The latest move from the Left removes any remaining pretense to their once-vociferous claim that they were only concerned with protecting the rights of consenting adults, not forcing their lifestyles upon children.
A bill pushed by Democrats that is currently being debated in Maine’s legislature would empower the state with the authority to take away the children of parents who oppose “gender-affirming care” being performed on their kids.
In other words, Maine Democrats want to normalize and legalize the practice of “Let us make your children trans or you could lose them forever.”
If passed and signed into law, the legislation, LD1735, would be an enormous expansion of government overreach. The summary of the bill declares that it “authorizes a court to take temporary jurisdiction because a child has been unable to obtain gender-affirming health care or gender-affirming mental health care.” Notably, the legislation does not include religious exemptions.
The proposal by Maine Democrats is the latest in a line of efforts by the party to encourage minors to undergo “gender transition” treatments without the need for parental approval. New York, under Governor Kathy Hochul, enacted protections for youth who want to transition in the Empire State even if they hail from other states.
Washington now has a law on the books that prevents estranged parents from having a say in whether or not their children are going to “transition.” And California last year passed legislation that compels courts, in disputes regarding “gender-affirming care,” to give greater weight to the child seeking transition therapy than to the parents who oppose it.
But even as the Left accelerates its push for forced, unrestricted transgenderism, there has been a pushback among conservatives, which is finding expression in policy in areas where Republicans dominate the halls of government.
For example, three bills that would crack down on transgenderism in West Virginia are causing a storm of worry among the Left. One of the proposals would flat-out ban trans therapy for individuals under the age of 21, while another would criminalize and classify as “obscene matter” “transgender exposure, performances, or display to any minor” within 2,500 feet of a school.
One of the proposals, Senate Bill 195, introduced in the 2024 Regular Session of the West Virginia Legislature, aims to protect minors from indecent displays of sexually explicit content. The bill includes amendments to various sections of the Code of West Virginia, covering issues such as indecent exposure, unlawful admission of children to explicit venues, and the distribution of obscene matter to minors. It establishes legal actions, penalties for violations, and imposes a $1,000 tax on properties associated with maintaining a nuisance. The bill’s focus is on safeguarding minors from explicit content, including transvestite and/or transgender performances or displays.
Senate Bill 197 is the legislation that would prevent that which is classified as “obscene matter” from being within 2,500 feet of a school facility. Under the bill, the State Superintendent is tasked with investigating complaints and taking appropriate actions. The bill also restricts the use of funds for certain materials or programs promoting sexual activity. It includes penalties for adults violating related laws and allows students or their representatives to pursue legal action for violations, seeking damages and fees.
Finally, Senate Bill 194 is the bill which, if passed, would expand West Virginia’s current prohibition on trans therapy for minors to anyone under the age of 21.
The pushback against transgender ideology by the Republican Party and the conservative movement at large has stroked fearmongering by talking heads on the Left. In a recent piece published by New Republic writer Brynn Tannehill, Republicans are accused of wanting to “eradicate” trans people.
As Tannehill writes:
In 2023, the Republican Party dropped any pretense of being willing to tolerate transgender people. Almost 600 anti-transgender bills were filed in the states in 2023, and 85 passed. This was a sharp rise from previous years, but also continued a trend going back to 2018. Most of these bills were bans on health care, athletics, and bathrooms for transgender youth. The GOP clearly signaled an intent to go much further, however.
Trans people have already begun fleeing hostile states en masse, and it is only going to get worse. Transgender students effectively can no longer get a public education in half the states. This was deliberate and has direct analogies to German school policies in the 1930s. The Republican Party, and Donald Trump, have made it clear that they intend to seize power and spread this to the rest of the nation. The idea that our institutions will save us is ridiculous, as Trump’s lawyers are literally arguing at this moment that he has the right to have Supreme Court justices, senators, and representatives executed on a whim (presumably for opposing him acting like a dictator).
The trans issue is revealing of the larger divide gripping America. The Left is increasingly sliding into anti-Biblical, anti-family extremism, supporting ideologies which by any sane standard amount to mental illness.
On the other side, conservatives are increasingly shedding the former penchant for “tolerance” and instead taking concerted, unabashed action to detain and reverse institutionalized moral decay.
