I am the parent of a transgender child. What about my parental rights? [View all]

[Jilly_in_VA]

Jennifer Koslow

Florida Statute 1014 reads: "The Legislature finds that it is a fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their minor children." If HB 1421 and SB 254 pass into law, the state needs to update its language to say: "The Legislature finds that it is a fundamental right of some parents to direct the upbringing, education, and care of their minor children."

Sound familiar? Do you remember reading George Orwell's satirical novella "Animal Farm"? I do. I vividly recollect that the pigs on Manor Farm transformed the original tenet "All Animals are Equal" into "But Some Animals are More Equal than Others." What I never imagined, however, is that my family might be the subject of a similar dystopian nightmare.

I am the parent of a transgender child. I should have the fundamental right to determine what is in the best interests of my child's health and education. These legislations that would ban gender-affirming medical care for minors and put conditions on medical care for adults – and bills that would expand legislation related to educational institutions and instruction requirements – will all have the same impact. They undermine my parental authority.

My family and no family I know has ever made a medical decision regarding their transgender child without consulting a team of physicians. Having gender dysphoria is not being "confused." It is a condition where a person's feelings about their body are out of alignment with the physical traits of their body. For some (but not all), gender dysphoria creates extreme distress.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2023/03/22/florida-ban-trans-healthcare-undermines-parental-rights/11516854002/

Exactly. WHOSE parental rights are we talking about here? Where are the legislators' medical degrees?