I get the feeling that you really do care about this stuff but you are SO wrong when it comes to transgender issues. There is no such thing as a "transgender" kid (at least not in the sense that those who claim to be the opposite sex actually are the opposite sex), just as there is no such thing as a "transgender" adult. There is nothing that a male can do to become a female, or vice versa. The best they can do is to basically put on a costume (whether surgical, makeup + clothes, or a combination). Children's attire or makeup is one thing but they cannot consent to any of these medical interventions, and parents who consent to medically transitioning their children are behaving abusively and ought to lose their parental rights. And of course doctors who do this are violating the Hippocratic Oath. You're on the wrong side of this issue morally, legally, and politically!
You also conflated "normal" with "good" or "moral". Having one eye that is a different color than the other eye is abnormal. There are many other "abnormalities" that are not the fault of the individual and that have no bearing on their worth as a person. Everyone is unique. Gay and "transgender" kids are, no matter where you stand on issues, obviously abnormal. This is a basic matter of definition. Gay kids differ from the norm in that they are sexually attracted to members of the same sex. So-called "transgender" kids are led to believe that they are literally a member of the opposite sex. These classes of people are unlike each other and lumping them into the same category does a disservice to both. It's also worth noting that "transgender" kids are often gay kids or non-gay kids who simply do not conform to gender stereotypes. Yesterday's tomboy is too often considered today's "transboy". There are of course other reasons why people choose to go down this road. It's a subject well worth exploring but doing so would be "transphobic", of course.
Ironically a lot of the kids who are sucked into the trans cult are indoctrinated on the very social media platforms that you are wise to try to regulate. (Tiktok should be outright banned as it is CCP-controlled).
I don’t think you understand the word transgender. A transman isn’t trying to become a man. He is a transman. And whether we think of him as normal or abnormal, all he wants is to not be murdered for being who he is, to not be discriminated against. He is, after all, however you or I might feel about him, a person. A human being.
A "transman" is a she and a "transwoman" is a he. People on Murphy's side of this question think we should all lie and affirm their false claims at every turn, even if they are children and even if they are invading girls and women's spaces.
They should be treated just the same as anyone else. They should obviously not be murdered, but they should also not be given special privileges. They should be expected to respect boundaries and to not impose their false beliefs on others.
A transman isn’t lying. He saying I’m a transman. If you call him “a she,” that’s your prerogative, but it doesn’t mean the transman is lying. And transgender people don’t want special privileges. Just like black people don’t want special privileges. They want to same privileges as everyone else. When societal constructs or businesses or people keep them from having the same privileges, then they want laws to protect them from having the same privileges as everyone else diminished. Can you name a special privilege that a trans person wants? One that’s beyond the same privileges that you and I share?
A transman calling herself a "he" may not be lying, but she is definitely saying something that is untrue. The rest of us would be lying if we were to knowingly misgender her by using male pronouns in reference to her. Obviously getting insurance to cover cosmetic surgery that is medically unnecessary and that does nothing to treat the underlying psychological condition is a "special privilege". Putting men who falsely claim to be women on women's sports teams is also a special privilege. These are privileges that no sane society would permit.
They want the privilege to be perceived and treated as the opposite sex when they are not the opposite sex. They want the privilege to impersonate the opposite sex out in society which in practice creates chaos, discomfort, and unfairness to others. And harm. To themselves and to others. Impersonating the opposite sex used to be a crime and for good reason. Human society runs on shared reality. We must trust that what we see is authentic. Transmen have been badly beaten because others assumed that they were men. Transmen have nearly died in ERs because the docs did not realize at first that they were actually female. Transmen in their desire to live authentic gay male lives are engaging in cruising and are getting STDs like AIDs, herpes and syphilis. More than one transman has been involved in shooting up schools, killing innocent people. A 23 year old transman had a stroke from SRS complications and now has "locked in syndrome". She is aware and can only move her eyes. That's it. That's all she has for the rest of her life. Other transmen end up incontinent. In wheelchairs. They also end up needing hysterectomies which makes them at risk for dementia later. That rises to being almost guaranteed if their ovaries are removed too. Trans people are mentally ill people who are destroying their lives and their bodies for a placebo effect. (That often wears off after a few years.) And they are disrupting society in the process. Should society just stand aside and say "Ok, if that's what you want."? We can't. Not in good conscience. And their lives impact our lives. It's unsustainable. And one way or another we all pay for their impersonating the opposite sex and/or indulging in their self destruction. Emotionally and financially. The trans trend is a mental health crisis that promises to be a medical scandal very soon.
