Whose Children Are They Anyway?

You may have heard that the North Carolina Legislature passed a bill this past week called, “Parents Bill of Rights.” Who would ever have thought that such a bill would need to be legislated? One would reasonably determine that parents have automatic rights and responsibilities when it comes to the upbringing of their children. Apparently, now those rights need to be codified into law to be protected.

Opponents have dubbed this the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, as they did a similar bill in Florida. It’s such common sense, it seems ridiculous to explain it.

The Bill simply says that sexual orientation and gender identity will not be part of the instructional material in kindergarten through third grade. That should be common sense to everyone. At this young age, that is certainly not appropriate for these young minds.

This is not rocket science and should not be partisan at all. Poll after poll shows that overwhelmingly, Democrats and Republicans agree with this assessment. How did it get so controversial? The answer is a few very loud activists have taken over the bullhorn and are doing their best to convince people that this bill is something that it’s not. 

The bill was heard in Health Committee last week, in which I chaired. There had been contentious debate the day before in the Education Committee. The Health portion of the bill was the only topic for discussion in our committee. I clarified that fact at the beginning of the meeting and asked all speakers to limit comments to the Health portion of the bill. 

As soon as the speakers began it became somewhat of a circus. I believe the first speaker had the mike silenced. The Police were called and the remainder of the meeting was civil. 

It was very interesting that many of the speaker’s self-identified as gay. Several speakers identified themselves as teachers. Several comments were that bullying would be increased and children would be ostracized from families. The perception was that this was opening the door for children to become homeless and abused.  

I simply cannot understand the philosophy of some on this issue. How can anyone think it’s okay to discuss this sensitive topic with such young children, in the first place? Secondly, why would anyone fight so hard to have the right to do this without a parent’s permission.

We have laws that require the reporting of any suspicion of abuse of any kind. The argument falls apart on its face that this law will cause children to be abused. 

The speakers repeatedly mentioned that if children did not have gender confirming parents, harm could be done to the child. Harm is being done to the child in the mere discussion of such inappropriate issues. 

One of my colleagues told about his son who is in eighth grade and has digestive issues. He mentioned that his son can not take an antacid to school to relieve his discomfort, without a notice from the doctor and without the parents bringing the “over the counter” antacid to school clearly marked for the son. And yet, parents have been excluded from such serious health discussions happening in the classrooms.

Many of the speakers in the committee, were upset that teachers and other employees would not be allowed to teach, as part of a curriculum, children in K-3rd grade about sexual identification and gender identity. 

A friend shared a very sad social media post with me that breaks my heart. The post was by someone using the name “detrains female.”

“I miss my breasts so much.

I’m sitting in bed crying because I just miss my breasts so much. I got top surgery when I was 18. I’m 27 now. Even if I get implants, they won’t actually be mine. I want mine back. Not only were they mine, they were great looking. I will never have them back. Never. I never ever thought that this would happen to me. I was always 10000000% sure I made the right decision. But the past couple of years I’ve finally realized and it’s so f—— hard to comprehend this and accept it. I’m going through a mourning period right now over my old body. I miss it so much. I look at girls nowadays, any girl at all and I’m so jealous. At least they still have their natural body. I feel like an imposter, like I can’t even claim that I’m actually a girl even though I am. My voice is f—–, I have no boobs, I’m constantly worried about passing as a female even though I f—— am one. I feel so much regret and it’s eating me alive.”

What a heartbreaking admission. This person was an adult when these life altering decisions were done. Imagine the confusion of small children when being taught about things that they are not even aware of. And at this tender age, they are certainly not capable of understanding or making such important decisions. 

It’s insane to think that this is an okay discussion. And even more insane that anyone would think that parents should not be a part of this conversation.