Transgender treatments for kids without parental consent?
Transgender treatments for kids without parental consent?
Washington state paves the way with a newly passed bill
A Washington state bill that will allow some minors to seek so-called “gender-affirming” treatment without parental consent has passed the state House and is heading to Democrat Governor Jay Inslee’s desk to be signed.
The bill allows for host homes of runaway youth to house them “without parental permission,” nor are host homes required to inform parents where their children are or if they are receiving medical treatment “if there is a compelling reason not to, which includes a youth seeking protected health services.”
“Protected health services,” as the New York Post reports, includes so-called “gender-affirming care,” which is the term used for puberty blockers, hormone treatments, and surgeries used for trans-identifying people who wish to more closely resemble the sex they identify as.
The bill does not specify which treatments would be approved under this bill, however.
It does state that these treatments “can be prescribed to two-spirit, transgender, nonbinary, and other gender diverse individuals.”
Shelters not required to contact parents may instead contact the state-run Washington Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF).
Link: WA Bill Allowing Transgender Treatment for Minors Without Parental Consent Passes
A United Nations report that recommends the decriminalization of an array of sex acts as well as drug use also states that laws should reflect the “rights and capacity” of minor children to consent to sex.
"Sexual conduct involving persons below the domestically prescribed minimum age of consent to sex may be consensual in fact, if not in law," the report, from the International Committee of Jurists (ICJ) along with UNAIDS and the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
"The enforcement of criminal law should reflect the rights and capacity of persons under 18 years of age to make decisions about engaging in consensual sexual conduct and their right to be heard in matters concerning them," it also reads.
"Pursuant to their evolving capacities and progressive autonomy, persons under 18 years of age should participate in decisions affecting them, with due regard to their age, maturity, and best interests, and with specific attention to non-discrimination guarantees,” it continues.
This is likely due to the fact that the report calls for the mass decriminalization of various sex acts in general, including same-sex/”gender diverse” sex and extramarital sex, as The Washington Free Beacon pointed out.
The report states that "consensual sexual conduct, irrespective of the type of sexual activity, the sex/gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression of the people involved, or their marital status, may not be criminalized in any circumstances."
"Consensual same-sex, as well as consensual different-sex sexual relations, or consensual sexual relations with or between trans, nonbinary, and other gender-diverse people, or outside marriage—whether pre-marital or extramarital—may, therefore, never be criminalized."
The report was issued in March but recently gained attention for appearing to recommend the decriminalization of sex with minors. A spokeswoman for the U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres clarified this week that the report “did not call for the decriminalization of sex with children.”
Link: UN Accused of Calling for the Legalization of Sex with Children
This week, the University of Pennsylvania’s Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies program hosted what it called a “radical playdate” in part to help children as young as 5 “explore gender identity.”
The graduate program partnered with the organization Colorful Stories for the childcare sessions, which aim to encourage a “positive sense of self and a respectful understanding of others” for children and to help them “succeed in a complex and diverse world.”
“A teaching artist guides us in an interactive model of storytelling through art and writing and of course, we play,” the registration form stated, as reported by The Daily Caller. “Born out of Colorful Stories approach of using books as tools to support young children in having explicit and developmentally appropriate conversations around social justice topics.”
The “radical playdate” is open to the public, but children of students in the Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies conference on the role that “queer, trans and feminist imaginations” played in the abolition movement will have priority.
The women’s studies track is designed to be an “inclusive” and “affirming” space, “including trans and non-binary individuals,” its website states.
The program also includes a “Center for Research in Feminist, Queer and Transgender Studies” for “learning and practice in the areas of gender and sexuality.”