President Biden has made it clear to Americans – protecting their children is the last item on his list. Rather, he wants the public to worry about giving rights and privileges to illegal immigrants, making sure minorities don’t feel forgotten (especially with an election year coming up), and advocating for green energy. He feels that these topics are the biggest concerns for Americans, and wants us to focus on them.
Speaking with Kal Penn as he guest hosts Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show”, the President made it evident just how comfortable the two were. Considering Penn worked for the Obama administration, their past interactions seemed to make this conversation much easier. As Penn brought up the LGTBQ platform, he asked what the feds could do for kids “especially transgender kids who are dealing with all these regressive state laws that are popping up right now.”
Biden replied “transgender kids is a really harder thing. What’s going on in Florida is as my mother would say is close to sinful. It’s terrible what they’re doing. It’s not like a kid wakes up one morning and says, ‘You know, I decided I want to become a man’ or ‘I want to become a woman’ or ‘I want to change.’ I mean, what are they thinking about here? They’re human beings. They love. They have feelings. They have inclinations that are… I mean, It just, to me, is, I don’t know is, it’s cruel.”
The President also added that he feels the way to fight this is to “make sure we pass legislation like we passed with same-sex marriage. You mess with that, you’re breaking the law and you’re going to be held accountable.”
While Biden has what many might see as “good intentions” here, let’s look at this carefully. Getting married before turning 18 requires being emancipated in many jurisdictions. At a minimum, it still requires the signature of their adult guardian. This means parents are helping them make the best decisions for their future. In extreme cases where they are under the age of 16, these marriages usually are the result of a tragic illness or deranged cases of religious law. Again, in both situations, something extreme has happened, and an adult is guiding their decision.
What Florida has done, is to remove the problems of kids trying to transition in the Sunshine State. In October 2022, the Florida Board of Medicine voted to ban hormone therapy and sex-change surgeries for children. This landmark decision sent ripples across the nation.
In January, Utah decided to do the same. The state legislature worked together to ban transgender surgeries as well as cross-sex hormone drug use for children. Oklahoma saw Trans Lives Matter protesters occupying the state capitol building back in February to protest Republican-backed bills that were aimed at banning sex-change operations before 26.
Given the reports of people who transitioned and later regretted their decisions, it makes sense that these states want to give children the full childhood experience. While those who have transgendered feelings and thoughts are already going through a rougher childhood than most due to those thoughts, adding in a painful surgery or pills that only serve to confuse the already wild teenage hormones is just a recipe for disaster.
By blocking kids from being able to make these life-altering decisions without fully reaching maturity, FL has sent a message to the nation that kids need to have someone on their side. To have someone who will tell them “That’s dangerous. Don’t do that!!” We certainly wouldn’t let a kid burn their hand on a hot stove, stick a penny in the light socket, or make the choice to leave getting an education in the 6th grade, so why should we let them destroy their body’s chemistry?
Having to tell them “no” is a hard decision for many parents. However, it’s time we remember that we are not their friends but their parents. Their well-being must always come before how much they like us.
