On the one hand I am absolutely baffled as to how the whole transgender debate became such a major issue in this country. However, I have come to understand Trump and the MAGA Republicans are experts at making Everest sized mountains out of nothing more than dirt clods. They have developed the art of weaving threads of misinformation, pseudoscience, and obfuscation into something that some people believe is the solution to a problem which is not really a problem. The problem they purport to solve by banning transgender care is to ‘protect the children.’
Guns are the leading cause of death in children. Every year 3,000 to 4,000 youths are killed in gun-related incidents. There is an ongoing teacher shortage, and they have to continually fight to be paid a salary they can live on. Millions of children live in homes where food security is an issue. Now those are problems that could use solving to “protect the children.” But instead of our state legislatures and the United States Congress trying to solve problems that are actually problems, they waste millions of tax dollars pursuing these ridiculous attacks on transgender care and other mindless Quixotic pursuits to abridge the rights of U.S. citizens.
The population of the United States is about 333 million people. About 1.6 million people identify as transgender. That is less than 1% of the entire population. Attacks on transgender people have increased. Suicide rates of transgender kids has increased in states like Tennessee that have banned transgender care. But there is no hard evidence that transgender people pose a threat to anyone else. There is at least one mass shooting every single day in this country. There were 127,000 rapes in this country in 2023. I can’t remember reading about a single account of a transperson being involved in any of these crimes. If it happened, it would have been the leading story on Fox News for weeks! So what problem are these legislatures trying to solve to ‘protect the children?’ It’s complete hogwash. The only thing they are protecting is their ability to shove their beliefs down everyone else’s throats.
The conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court appears ready to allow a Tennessee law stand that bans transgender care in that state. It seems ironic that the same people who bang the drum loudly about ‘parental rights’ in being able to dictate what and how curricula are developed in schools are denied those same parental rights when it comes to how to raise their children. Perhaps the legislatures, since they seem to know best how to raise children, should just take kids away from their parents at a very young age, stuff them into state run schools, and brainwash the hell out of them until they are either compliant or they die. Sound radical? The U.S. Government tried that once before with Native American kids. That didn’t work out so well and they are still finding mass graves today that resulted from those abysmal and embarrassing governmental policies.
Trump and all his oligarch appointees vow to slash government regulation. Of course, that only includes those policies that directly affect their wallets and their accumulation of even more wealth. They want to impose even more government regulations on people, families, and children to try to force everyone to fit into ‘the mold’ they believe is ideal. That means there is only one type of family – a marriage between a man and a woman. There are only two sexes – male and female. There is only one legitimate religion – Christianity. And, of course, people must show unwavering support for all things Trump. If you don’t fit in that box, you are deemed an ‘enemy of the state,’ and you will be treated as such and the rights you thought you had to pursue ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,’ will be restricted until you conform.
If anyone thinks these laws aimed at restricting the rights of transgender people, parents and medical providers will be the end, you are deluding yourselves. The overturning of Roe v. Wade was the beginning. The transgender cases are just another brick. It is a 100 percent probability in my opinion that gay rights will be the next target. Unfortunately, many people have the attitude that restricting rights for transgender people or gay people doesn’t affect them personally so they’re not going to worry about it too much. It will only become important when they are the next target. It is important to remember, once the rights of one group are under attack, it is only a matter of time before a right that you personally cherish will come under attack. It is well past time to get over the ‘it could never happen here’ or ‘it could never happen to me’ syndrome and understand that it can, it is, and it will if we let it.
