The issue of child “gender transitions” and parental rights came up during Wednesday night’s Republican primary debate in Alabama.
As The Western Journal has covered in great detail, transgender ideology has exploded in recent years and now affects children and families nationwide.
Young people are all too often talked into what the left calls “gender-affirming care,” which can result in minors undergoing mastectomies and castrations and suffering irreversible damage to their bodies through hormone “therapy.”
Wednesday’s debate offered conservative voters the chance to see where four of the five remaining GOP candidates stand on the issue.
Here is what each of them has said.
Chris Christie
Co-moderator Megyn Kelly tightened the screws on former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie regarding his stance on life-altering surgeries for children.
“The surgeries done on minors involve cutting off body parts at a time when these kids cannot even legally smoke a cigarette. Kids who go from puberty blockers to cross-sex hormones are at a much greater likelihood of winding up sterile,” Kelly noted.
She asked the long-shot candidate, “How is it that you think a parent should be able to OK these surgeries, never mind the sterilization of a child?”
Should “gender transition” treatments for minors be banned?
Kelly followed that question up with another hard-hitter: “Aren’t you way too out of step on this issue to be the Republican nominee?”
Christie framed the issue as one of limited government and parental rights.
“You know what, Megyn? I trust parents,” Christie said. “We should empower parents to be teaching the values that they believe in in their homes without the government telling them what those values should be.”
.@megynkelly goes after Chris Christie for his stances on trans surgeries for kids: “How is it that you think a parent should be able to ok these surgeries, never mind the sterilization of a child, and aren’t you WAY to out of step on this issue to be the Republican nominee?” pic.twitter.com/jZiLs4xPyS
— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) December 7, 2023
Kelly pressed Christie about a 2017 bill he signed into law as the governor of New Jersey.
The law demands that transgender students be addressed by their preferred names and pronouns and requires schools to hide a student’s “gender transition” from his or her parents if the student wishes.
On the debate stage, Christie denied the law was his, but it was signed by him in July 2017.
Regardless, Christie was clear where he stands on the issue of child genital mutilation, saying, “Every once in a while, parents are going to make decisions that we disagree with. But the minute you start to take those rights away from parents, you don’t know … what rights are going to be taken away next.”
Vivek Ramaswamy
Vivek Ramaswamy has expressed his opposition to child genital mutilation throughout his campaign.
In May, the tech entrepreneur vowed that as president, he would sign a federal ban on such procedures, according to WMUR-TV.
“There isn’t a state in this union that allows you to get a tattoo before the age of 18,” he said at the time. “Why? Because we don’t want kids to make permanent changes to their bodies that they will regret later in life.”
Ramawasmy concluded that banning “gender-affirming care” is “actually the compassionate thing to do for children.”
The candidate has not changed his stance on the issue in the months since he made those statements.
On the debate stage Wednesday, Ramaswamy called Christie’s position “disqualifying” and described transgenderism as a mental health disorder.
Ramaswamy says transgenderism a mental health disorder, says minors shouldn’t be allowed to pursue gender transitions. pic.twitter.com/BwuI2Ixy4C
— The Daily Signal (@DailySignal) December 7, 2023
Nikki Haley
In April 2016, when gendered bathrooms suddenly became a hot-button issue, then-South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was critical of a bill that would have banned men from entering girls’ restrooms in her state.
“I don’t believe it’s necessary,” Haley said, according to The Washington Post. “We’re not hearing of anybody’s religious liberties that are being violated, and we’re again not hearing any citizens that feel like they’re being violated in terms of freedoms.”
On Wednesday, Haley explained that stance, saying that at the time “we had maybe a handful of kids that were dealing with an issue.”
“And I said we don’t need to bring government into this, but boys go into boys’ bathrooms, girls go into girls’ bathrooms, and if anyone else has an issue, they use a private bathroom.”
She also promised to protect girls in sports from being forced to compete against boys.
As for child genital mutilation, the former governor has said, “You shouldn’t allow a child to have a gender-changing procedure until the age of 18 when they are an adult and they can make that decision. But we shouldn’t have taxpayer dollars ever going to that.”
However, Haley later suggested that she would take a hands-off approach to “gender-affirming care” for children.
“I think the law should stay out of it and I think parents should handle it,” she told CBS News.
June 2023: Nikki Haley is asked what “care” should be given to a 12-year-old child who wants to be transgender. “What should the law allow?”
Haley says there should be no law against chemical castration or a double mastectomy on a child.
Haley’s staff later says the opposite. pic.twitter.com/ywd8DysuYH
— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) November 16, 2023
Ron DeSantis
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been clear that he is opposed to permanently mutilating children.
During Wednesday’s debate, he stood firm, particularly after Christie said he wants to protect parents’ “right” to remove their child’s genitals.
“As a parent, you do not have the right to abuse your kids,” DeSantis said to enthusiastic applause. “This is cutting off their genitals, this is mutilating these minors, these are irreversible procedures.”
“I signed legislation in Florida banning the mutilation of minors because it is wrong. We cannot allow this to happen in this country.”
Megyn Kelly tees up the gender ideology issue to Chris Christie and Ron DeSantis delivers the knockout blow on both Christie and Haley to the loudest cheers of the night. Masterful stuff.
“As a parent, you do not have the right to abuse your kids.” 🔥👇 pic.twitter.com/DBVyoxIjML
— Scott Morefield (@SKMorefield) December 7, 2023
DeSantis further hit Haley for opposing South Carolina’s 2016 bathroom bill and reminded voters that he signed a bathroom bill into law in Florida. DeSantis has also banned males from participating in female sports in Florida schools.
Donald Trump
Former President Donald Trump did not participate in any of the Republican Party’s four primary debates this year, but he has spoken and taken action on the transgender issue.
Trump banned transgender individuals from military service in 2017, saying in a statement, “Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that [transgenders] in the military would entail.”
In January, he called “gender transition” treatments for minors “unforgivable” and referred to them as “child abuse” and “child sexual mutilation,” NBC News reported.
Trump also said that if he wins a second term, he will push Congress to pass a law banning such treatments and crack down on the doctors who perform them, including by cutting them off from Medicare and Medicaid and removing legal protections from them.
While the country is facing an economic downturn, high crime, and an invasion of illegal migrants, conservatives must remain engaged on social issues.
The left is targeting vulnerable and confused children. For many of them, the results have been damaging and irreversible. Some are now regretting their “transitions” and suing the medical providers who preyed on them.
Conservatives must nominate a presidential candidate who will fight the left’s destructive agenda and protect children.
