Abbott’s Audacious Administrative Act

Congratulations to Governor Greg Abbott of Texas. He boldly took a stance regarding transgender rights of children in his state by ordering professional caregivers and service providers of children (including educators) to report any gender affirming treatment on children as child abuse. This is an excellent political move to end the Transgender Tyranny!

First of all, if we keep allowing children to identify with the gender that contrasts against what they were assigned at birth then depression and suicide rates go down. We can’t have children (of all people) being happy. Happy children perform better in school. Happy children grow up to become happy adults. Do we really want happy adults entering the workforce after high school? Of course not. Happy children develop romantic relationship and later procreate a happy family. In other words, if Governor Abbott had not made this important move, population growth would skyrocket! It’s all about controlling the population. Besides, it’s just a small group of marginalized children anyway, it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of life.

Next, these outliers are a threat to high school. We cannot continue to allow children to walk into school “pretending” to be a boy or a girl. They need to conform with the rest of their peers and if they choose not to, they become fodder for the school bullies. Governor Abbott’s move protects bullies’ rights to, well, um, bully. Teaching acceptance and allowing gender affirming treatment strips the bullies’ of this essential right. The hierarchy of school would fall out of balance. What’s next? The football team joining Glee club?! Protect bullies’ right to pick on the marginalized group of “wannabes” and let’s end this gender affirming treatment for children!

Finally, and most importantly, how dare parents love their children unconditionally? What parent would put their child in harms way by allowing and accepting them when the child “decides” to come out trans? It’s not like it’s autism, right? These children were born with perfect male or female bodies and they need to stay aligned to their birth sex, regardless of what the children may “claim.” They are too young to know what they want anyway. The Texas government knows more about raising a child and what children do and do not want than any parent. We need to adhere to the words of Governor Abbott and put an end to all of the transgender bullshit that parents say exists in their children.

Yes, transgender children are a menace to society. They say they just want to live a normal life. They want to be their “authentic” self. They need to stop being selfish and think about the society as a whole. We need children who have mental health issues and the bullies need someone to pick on. School should never be safe for those who are outliners to societal norms, especially in regards to gender.

AND…on a serious note:

Clearly, Transphobia is alive and growing in America. It was not as apparent prior to 2016, but since then, there has been a great shift in America as more and more state legislatures move to restrict, or erase, the right of transgender children (and people). There is no rationale for the move, it is completely out of fear. But fear of what?

How does a child, who is raised as a “tomboy” because of her interests, a threat when she decides to transition from female to male? What threat does she bring to other male students in school, or male children outside of school? When she becomes a he, is that person suddenly attacking other boys with new found aggression once they start hormone replacement therapy? Or are they scaring all of them in locker rooms and bathrooms because of their anatomy?

This move from Governor Abbott to make gender affirming treatment for children ‘child abuse’ is not about trans-boys, though. It is stated as gender affirming treatment of children, but honestly, it about prohibiting the existence of trans-girls. The recent inundation of anti-trans bills in American legislature is focused more on male to female transgender children and sports because having a male-born student competing against her classmates is “unfair,” especially if she were to win events, medals, and scholarships. Meanwhile, a female-born student competing in a male’s competition is still scoffed. He (the trans-boy) is praised and rewarded for beating the odds. Welcome to America, the patriarchy remains persistent. Being ‘male’ trumps being female. Having a female transition to a male is much more accepted. Furthermore, in the case of Texas, females are already losing their rights politically (i.e. abortion bill), so it makes sense that the legislature would create a bill to stop male to female transitions.

What’s the next step for these families?

Option 1: move. Simple solution. Pack up and move to a more progressive state. Is it worth having your child ostracized daily for trying to live authentically? What is so special about Texas that requires jeopardizing your child’s health (mental and physical)? I know, me sitting in a different state shouting, “move,” is easier said without knowing their situation and circumstances. In some (if not most) cases, it’s not as simple as packing up and changing residence.

Option 2: Ignore it. Your child only has 4 - 10 years to deal with this hatred. Have your child blend in until they become an adult and then cut loose. Based on this legislature, they don’t prohibit adults from transitioning, just children. However, transgender children will miss out on something much more important than the physical adjustment to their gender: social adjusting. Learning about gender norms is critical during middle and high school. Relationships are formed and through these relationships, humans confirm what is socially acceptable and what is not. Transgender children are fortunate enough to learn these social norms when they are young, so their transition is much more natural than it would be for adults. Adults have to relearn how to act, speak, dress, behave and more when they begin their transitional journey. They have been taught all the norms of a gender they no longer (and never wanted to) identify with and continuing with those norms are definitely unacceptable in the adult world. Ignoring and hiding who you are may not be the best choice in terms of socialization.

Option 3: Fight! There are already numerous people who are ready to stand up and fight this order from Governor Abbott, both in the state of Texas, as well as out of state. Even the ACLU is already in motion to have the request recognized as unconstitutional claiming an infringement on human rights. Will it hold? That’s the question we will find the answer to in the upcoming weeks.

Bottomline, I obviously don’t support Abbott’s request/demand. My heart goes fully out to all the families who have to fight this battle for their children. There is no harm in allowing a human to live a peaceful life the way they want, so this attack on an already marginalized and suffering community is pointless and filled with hate. We have to become better and much more understanding humans in order to create a world of equity and equality. We can start by letting Abbott and his administration know how abusive their actions are and calling out future legislatures on their ignorance.