Beautifully put. And the medical scandal has already started, it's just being ignored by the captured lefty and centrist media.
There are currently 7 lawsuits (that I know of) in the US by people transitioned as minors against their doctors who recklessly diagnosed and treated them without proper assessment; one of those suits is against the American Academy of Pediatrics as well, for their endorsement of blockers and hormones for kids without a strong evidence base.
Ken, I really appreciate your logical perspective. And you use the word 'privileges' instead of the over-worn 'rights'-- putting the concept of citizenship in the right light.
Obviously you are personally involved--even though you don't use a lot of emotional words-- maybe as a parent, or a friend, or as a transperson yourself. Thanks for giving us (me) your point of view....
If you really believe what you're saying, then please, please go tell a bunch of trans women that they are transwomen not women and trans men that they are transmen not men. L O L. You are a fool or bad at being disingenuous.
What's the point of seeking out groups of crazy people like that? They are impervious to facts and logic! If I see a so called transman in the restroom I will say nothing, as she is no a threat. If I see a so called transgirl competing in a swimming competition against real girls including my daughter then you'll be hearing from me.
Before we start legislating social media parents should remember that there are two things they can do as parents to provide immeasurable support to their children. The first is to spend a lot more quality time with their children where the children are the primary object of their attention. While doing this talk with and not to children. Make them feel highly valued by the attention given to them. The second is for parents themselves to get off of social media. Take pride in telling everyone that you don’t participate.
If parents can’t do this then legislation is doomed.
Let me ask Sen. Murphy a few questions: Do you have children? If so, do they attend public school or private school? (likely, the latter). Besides political rhetoric in your Substack article, I read little substantive discourse that addresses the real issues concerning parenting in US society today. Responsible parents are concerned about the acculturational indoctrination of kids, especially those confused about their sexuality, into the world of gender-affirming surgery and transitioning. They are also concerned about books containing pornography in elementary and junior high school libraries. Why is that an issue for you, Senator? Banning content (or whole apps) like Tic-Tok, PornHub, and some others should certainly help but is unlikely to happen under the guise of "free speech" Democrats love to push (for the record, I am an Independent). Yet, silencing parents by arresting or ejecting them at and from school board meetings when understandably upset and angry over liberal policies allowing porn in libraries and drag queen story hour is just fine. Oh, the irony.
But, what can and should happen is allowing parents of minors the full authority over what their children are exposed to. As a physician, I am especially concerned about how social norms are becoming distorted and, along with this trend, the commensurate change in the groupthink of teenage and "tween-age" cohorts who, due to hormonal changes in their bodies and brains, may be confused -albeit temporarily so - about what sex they are. This is NOT an uncommon phenomenon in such age groups that usually, for most kids, dissipates in a year or so due to the establishment of new hormonal equilibriums. Instead of letting this natural process play out, the influence of teachers, "apps", and by extension, peers who support sex change ideology can change a minor's self-doubts at this critical time of hormonal expansion over a young person's sexuality into believing such a change is necessary. Pushing this ideology only creates more distressed and depressed adolescents who need the time and guidance of parents who understand this confusion is, for some, a temporary time of feeling somewhat confused about one's sexuality. If not, some of these kids develop suicidal ideations and thus become martyrs of a cause that should have never happened in the first place. Please consider taking a few minutes out of your busy schedule and read https://environmed.substack.com/p/engendering-gender-bending?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2. Thank you.
The problem lies mostly with the parents, not the evil Big Tech. The same parents that complain about the culture are the ones who created the culture in the first place. Kids emulate adults.
You clearly don't understand social contagions and how they develop, and how social media have exponentially increased the speed of their spread and the breadth of their impact.
How about a parent’s right to good schools, funded schools, schools with resources, with teachers who are paid a living wage — a living wage — to do the thing that addresses ALL of your points. Let teachers teach about character and what it means, through literature, through history. At the school where I work teachers actively help kids get and stay off their devices. They are often banned while class is in session. I imagine it’s the only respite from technology kids get all day. Parents want kids to have a better life? Fund schools so kids can learn about the world, themselves, subjects they’ve never encountered before, ideas they’ve never encountered before. Money is one thing, but the other way to a better life is through thinking, exposure, experience, intellectual challenge, intellectual achievement — nothing feels better to kids than that. I see it every day.
