Over the past two years, transgenderism has taken the news cycle by storm. Left-leaning outlets are praising the bravery and courage of these individuals while right-leaning outlets correctly label it as mental illness known as gender dysphoria. According to the American Psychological Association, gender dysphoria “involves a conflict between a person's physical or assigned gender and the gender with which he/she/they identify.” Now, transgenderism is permeating the younger generation. Stories of kids leading the charge for child autonomy, dancing at gay bars, or dressing as drag queens litter social media. Many call for support of these avant-garde children, but this is a dangerous response. Encouraging transgenderism in children has and will continue to destroy the fabric of society.

In 2017, a young teen from Ohio left her parents’ house after they refused to allow her to undergo hormone therapy. Instead, they begged her to see a therapist to help her overcome gender dysphoria and accept her true sex. She now lives with her grandparents who have bought into her gender identity narrative and support whatever medical procedures she would want to undertake for a full transition. In addition, Ohio courts sided with the grandparents, ignoring the grave mental illness of the teen. Those involved thought it better that a child have full body autonomy; a child who cannot vote, drink or carry a gun.

This is alarming and disheartening news. But it gets worse. In New York, a young boy named Desmond Napoles – "Desmond is Amazing" – performed at a gay bar. The audience members fawned over him as he danced to "Like a Girl" by No Doubt. Dressed in full drag, the boy received dollar bills from eager audience members. The boy is currently eleven-years-old, and his parents are ecstatic about the path he has taken.

In Canada, a boy by the name of Nemis Quinn Mélançon-Golden posed in full drag with a nude Violet Chachki for a spread in Huck Magazine. Violet Chachki is the most recent winner from “RuPaul’s Drag Dance”, a popular drag queen TV show. The photo shoot has taken over social media. Not surprisingly, the parents were also pleased with the direction of their son’s life who is only ten-years-old.  

Yet another horrifying case of child transgenderism comes from Dallas, Texas. Six-year-old James is the son of divorced parents Jeffrey Younger and Anne Georgulas. His mother dresses him up as a girl and calls him “Luna” and goes so far as to enroll him in school under his female name, insisting anyone in his life identify him as a girl. Anne tells Jeffrey that James is adamant about being a girl. But his father, Jeff, says there’s something peculiar about the mom’s actions.

When James is at home with him, he acts like a boy, plays like a boy, and identifies himself as a boy. Friends of Jeff corroborate the story. Neighbors say James plays with their sons, participating in the games a young boy would play. In an email correspondence with Walt Heyer of The Federalist, Sarah Scott, a close family friend, recounts an interaction with James:

It is crystal clear that this young boy shows no signs of gender dysphoria. His real issues are external.

His Mother, Anne, is fighting to get full custody of James, something his father is opposing wholeheartedly. However, he does not see many options for his custody battle saying, “the only way you can survive this and get your son through this alive is to calmly allow your son to be tortured right before your eyes and outlast the opposition.” What his ex-wife is engaging in is child abuse. No child should be subject to such torment. But as the media and a loud minority in the transgender community generate support for their cause, more of these cases will arise.

All of this absurd behavior will not come without great consequences. The Ohio teen has estranged herself from her parents, one of the most important relationships of her life, and the court has backed her decision. In the Texas case, James is facing child abuse from his own mother. And regarding the two boys who dress in drag, a whole new can of worms is opened. Gay bars are full of adult content – not a place for young children to be. Exposing ten- and eleven-year-old boys to this world is a dangerous game.

Not only is it inappropriate for the children to perform in burlesque, but it also promotes pedophilia. Historically, the common idea of society has been to protect children from sinful practices in an effort to preserve their innocence. But that is not a priority for the left. Their one objective is to disrupt the priorities of Western culture. On immigration, they seek to dismantle national sovereignty through the destruction of borders. On marriage, they seek to cheapen its worth through redefinition. And on race, they seek to destroy the years of healing for quick victories in minority dense areas. All this for personal convenience.

The left is targeting children to advance their goals for three reasons. First, children are vulnerable and impressionable. Their frontal lobes are not anywhere near full development. In fact, a person’s brain is not completely developed until age twenty-five. The sooner the left can indoctrinate children, the stronger the grasp they have on future generations of leaders.

Second, children are the key to the future of society. The decisions they make and the paths they choose will determine what values America holds dear in generations to come. If the left convinces young, impressionable citizens of their agenda, they have mobilized the future leaders of our country. Their ideas are sure to live on even after them because the next generation has been brainwashed into believing that their feelings are more important than the truth.

Third, children are the glue for the family unit. The necessity of raising a child forms a bond between the parents and child, creating a symbiotic relationship that is crucial to the function of society. The Ohio teen is a prime example of what happens when a parent-child relationship deteriorates. The state has pitted parent-against-child and parent-against-grandparent. With the child being a minor during the court proceedings, the state had to get involved to override the existing law – a parent has control over the child’s decisions until they are legally an adult. This law, “Age of majority”, which makes eighteen the majority age in Ohio, was put in place to protect children from the chaos of their developing minds. Left to their own devices, children are reckless and a potential harm to society and themselves. But with the guiding principles of a parent, children can grow into functioning members of society. By disallowing parents control of their children in life-altering decisions, the state negates the necessity of the family unit.

To further illustrate the importance of the family unit, let us consider the family from Dallas. Here, the mother has exploited her control over the child to propagate her own agenda, whether it be attention, special treatment from the left, possible vengeance from her own childhood abuse, etc. In doing so, she has forced the father of the child away as he tries to fight for the mental and emotional stability of James. Heartbroken and furious about the circumstances, the father sees the trap the mother is laying and has elected to sit back quietly lest he loses his child forever.

The left is using extreme social justice issues like transgenderism to destroy the family unit, with the justification of human rights for all. While this is an admirable cause, the means do not justify the ends. America must preserve basic truths: the innocence of children, the sanctity of family units, and the value of involved parenting. If these truths are lost in society, America will cease to exist as a country devoted to morality.