Rebecca Weber, President, AMAC Magazine
A dystopian nightmare is seizing America. A growing number of states are now directing public schools to help young students make gender transitions In certain cases, educators are even mandated to keep such information secret from parents.
In |une 2023. the New York State Education Department (NYSED) published new requirements for serving "transgender and gender expansive [TGE] students. The guidelines instruct teachers to lie to parents if a child wants to socially transition at school without their parents' consent.
"Only the student knows whether it is safe to share their identity with caregivers." the NYSED document explains. 'Schools should be mindful that some TGE students do not want or cannot have their parents/ guardians know about their trans-gender status."
If a student named Kevin wants to be called Kiml but does not want his parents to know, the document instructs, "The teachers call her Kiml and use she/her pronouns at school. When calling home for any reason, teachers use the name Kevin and he/ him pronouns."
New York has also recommended that all schools adopt the National Sex Education Standards, which introduce "gender identity" in kindergarten and teach children about puberty blockers by fifth grade. Elementary school is no place for these conversations. It is predatory behavior to talk to children about sex and gender changes behind the backs of their parents and even more so to twist the truth In such perverse ways.
Tragically, New York is not the only state that is propagating these harmful lies to children. Washington and Oregon have enacted legislation that enables children as young as 15 to transition from their biological sex, which includes hormone injections, puberty blockers, and irreversible destructive surgeries. Illinois has mandated that all public schools teach students from kindergarten through second grade about gender identity.
These so-called "gender-affirming" policies are a direct assault on our children. They endanger the health, safety, and future of an entire generation. Studies universally show that children are not neurologically advanced enough to make life-altering decisions. The prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for rational decision-making, is not fully developed until well Into a person's twenties, which leaves even older teenagers reliant on the highly emotional and reactive part of the brain known as the amygdala. Children need years of experience before conceptualizing the connection between cause and effect. Yet, these far-left gender policies confuse and abuse children when they are most vulnerable.
The Fight to Protect Our Children
Fortunately. Republican lawmakers have worked with uncharacteristic speed to stop these egregious practices before they are widespread in the United States Thus far in 2023. at least two Republican-led states have passed bills to ban or significantly restrict the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and mutilating gender reassignment surgeries for minors
While many Democratic leaders continue to aggressively pursue "gender-affirming" legislation, other Western nations have actually pulled back from such policies in five European countries—the United Kingdom. Sweden, Finland, Norway, and France—have recently reversed course after allowing gender reassignments for years urging caution due to the severe health risks for minors
In June 2023, the United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS) issued a major decision to restrict the prescription of puberty blockers to clinical trials. The directive stated, "There Is not enough evidence to support their safety or clinical effectiveness as a routinely available treatment and that they should only be accessed as part of research,"
NHS's decision was made in response to an alarmingly sharp rise in refer¬rals for gender transition therapy, a dramatic change in the population of patients from predominantly biologi¬cal males to predominantly biological females, the high prevalence of serious preexisting mental health conditions among referrals, and a scarcity of evidence for any positive effects of gender transition therapy.
Instead of continuing to promote harmful transgender "therapy" for children. American lawmakers can learn from Europe's cautionary tale.
Victims Speak Out
Even in the United States, where until recently it was uncommon for doctors to offer teenagers puberty blockers, hormonal drugs, and sex-change surgeries, the evidence of the detrimental effects is quickly mounting.
American parents, teenagers, and even former workers in the industry are beginning to courageously speak out about their own truly horrific experiences.
Jamie Reed, self-described as a queer who is "politically to the left of Bcmic Sanders." worked as a case worker at the Washington University Transgender Center at St Louis Children's Hospital for four years. Last November, she left the clinic after she concluded that the medical "treatments" had "life-altering consequences'' that permanently harmed vulnerable patients. In February of this year, she published an article in The Free Press warning parents about the "morally and medically appalling" practices. She detailed case after case of the medical manipulation of parents and children—as well as the irreversibly damaging effects of hormonal and surgical transitions.
Parents have confirmed that their experiences were as horrifying as Reed described. One mother, Caroline, brought her son to the center when he was 14 years old. He had flipped between different labels of gender identity and was curious about being transgender. He had been experiencing psychological distress recently, and Caroline was told that a puberty blocker would help. When she voiced hesitations, the psychologist responded, In front of Caroline's son, with alarming and misleading statistics about suicides among children not allowed to transition.
Caroline felt that she had no choice but to agree to the puberty blocker. As she put it. "It's being implied that if I don't okay this, I don't care if my kid kills himself." While she had hoped that the puberty blockers would alleviate her son's depression, in reality, her son became increasingly depressed and anxious. He struggled to keep up in school or even get out of bed and became suicidal. At the onset of all these disturbing side effects, Caroline demanded the blocker's immediate removal. However, the clinic refused. To this day. the puberty blocker continues to wreak havoc on the physical and emotional well-being of this teenage boy without the consent of his mother.
Sadly, Caroline's story is not unique While "gender-affirming care" advocates claim that transition treatments lower the risk of suicide among trans youths, the evidence does not bear this out. In fact, a Swedish report found that the suicide rate for fully transitioned adults was 19 times higher than for the rest of the population, suggesting that gender reassignment is not an effective treatment to reduce suicide.
Even teenagers who have undergone these treatments are now warning their peers. Sydney Wright, now a young adult in Georgia, has bravely shared her own story. As a high school student, Sydney was insecure about her attraction to girls. After watching a number of transgender "success stories" on Instagram, she began seeing a gender therapist just after her I9th birthday, and she received testosterone hormones. Within months, she gained 50 pounds and became pre-diabetic. and was deeply depressed. No one encouraged her to stop until one day, her grandfather talked to her.
As Sydney recalls. "There was my grandpa, the man I respect most, pleading with me through tears. I just couldn't tell him no. That was a saving grace. I would have let this treatment kill me before admitting I'd screwed up. His intervention may have saved my life."
The Power of Grandparents
Sydney's heartbreaking story powerfully illustrates the crucial role that grandparents play in supporting their grandchildren. As grandparents, we often don't see how our relationships with our grandchildren build up their confidence and help them know that they are loved. But through our example and our encouragement, we can help our grandchildren find security in their true identity as beloved children of God.
Every child needs to know that he or she is loved. It's natural for teenagers to struggle with insecurities and to search for acceptance. No one wants to be an outsider.
Yet. major left-leaning institutions are trying to sell teenagers a lie that they will be happier if they change the bodies God gave them—if they become someone they are not Such a lie has taken many forms throughout history, but the current push to force gender transitions on teenagers is particularly cruel. So-called "gender-affirming care" is medical malpractice. Such efforts prey upon our children when they are most vulnerable.
We must expose the left's gender transition propaganda. Every American will play a crucial role in this effort but parents and grandparents have a special responsibility to protect their children and grandchildren from such dangerous lies. At AMAC, we will continue to stand for the truth and fight at every level to safeguard the innocence of our kids. Their lives and futures are too precious for us not to win this battle for the heart of America.*
