PBS News White House Correspondent Laura Barrón-López cited activist talking points Thursday as she posed a question to President Joe Biden, suggesting that parents frustrated by gender ideology in schools are “anti-LGBTQ.”
“All over the country, Mr. President, Republican-led states are passing anti-LGBTQ, anti-transgender laws that restrict rights and medical care,” she said. “Intimidation is on the rise. This week, anti-LGBTQ protesters turned violent in California. And also recently, I spoke to the parents of a transgender girl in Texas, who told me that they are afraid, and that they are considering leaving not just their state, but the country.”
“Sir, why do you think this is happening, and what do you say to parents like the ones I spoke to, to those families who are contemplating leaving the country because they don’t stay safe anymore,” she asked.
Her reference to “anti-LGBTQ protesters” apparently referred to clashes between Antifa and parental rights activists in Glendale, California, after a school board decided to incorporate LGBTQ+ “Pride” festivals and celebrations into June school days and other LGBTQ+ pride materials into curriculums.
Biden replied by saying that he wanted to speak to the family she referenced. He also accused those who oppose gender ideology of being “hysterical and prejudiced” and appeared to be reading from a piece of paper as he responded.
The interaction prompted speculation that Barrón-López had pre-screened her question with the Biden administration (Barrón-López did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this point).
“Much to say about his answer, but her ‘question’ is quite a thing to behold,” commentator Guy Benson tweeted.
“Notice how Biden read from prepared remarks in answering PBS reporter Laura Barrón-López’s ‘question’ about ‘anti-LGBTQ’ views in America, saying those who believe men are men & women are women are ‘prejudiced,’ ‘ugly’ people,” said Media Research Center’s Curtis Houck.
“ZERO question this was pre-screened,” Houck added. “ALL scripted.”
Barrón-López’s remarks echo the activist talking points of organizations like the ACLU, the Human Rights Campaign, and GLAAD—all of which advocate for “gender-affirming care” for minors.
Activist LGBTQ+ groups, lawmakers, and Biden’s administration have insisted that “gender-affirming care” is crucial to the well-being of youth who say they identify as transgender. These activists use the phrase “gender-affirming care” to mask the grisly realities of transitioning—hormones, puberty blockers, and surgeries to remove or “create” breasts, remove or “create” a penis, facial feminization, and more.
Even as activists push this rhetoric, more and more detransitioners are coming forward and condemning the school systems, therapists, activists, and surgeons who permanently altered their lives. These individuals, and others who speak out against the ideological movement, face intense criticism and hatred from online activists, who insist that trans-identifying individuals must be “affirmed.”
In 2021 alone, about 42,000 children and teens across the U.S. received a gender dysphoria diagnosis, according to data compiled by Komodo for Reuters. That is almost double the number of gender dysphoria diagnoses from 2020 (24,847). Between 2017 and 2021, that analysis found that at least 121,882 children between the ages of 6 and 17 were diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
Those numbers arguably undercount the children who have undergone experimental interventions because they don’t include treatment that wasn’t covered by insurance and they don’t include patients who were not diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
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