Parental Rights Part 1

Have you notices that the conservatives are always crying “Parental Rights!” but it is only their rights not others. Is it “Parental Rights” to prevent teachers from saying anything about LGBTQ+ students or is it just plain out and out bigotry?

Under Attack: The Political Assault on the Rights of LGBTQ+ Students
The Expectations Project
March 27, 2024

When former President Trump announced last year that, if reelected, he would ‘stop’ gender-affirming care for minors, which he described as ‘child abuse’ and ‘child sexual mutilation,’ he was advancing a strategic political effort to restrict the rights of transgender and nonbinary students barreling through state and federal legislatures. Initially masked as attempts to define the rights of parents to regulate discussions of gender identity in schools, these bills have rapidly progressed to bans on gender-affirming care for trans and nonbinary children. In 2023, states around the country introduced at least 142 bills to restrict healthcare for trans and nonbinary people, three times more than the previous year. 80% of these bills target children under 18 and seep into multiple spheres of the lives of trans children and families in a coordinated effort to question and threaten the very existence of trans people.

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This broad sweep of proposed bills and codified laws is championed as an attempt to protect the interests of children by shielding them from ideologies deemed harmful by politicians. Nonbinary and trans children are already at an increased risk for depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation, attributed to experiencing higher levels of social rejection, bullying, and societal stigma. One study, contributing to existing evidence of gender-affirming interventions, found that access was associated with lower rates of depression and suicidal ideations over 12 months among trans and nonbinary young people.

Young people who were able to use their chosen name in any context experienced 71% fewer symptoms of severe depression, a 34% decrease in reported thoughts of suicide, and a 65% decrease in suicidal attempts compared to their peers who could not. So, with ample evidence that gender-affirming care helps and does not harm children, it is questionable how these bills are designed to support thriving children.

But this is not new, the Republicans know all this and don’t care because they want to stir up their homophobic and transphobic base. They know that these laws are causing harm but to them votes and power are more important than lives.

These bills are not rooted in protecting the welfare of all children, rather they are tools of political manipulation to galvanize a base of voters who may have genuine fears about their children. They are fueled by extremists interested in the privatization of public education who also attempted to manipulate legislation restricting teaching, race, and racism in schools. These groups, such as the Alliance Defending Freedom, the Family Research Council, and the Liberty Council (among others), are on record as the driving force behind “parents’ rights” bills that target children and public education.

These right-wingers are all about “Parental Rights” and “Religious Freedom” but those are only for them, they don’t see that their “Parental Rights” are oppressing other parents of their rights. That their “Religious Freedom” comes at the repression of other religions.

Yes, it is one-sided with these conservatives it is all about “ME” and not us.