US president Donald Trump has taken aim at those who support transgender and non-binary children in a statement about National Child Abuse Prevention Month, grotesquely drawing a comparison between them and child abusers.
Trump, who returned to office for a second term in January, has made quick work of his campaign promises to stop so-called “transgender lunacy” by enacting several executive orders explicitly targeting the rights of the trans community.
These orders have including declaring that the official policy of the US is that there are “only two sexes”, banning trans men and women from the armed forces, restricting gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youngsters under the age 19 and stopping trans women from taking part in female sports.
In the proclamation published on the US government website on 3 April to mark National Child Abuse Prevention Month, Trump wrote that his administration is committed “to empowering every child in America to lead a fulfilling life of dignity and love — and we pledge to bring every abuser, predator, and evildoer who threatens the health and safety of our children to swift justice”.
The president went on to claim “one of the most prevalent forms of child abuse facing our country today is the sinister threat of gender ideology”.
‘Gender ideology’ is a dogwhistle used by anti-trans bigots to describe anything which seeks to support and affirm trans folks.
“Proponents of the gender ideology movement are outrageously indoctrinating our children with the devastating lie that they are trapped in the wrong body — and that the only way they can be truly happy is to alter their sex with hormone therapy, puberty blockers, and sexual mutilation surgery,” the proclamation reads.
“The evil and backwards lies of gender insanity are robbing our children of their happiness, health, and freedom, while imposing unimaginable heartbreak on parents and families.
“As I stated during my Joint Address to the Congress last month, my message to every American child is simple: you are perfect exactly the way God made you.”
Research has consistently shown that gender affirming-care for trans youth – including puberty blockers – is safe and reversible.
It’s a myth that there are high rates of regret among transgender men and women who undergo transition related care, with studies suggesting the regret rate is lower than for many other commonplace procedures such as knee or bariatric weight-loss surgery.
Figures suggest that one per cent of people who received gender-affirming care later regretted it. By comparison, 19.5 per cent of patients weren’t happy after bariatric weight-loss surgery and it is believed that about seven per cent of people who have children also experience some kind of regret.
Trump continued: “As President, I proudly signed Executive Order 14187 prohibiting public schools from indoctrinating our children with transgender ideology, while also taking action to cut off all taxpayer funding to any institution that engages in the sexual mutilation of our youth.
“To further protect our children, I have taken historic action to secure our southern border and end child trafficking — and am working diligently to make our young people healthy again.”
The Republican leader concluded that his administration will “stop the atrocity of child abuse in all its forms”.
“We affirm that every perpetrator who inflicts violence on our children will be punished to the fullest extent of the law. Above all, we vow to give our children the tools they need to fully embrace God’s gift of life, and to carry that radiant torch of American Liberty generations into the future,” he concluded.
The post Trump compares supporters of trans youth to child abusers in new proclamation appeared first on PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news.