You don't teach character in a classroom, you teach it by example.
Of course parents are reacting negatively to schools tacitly saying that teachers and curricula have better values than them. Only blind partisans would try to pretend otherwise.
While I disagree with Ron DeSantis in his approach to the issues regarding trans and gay people, I do support his belief parents have the right to control how children are educated in their public schools.
What is relevant is how Chris Murphy represents Connecticut as one of its Senators. Senators Blumenthal and Murphy have been nothing but partisan supporters of every faddish left-wing concept out of Washington. Many of these have ruined the state. Rather than fighting for Connecticut residents' rights, they often disparage them by attempting to eliminate freedoms.
As a parent of a gender-neutral child, now an adult, I am thankful every day they are alive. We raised them in an accepting home and an accepting community. I have witnessed firsthand their struggle with relevance, meaning, and, yes, identity. The primary issue was never the treatment they received from others (though I am sure it played a minor role); instead, it was their internal struggle. I have also come to know many of their friends who exhibit similar difficulties. Almost all experienced some form of trauma at a very young age.
Perhaps Mr. Murphy should spend more time focused on his state and the issues it faces and leave the raising of children to their parents. Given what I have seen regarding curricula in public schools, I would choose a different forum to educate my children, including homeschooling, as hundreds of thousands of others are now choosing.
Connecticut is in trouble. People are leaving, tax revenue is at risk, businesses have left, and Cities are mainly in shambles from Bridgeport to Hartford. Education costs are extraordinarily high due in part to its forced revenue-sharing arrangement between cities while its quality has declined. The call on cash from taxes for pensions remains a disaster and highlights just how the left has ruined the state. They are handing out goody bags to the state's unions and short-changing residents. Essentially, it is another wrecked northeastern state hollowed out by poor government decision-making for 30 years, not unlike its neighbors NY, RI, and MA.
As a 30-year resident of the state, I have witnessed firsthand its degradation aside from a few hamlets of wealth and prosperity along the Fairfield County corridor. Unfortunately for Connecticut, I, too, will likely follow my friends and neighbors to better climes where the state does not consider my income theirs. There is no genius to Florida’s or Texas’ or Tennesee’s or the myriad other states with low tax burdens power to draw residents. Residents of those states get a fair deal of reasonable tax burdens, carefully determined expenditures, and a higher quality of life.
No, no, no. DeSantis lost ground with Republican primary voters because he went after Trump. Any idiot can see that and you're just insulting people's intelligence to try to argue otherwise, and show yourself to be blinded by your own compulsive partisan rhetoric.
I am a registered independent and have happily voted Democrat 99% of the time in my life, including for Obama, Hillary and Biden, but as a parent of a child confused by all the gender ideology they have encountered in school, I will absolutely vote for any Republican other than Trump. You are going to lose us Independents over this reality-defying trans insanity, and deservedly lose your political power, unless you come to your senses.
I am proudly Pro-Choice, but the chemical and surgical mutilation of thousands of teens and the suppression of normal puberty in thousands of children resulting in lifelong health problems, all due to a social contagion, is a bigger deal. Think about that.
Chris - you're overlooking a progressive-fueled nanny state in your attempt to paint conservatives as the sole demagogues. There are now legions of teachers and administrators who have no problem announcing they know what's better for children than parents. It's a common quote in commentary that's antagonistic toward parental rights. Is that an attitude you share? If not, then your light touch toward schools themselves paints you as ideological as your political opponents. I think you also need to reassess your dismissal that the current culture has increasingly sexualized early childhood and that schools seem uninterested in acting as a filter from it.
As an aside, it's becoming clear to me that the "we know better than your parents" attitude coming from young progressive educators is a mental illness projection coming from what I'd assume to be their own negative experiences as teenagers. Within my circle of friends, one clear dividing line between lean left/lean right is the quality of their own childhoods. Progressives appear to really hate their parents, and that's being reflected in the neurosis around a student being "outted" by the system.
