. The ACLU is challenging an Arkansas child safety law.
If you’ve been following this topic in the news, you may know that the ACLU is challenging the Arkansas law that protects children from “transition.” Recently, a federal court ruled against the law — but that’s not the end of the story. The litigation is ongoing. And, the ruling actually looks to allow arguably the most important part of the law to stand — the law that allows minors (or adults who were harmed as minors) to sue the medical professionals who harmed them with hormones and surgeries. That’s good news.
Please lift up the law and those defending it in prayer, and pray that more states would pass laws to protect children from this irreversible harm.
3. A federal court ruled in favor of counselors.
One critical means of real help for struggling youth is counseling.
Sadly, in many places across the country, counseling to help in these situations is legally banned. In these areas (see map below), LGBT activists have convinced leaders that “transition” is the only right answer for a child who feels uncomfortable with their biological sex — even when children want to pursue counseling to help them feel comfortable in their God-given bodies. These so-called “conversion therapy” bans not only prevent struggling youth from getting the help they need, but they also prevent licensed counselors from helping those who are struggling with same-sex attraction and desire change.
