It seems unlikely that Senate Democrats will permit a vote on the Protect Kids Act, recently approved by the House. The hesitation stems from the contentious issue of parental rights in the context of gender identity discussions in schools.
The proposed legislation mandates that schools obtain explicit parental consent before initiating any social transition for a child. Failure to comply would result in the loss of federal funding.
In a notable move, eight House Democrats, including Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez from Washington, voted in favor of the bill. However, it is anticipated that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will employ the filibuster to prevent a vote, thereby protecting fellow Democrats from having to publicly oppose parental rights.
The fact that the practice of social transitioning has gained a foothold in schools is alarming to many. This process involves educators altering a child’s pronouns, allowing them to dress according to a different gender identity, and similar actions.
Critics argue that such measures can cause significant psychological harm, particularly in elementary school environments. At such a young age, children’s expressions of gender identity can be as fleeting as their claims of being fictional characters.
It’s outrageous that schools hide these transitions from families — and worse that the secrecy is often ordered by legislatures, as in California and New York.
The rationale: If evil, bigoted parents know their 6-year-old son is wearing a dress and claiming to be a girl, they might harm the kid.
This perversely treats all parents as likely abusers, as well as excluding the likely reality that “affirming the identity” is bad for the child.
Neither schools nor states should be in business of imposing woke nostrums, let alone behind parents’ backs.
The social-transition craze was always political, a bid to co-opt the classroom into rank indoctrination.
Parents’ furious effort to end this madness brought lawsuits across the country; in Mirabelli v. Bonta, the Supreme Court recently found that California cannot order schools to lie to parents about their kids’ mental health; the Protect Kids Act is simply an effort to ensure that principle’s upheld nationwide.
Most of the nation has rejected “gender madness,” but it still rules the Democratic Party — so Schumer and other national Democrats are left doing their best to again hide their own extremism.