To add: one thing to consider when making baseless claims that Florida politics and policy is directly related to the trans youth suicide rate: an analysis earlier this year suggested that transgender teens in Scandanavian countries are 7x more likely to attempt suicide than their peers. If this disparity exists in one of the most progressive regions on the planet, is it not too much to ask you to consider there are other factors in play when it comes to suicidality? And that some of those factors relate to the child's mental state? Suggesting that suicide has one and only cause weakens your total argument.
Pitt is written by parents who have personally experienced trans mania disruption in their families. Libs merely collects and presents content that other people post online. Neither are fearful "pissy influencers". Akshully, they're quite the contrary, given current conditions.
I have no children so I cannot comment from that perspective; however, I did teach for a year (before realizing it was so not for me) in a rural area 20 years ago. I had parents yell at me b/c I didn't call them and tell them their child wasn't doing their homework; and yell at me b/c their child failed a test and I didn't call them to let them know; and yell at me b/c their child was failing class and I didn't call them and tell them. I had about 120 students I was responsible for. I would wonder: "where are the parents?" and in some circumstances "why don't parents notice that their 7th grade student is reading at a kindergarten level?" The impression I had was that parents were expecting teachers to be surrogate -- and perhaps even primary -- parents and that was not fair. So, when the right wing stuff came out of DeSantis I was shocked to see parents rally in support of his frightening agenda and actually show up to meetings to say anything. We rarely had any parents show up to anything at the school. Perhaps DeSantis gave people marinating in despair for years a reason to turn that into anger, which for some people feels powerful even if for only a little while (which is why people need to continue to feel angry ... in order to continue to experience the illusion of power and largeness that it offers). Once the hit of power wears off, one feels small + helpless, unseen and scared again and the search to experience the illusion of power once again is on. Some may feel ashamed of their behavior during their power hit and need to escape that. And so the cycle goes. Personally, and honestly, I have a hard time believing that parents are showing up in support of his agenda because they really care about their kids and what's happening in schools. I think this goes to the point of your piece: the problem is much deeper than that.
I agree with you that we need unity. We need something to unify around and it cannot be the American Dream. It's dead. It, in my opinion, never existed. It was always propaganda. A myth. Follow your thread on this through: If you work hard and play by the rules, you'll get what you want (that's the reward). Carrot and stick. If you're someone who works hard and plays by the rules, but didn't and doesn't get what you want, then the inference is there must be something wrong with you. You're defective. No wonder we have so many people engaging in self-harming behavior and looking for someone else to blame for their circumstances. The so-called American Dream has always been attached to home owning. Like that's something we're supposed to want and have in order to prove we're good and worthy in this country. Shows we've made it. Again, I ask you to consider what it says to people who don't own a home -- or don't want to own a home --, but who work hard and play by the rules. In my experience society says I'm supposed to want to home a home, but I don't. So what does that say about me? It's taken me a lot of time to exam this within myself and work through it. Then, during the pandemic, the private equity company who bought the property and apartments where I lived raised the rent on my beloved home to the point where I had to scramble to find a place to live and move out before the rent increase took effect. There was nothing available I could afford. What I ended up doing was buying a condo I didn't want and don't really like just so I could have a place to live. It's not my dream. I can now afford where I live but own a home that needs a lot of fixing up, which costs $$$$. I'm on a fixed income. I feel so frustrated and angry when I hear politicians wave around the "American Dream". I don't buy it, I suspect lots of other people don't buy it and so it then makes politicians look out of touch when they try to feed that propaganda to us. We are the United states in name only right now and it's really frightening. We do need something to unify around, but whatever it turns out to be, let it be the truth and grounded in reality. Let's start from there and then have a conversation about where we're going.
If you happen to read this, Senator, I thank you for listening.
Sorry but it's not the parents' fault that you didn't feel you had the time to communicate with them. Of course they want to know if the kid isn't doing their homework or failed a test or is failing class.
The teachers' responsibility to communicate does not change based on how often parents show up for school events. Mind-boggling that this needs to be explained.
I get the feeling that you really do care about this stuff but you are SO wrong when it comes to transgender issues. There is no such thing as a "transgender" kid (at least not in the sense that those who claim to be the opposite sex actually are the opposite sex), just as there is no such thing as a "transgender" adult. There is nothing that a male can do to become a female, or vice versa. The best they can do is to basically put on a costume (whether surgical, makeup + clothes, or a combination). Children's attire or makeup is one thing but they cannot consent to any of these medical interventions, and parents who consent to medically transitioning their children are behaving abusively and ought to lose their parental rights. And of course doctors who do this are violating the Hippocratic Oath. You're on the wrong side of this issue morally, legally, and politically!
