Karine Jean-Pierre is right, in a way, that children ‘belong to all of us’
Matt Lamb
Transgender children, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, “are our kids” and “belong to all of us.”
Jean-Pierre’s comments to Jezebel during the GLAAD Awards echoed what her boss said in April. “There’s no such thing as someone else’s child,” President Joe Biden said. “No such thing as someone else’s child. Our nation’s children are all our children.” (Though Biden doesn’t even acknowledge all of his own grandchildren).
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The press secretary’s comments are, in a sense, true, but not in the way she intended.
“I’ve tried to do my best to reach out to the trans community and to the LGBTQ+ committee from the podium so that they know what this administration is going to continue to do, which is fight, have their back, and continue to stand with them as they’re going through a truly devastating and horrific time,” she said.
But if children who struggle with the mental disorder known as gender dysphoria “belong to all of us,” then conservatives are right to pass legislation to protect them from harmful drugs and surgeries. Additionally, we are right to say “no” to affirming a young person’s delusion that he or she can change genders.
Jean-Pierre worries about the “devastating and horrific” time that LGBT people face because of laws that restrict children from learning about sex in the second grade or prevent nine-year-olds from seeing lewdness on display at Pride parades. She also worries about what will happen if an 11-year-old girl cannot have surgeries that permanently render her infertile or unable to breastfeed.
These are the harms of the LGBT agenda and transgenderism.
Since children “belong to all of us” in the sense that politics is the practice of establishing the boundaries of what people can and cannot do, it is entirely appropriate to protect children from pornographic materials, lewd performances, and transgender drugs and surgeries. Conservatives talk about the rights of parents, but a better phrase might be “parental responsibilities.”
“Rights” is sometimes confused with license, as if anything a parent decides to do with or to their child is justified by way of them being the adult. “It must be allowed because a parent says so” is a flawed approach to politics.
Parents have a responsibility to protect their children from sexually explicit content and to help them realize their gender dysphoria is a mental health issue that can be treated.
There can and will be debates about where the line is drawn when it comes to lewdness or what content children should be exposed to in schools — that is part of a healthy and functioning democratic republic.
However, if liberals and other LGBT advocates want to make the issue about what is best for all children, conservatives must continue to fight to protect children, not just from healthcare professionals, but sometimes from their own parents.
There is no “right” for a parent to take their 8-year-old to a lewd drag show in Florida. There is no “right” for a 10-year-old to take puberty blockers that can leave him or her permanently damaged.
Biden’s press secretary said one more thing that is worth highlighting in this context.
“We love you, we see you, be who you are,” Jean-Pierre said to conclude her interview with Jezebel.
This is also true; children who struggle with gender dysphoria should be the sex they truly are as determined by biological reality. And children should be loved, but not by affirming every bad idea they have. No parent would say they “love” their child by giving into every whim and desire. Instead, to love “our children” is to teach and affirm them in the truth.
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Matt Lamb is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. He is an associate editor for the College Fix and has previously worked for Students for Life of America and Turning Point USA.