Kamala Harris is looking for a vice presidential running mate who might be even more extreme than she is, and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro fits the bill.
Shapiro has worked with transgender activists to target professionals who refuse to use gender reassignment treatment for confused kids.
Under new rules in Pennsylvania, professionals who help kids feel okay with their biological sex instead of supporting a transgender identity might lose their licenses for practicing “conversion therapy.” However, treatments to help kids transition to a different gender do not fall under conversion therapy.
Shapiro praised the policy in a May press release, saying, “There is no place for the harmful, dangerous practice of conversion therapy here in our Commonwealth.”
Perry Monastero, who worked to ban conversion therapy, liked the new rules and thought they were stronger than state laws because “experts” created them.
In March 2024, the state legislature couldn’t pass a law to ban conversion therapy, so they had to find another way. After that meeting, Monastero contacted Ashleigh Strange, who leads the Governor’s Advisory Commission on LGBTQ Affairs. The next day, Monastero sent Strange a list of providers in Pennsylvania who practiced conversion therapy.
In an April meeting, Jacqueline A. Wolfgang, a lawyer from the Pennsylvania Department of State, told the State Board of Social Workers that Shapiro wanted them to create rules warning professionals that they could lose their licenses for practicing conversion therapy.
According to the PA Family Institute, Pennsylvania has spent $19.8 million of taxpayer money on treatments related to sex change for kids since 2015. These include puberty blockers, hormones, and surgeries.
Shapiro has always supported child sex change treatments. As Attorney General, he opposed a law that would have stopped men from playing in women’s sports and supported removing separate bathrooms for boys and girls in schools.
During his 2022 campaign, Shapiro promised to expand laws protecting LGBTQ+ people from hate crimes and to ban conversion therapy. Previous attempts to ban conversion therapy in Pennsylvania had failed because of a divided state legislature.
On July 27, at the Central PA Pride event in Harrisburg, Shapiro said he sees and loves transgender kids. He said he has gone to court to protect them and will keep speaking out in communities across Pennsylvania to show his support.
The Shapiro administration has also set up a place on the Pennsylvania Department of State website where people can report professionals who practice conversion therapy.
“Conversion therapy” refers to attempts to change a person’s sexual orientation. But since the mid-2010s, it also includes efforts to change someone’s gender identity. This new definition, used by the Shapiro administration, sees helping a child with gender issues as trying to “convert” their gender identity.
Transgender activists say that a person’s sex can be different from their gender identity. This view goes against the long-held scientific understanding that only two sexes exist.
Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, a doctor and the chairman of a group called Do No Harm, said that the Pennsylvania medical boards are mixing up two issues. They confuse talking to kids about their gender feelings with trying to change gay people’s sexual orientation. He notes that many kids who feel this way come to terms with their gender on their own.
Shapiro faces scrutiny as he tops the list of Harris’s VP hopefuls. His views on gender reassignment surgeries mean that he will face sharp opposition from Republicans.
But those on the left are cautious, too. Shapiro backed a plan in 2022 to provide taxpayer-funded vouchers for private schools. This conservative proposal has faced opposition from Democrats. He also complicates Harris’s shaky hold on pro-Palestinian groups with his Jewish heritage and support of Israel.
Republicans are watching Shapiro closely as they consider him a strong choice for Harris. They believe Shapiro could help Harris attract independent voters and traditional Democrats who are moving away from her party.
Shapiro is the edge progressives have been looking for to help get their unpopular agenda over the finish line. Only time will tell if he is as popular with moderate Democrats.
For Harris, the choice should be easy. Shapiro is as radical as she is and promises to bring a swing state with him. What’s not to love?