You also conflated "normal" with "good" or "moral". Having one eye that is a different color than the other eye is abnormal. There are many other "abnormalities" that are not the fault of the individual and that have no bearing on their worth as a person. Everyone is unique. Gay and "transgender" kids are, no matter where you stand on issues, obviously abnormal. This is a basic matter of definition. Gay kids differ from the norm in that they are sexually attracted to members of the same sex. So-called "transgender" kids are led to believe that they are literally a member of the opposite sex. These classes of people are unlike each other and lumping them into the same category does a disservice to both. It's also worth noting that "transgender" kids are often gay kids or non-gay kids who simply do not conform to gender stereotypes. Yesterday's tomboy is too often considered today's "transboy". There are of course other reasons why people choose to go down this road. It's a subject well worth exploring but doing so would be "transphobic", of course.
Ironically a lot of the kids who are sucked into the trans cult are indoctrinated on the very social media platforms that you are wise to try to regulate. (Tiktok should be outright banned as it is CCP-controlled).
I don’t think you understand the word transgender. A transman isn’t trying to become a man. He is a transman. And whether we think of him as normal or abnormal, all he wants is to not be murdered for being who he is, to not be discriminated against. He is, after all, however you or I might feel about him, a person. A human being.
A "transman" is a she and a "transwoman" is a he. People on Murphy's side of this question think we should all lie and affirm their false claims at every turn, even if they are children and even if they are invading girls and women's spaces.
They should be treated just the same as anyone else. They should obviously not be murdered, but they should also not be given special privileges. They should be expected to respect boundaries and to not impose their false beliefs on others.
A transman isn’t lying. He saying I’m a transman. If you call him “a she,” that’s your prerogative, but it doesn’t mean the transman is lying. And transgender people don’t want special privileges. Just like black people don’t want special privileges. They want to same privileges as everyone else. When societal constructs or businesses or people keep them from having the same privileges, then they want laws to protect them from having the same privileges as everyone else diminished. Can you name a special privilege that a trans person wants? One that’s beyond the same privileges that you and I share?
A transman calling herself a "he" may not be lying, but she is definitely saying something that is untrue. The rest of us would be lying if we were to knowingly misgender her by using male pronouns in reference to her. Obviously getting insurance to cover cosmetic surgery that is medically unnecessary and that does nothing to treat the underlying psychological condition is a "special privilege". Putting men who falsely claim to be women on women's sports teams is also a special privilege. These are privileges that no sane society would permit.
They want the privilege to be perceived and treated as the opposite sex when they are not the opposite sex. They want the privilege to impersonate the opposite sex out in society which in practice creates chaos, discomfort, and unfairness to others. And harm. To themselves and to others. Impersonating the opposite sex used to be a crime and for good reason. Human society runs on shared reality. We must trust that what we see is authentic. Transmen have been badly beaten because others assumed that they were men. Transmen have nearly died in ERs because the docs did not realize at first that they were actually female. Transmen in their desire to live authentic gay male lives are engaging in cruising and are getting STDs like AIDs, herpes and syphilis. More than one transman has been involved in shooting up schools, killing innocent people. A 23 year old transman had a stroke from SRS complications and now has "locked in syndrome". She is aware and can only move her eyes. That's it. That's all she has for the rest of her life. Other transmen end up incontinent. In wheelchairs. They also end up needing hysterectomies which makes them at risk for dementia later. That rises to being almost guaranteed if their ovaries are removed too. Trans people are mentally ill people who are destroying their lives and their bodies for a placebo effect. (That often wears off after a few years.) And they are disrupting society in the process. Should society just stand aside and say "Ok, if that's what you want."? We can't. Not in good conscience. And their lives impact our lives. It's unsustainable. And one way or another we all pay for their impersonating the opposite sex and/or indulging in their self destruction. Emotionally and financially. The trans trend is a mental health crisis that promises to be a medical scandal very soon.
Beautifully put. And the medical scandal has already started, it's just being ignored by the captured lefty and centrist media.
There are currently 7 lawsuits (that I know of) in the US by people transitioned as minors against their doctors who recklessly diagnosed and treated them without proper assessment; one of those suits is against the American Academy of Pediatrics as well, for their endorsement of blockers and hormones for kids without a strong evidence base.
https://thehill.com/opinion/4284777-matthews-here-come-the-gender-detransitioner-lawsuits
Ken, I really appreciate your logical perspective. And you use the word 'privileges' instead of the over-worn 'rights'-- putting the concept of citizenship in the right light.
Obviously you are personally involved--even though you don't use a lot of emotional words-- maybe as a parent, or a friend, or as a transperson yourself. Thanks for giving us (me) your point of view....
If you really believe what you're saying, then please, please go tell a bunch of trans women that they are transwomen not women and trans men that they are transmen not men. L O L. You are a fool or bad at being disingenuous.
What's the point of seeking out groups of crazy people like that? They are impervious to facts and logic! If I see a so called transman in the restroom I will say nothing, as she is no a threat. If I see a so called transgirl competing in a swimming competition against real girls including my daughter then you'll be hearing from me.
Before we start legislating social media parents should remember that there are two things they can do as parents to provide immeasurable support to their children. The first is to spend a lot more quality time with their children where the children are the primary object of their attention. While doing this talk with and not to children. Make them feel highly valued by the attention given to them. The second is for parents themselves to get off of social media. Take pride in telling everyone that you don’t participate.
If parents can’t do this then legislation is doomed.
Let me ask Sen. Murphy a few questions: Do you have children? If so, do they attend public school or private school? (likely, the latter). Besides political rhetoric in your Substack article, I read little substantive discourse that addresses the real issues concerning parenting in US society today. Responsible parents are concerned about the acculturational indoctrination of kids, especially those confused about their sexuality, into the world of gender-affirming surgery and transitioning. They are also concerned about books containing pornography in elementary and junior high school libraries. Why is that an issue for you, Senator? Banning content (or whole apps) like Tic-Tok, PornHub, and some others should certainly help but is unlikely to happen under the guise of "free speech" Democrats love to push (for the record, I am an Independent). Yet, silencing parents by arresting or ejecting them at and from school board meetings when understandably upset and angry over liberal policies allowing porn in libraries and drag queen story hour is just fine. Oh, the irony.
But, what can and should happen is allowing parents of minors the full authority over what their children are exposed to. As a physician, I am especially concerned about how social norms are becoming distorted and, along with this trend, the commensurate change in the groupthink of teenage and "tween-age" cohorts who, due to hormonal changes in their bodies and brains, may be confused -albeit temporarily so - about what sex they are. This is NOT an uncommon phenomenon in such age groups that usually, for most kids, dissipates in a year or so due to the establishment of new hormonal equilibriums. Instead of letting this natural process play out, the influence of teachers, "apps", and by extension, peers who support sex change ideology can change a minor's self-doubts at this critical time of hormonal expansion over a young person's sexuality into believing such a change is necessary. Pushing this ideology only creates more distressed and depressed adolescents who need the time and guidance of parents who understand this confusion is, for some, a temporary time of feeling somewhat confused about one's sexuality. If not, some of these kids develop suicidal ideations and thus become martyrs of a cause that should have never happened in the first place. Please consider taking a few minutes out of your busy schedule and read https://environmed.substack.com/p/engendering-gender-bending?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2. Thank you.
The problem lies mostly with the parents, not the evil Big Tech. The same parents that complain about the culture are the ones who created the culture in the first place. Kids emulate adults.
You clearly don't understand social contagions and how they develop, and how social media have exponentially increased the speed of their spread and the breadth of their impact.
How about a parent’s right to good schools, funded schools, schools with resources, with teachers who are paid a living wage — a living wage — to do the thing that addresses ALL of your points. Let teachers teach about character and what it means, through literature, through history. At the school where I work teachers actively help kids get and stay off their devices. They are often banned while class is in session. I imagine it’s the only respite from technology kids get all day. Parents want kids to have a better life? Fund schools so kids can learn about the world, themselves, subjects they’ve never encountered before, ideas they’ve never encountered before. Money is one thing, but the other way to a better life is through thinking, exposure, experience, intellectual challenge, intellectual achievement — nothing feels better to kids than that. I see it every day.
You don't teach character in a classroom, you teach it by example.
Of course parents are reacting negatively to schools tacitly saying that teachers and curricula have better values than them. Only blind partisans would try to pretend otherwise.
Please stop equating “gay” and “trans”.
While I disagree with Ron DeSantis in his approach to the issues regarding trans and gay people, I do support his belief parents have the right to control how children are educated in their public schools.
What is relevant is how Chris Murphy represents Connecticut as one of its Senators. Senators Blumenthal and Murphy have been nothing but partisan supporters of every faddish left-wing concept out of Washington. Many of these have ruined the state. Rather than fighting for Connecticut residents' rights, they often disparage them by attempting to eliminate freedoms.
As a parent of a gender-neutral child, now an adult, I am thankful every day they are alive. We raised them in an accepting home and an accepting community. I have witnessed firsthand their struggle with relevance, meaning, and, yes, identity. The primary issue was never the treatment they received from others (though I am sure it played a minor role); instead, it was their internal struggle. I have also come to know many of their friends who exhibit similar difficulties. Almost all experienced some form of trauma at a very young age.
Perhaps Mr. Murphy should spend more time focused on his state and the issues it faces and leave the raising of children to their parents. Given what I have seen regarding curricula in public schools, I would choose a different forum to educate my children, including homeschooling, as hundreds of thousands of others are now choosing.
Connecticut is in trouble. People are leaving, tax revenue is at risk, businesses have left, and Cities are mainly in shambles from Bridgeport to Hartford. Education costs are extraordinarily high due in part to its forced revenue-sharing arrangement between cities while its quality has declined. The call on cash from taxes for pensions remains a disaster and highlights just how the left has ruined the state. They are handing out goody bags to the state's unions and short-changing residents. Essentially, it is another wrecked northeastern state hollowed out by poor government decision-making for 30 years, not unlike its neighbors NY, RI, and MA.
As a 30-year resident of the state, I have witnessed firsthand its degradation aside from a few hamlets of wealth and prosperity along the Fairfield County corridor. Unfortunately for Connecticut, I, too, will likely follow my friends and neighbors to better climes where the state does not consider my income theirs. There is no genius to Florida’s or Texas’ or Tennesee’s or the myriad other states with low tax burdens power to draw residents. Residents of those states get a fair deal of reasonable tax burdens, carefully determined expenditures, and a higher quality of life.
No, no, no. DeSantis lost ground with Republican primary voters because he went after Trump. Any idiot can see that and you're just insulting people's intelligence to try to argue otherwise, and show yourself to be blinded by your own compulsive partisan rhetoric.
I am a registered independent and have happily voted Democrat 99% of the time in my life, including for Obama, Hillary and Biden, but as a parent of a child confused by all the gender ideology they have encountered in school, I will absolutely vote for any Republican other than Trump. You are going to lose us Independents over this reality-defying trans insanity, and deservedly lose your political power, unless you come to your senses.
I am proudly Pro-Choice, but the chemical and surgical mutilation of thousands of teens and the suppression of normal puberty in thousands of children resulting in lifelong health problems, all due to a social contagion, is a bigger deal. Think about that.
Chris - you're overlooking a progressive-fueled nanny state in your attempt to paint conservatives as the sole demagogues. There are now legions of teachers and administrators who have no problem announcing they know what's better for children than parents. It's a common quote in commentary that's antagonistic toward parental rights. Is that an attitude you share? If not, then your light touch toward schools themselves paints you as ideological as your political opponents. I think you also need to reassess your dismissal that the current culture has increasingly sexualized early childhood and that schools seem uninterested in acting as a filter from it.
As an aside, it's becoming clear to me that the "we know better than your parents" attitude coming from young progressive educators is a mental illness projection coming from what I'd assume to be their own negative experiences as teenagers. Within my circle of friends, one clear dividing line between lean left/lean right is the quality of their own childhoods. Progressives appear to really hate their parents, and that's being reflected in the neurosis around a student being "outted" by the system.
To add: one thing to consider when making baseless claims that Florida politics and policy is directly related to the trans youth suicide rate: an analysis earlier this year suggested that transgender teens in Scandanavian countries are 7x more likely to attempt suicide than their peers. If this disparity exists in one of the most progressive regions on the planet, is it not too much to ask you to consider there are other factors in play when it comes to suicidality? And that some of those factors relate to the child's mental state? Suggesting that suicide has one and only cause weakens your total argument.
Dear Senator,
I would recommend that you set aside some time and read the Substacks of LibsofTikTok https://www.libsoftiktok.com/ and Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans https://pitt.substack.com/
lmao yes mister, senator please read these few blogs by pissy influencers who are afraid to walk outside
Pitt is written by parents who have personally experienced trans mania disruption in their families. Libs merely collects and presents content that other people post online. Neither are fearful "pissy influencers". Akshully, they're quite the contrary, given current conditions.
Dear Senator Murphy,
Thank you for your continued commentary thru this Substack
plarform: voicing your concerns on the existential problems, facing Americans, future of America,
Is essential as it is heartbreaking.
Again, thank you
Sarah
(voting in Fairfield)
…that this is a revelation
as opposed to…what?
I have no children so I cannot comment from that perspective; however, I did teach for a year (before realizing it was so not for me) in a rural area 20 years ago. I had parents yell at me b/c I didn't call them and tell them their child wasn't doing their homework; and yell at me b/c their child failed a test and I didn't call them to let them know; and yell at me b/c their child was failing class and I didn't call them and tell them. I had about 120 students I was responsible for. I would wonder: "where are the parents?" and in some circumstances "why don't parents notice that their 7th grade student is reading at a kindergarten level?" The impression I had was that parents were expecting teachers to be surrogate -- and perhaps even primary -- parents and that was not fair. So, when the right wing stuff came out of DeSantis I was shocked to see parents rally in support of his frightening agenda and actually show up to meetings to say anything. We rarely had any parents show up to anything at the school. Perhaps DeSantis gave people marinating in despair for years a reason to turn that into anger, which for some people feels powerful even if for only a little while (which is why people need to continue to feel angry ... in order to continue to experience the illusion of power and largeness that it offers). Once the hit of power wears off, one feels small + helpless, unseen and scared again and the search to experience the illusion of power once again is on. Some may feel ashamed of their behavior during their power hit and need to escape that. And so the cycle goes. Personally, and honestly, I have a hard time believing that parents are showing up in support of his agenda because they really care about their kids and what's happening in schools. I think this goes to the point of your piece: the problem is much deeper than that.
I agree with you that we need unity. We need something to unify around and it cannot be the American Dream. It's dead. It, in my opinion, never existed. It was always propaganda. A myth. Follow your thread on this through: If you work hard and play by the rules, you'll get what you want (that's the reward). Carrot and stick. If you're someone who works hard and plays by the rules, but didn't and doesn't get what you want, then the inference is there must be something wrong with you. You're defective. No wonder we have so many people engaging in self-harming behavior and looking for someone else to blame for their circumstances. The so-called American Dream has always been attached to home owning. Like that's something we're supposed to want and have in order to prove we're good and worthy in this country. Shows we've made it. Again, I ask you to consider what it says to people who don't own a home -- or don't want to own a home --, but who work hard and play by the rules. In my experience society says I'm supposed to want to home a home, but I don't. So what does that say about me? It's taken me a lot of time to exam this within myself and work through it. Then, during the pandemic, the private equity company who bought the property and apartments where I lived raised the rent on my beloved home to the point where I had to scramble to find a place to live and move out before the rent increase took effect. There was nothing available I could afford. What I ended up doing was buying a condo I didn't want and don't really like just so I could have a place to live. It's not my dream. I can now afford where I live but own a home that needs a lot of fixing up, which costs $$$$. I'm on a fixed income. I feel so frustrated and angry when I hear politicians wave around the "American Dream". I don't buy it, I suspect lots of other people don't buy it and so it then makes politicians look out of touch when they try to feed that propaganda to us. We are the United states in name only right now and it's really frightening. We do need something to unify around, but whatever it turns out to be, let it be the truth and grounded in reality. Let's start from there and then have a conversation about where we're going.
If you happen to read this, Senator, I thank you for listening.
Sorry but it's not the parents' fault that you didn't feel you had the time to communicate with them. Of course they want to know if the kid isn't doing their homework or failed a test or is failing class.
The teachers' responsibility to communicate does not change based on how often parents show up for school events. Mind-boggling that this needs to be explained.