WaPo ‘Advice’ Shames Parents Seeking Help For Their Gender-Confused ChildAn entire generation of our children is being betrayed by the very institutions that are supposed to have their best interests at heart.BY: CASEY CHALK
AUGUST 24, 2022
Parents confused and concerned about the unprecedented rise in gender dysphoria, especially among their own children, are facing personal attacks and shame campaigns from the experts who are supposed to be their allies.
Consider, for example, the mom and dad troubled by their 16-year-old daughter, who several months ago declared that she is “nonbinary.” Then two months ago, she began insisting they refer to her by a new name, and accused her own parents of “deadnaming” her by calling her by her birth name. Over that time, she shifted between four different “identities.” The distraught parents reached out to Washington Post parenting columnist Meghan Leahy for advice.
What they got in return from Leahy was reprimands, shaming, and fear-mongering. “I want to be clear around the dangers of denying, shaming or trying to change your daughter when it comes to sexual and gender identity,” wrote Leahy, before citing statistics about how LGBT youth are at higher risk for depression, suicide, substance use, and risky sexual behaviors. “It is a matter of life and death to accept LGBTQ+ teens for who they are,” threatened Leahy. The problem, of course, goes way beyond a single WaPo column, though Leahy’s treatment of these anxious parents is emblematic of what moms and dads are encountering across the country.
Playing the Shame GameThe parents noted that their daughter’s friends are all identifying themselves as either “bisexual, nonbinary, trans, polyamorous and a whole host of other words” and perhaps the friends’ influence — coupled with that of their favorite celebrities and influencers — has something to do with their daughter’s new “identity.” Leahy condescendingly retorted that their child appears to be “purposely surrounding themselves with people who make them feel safe.”
The parents observed, with incredulity, that “there is no attempt by the mental health professionals or school counselors to even entertain that maybe she is confused — quite the contrary.” Every professional they’ve met with “has admonished and chastised” them for questioning their daughter’s decisions.
Leahy piled on, lecturing them that “it is time to stop throwing out lines to find an adult to shame your child into a hetero lifestyle.” And just for good measure, Leahy admitted that she was very purposefully amplifying the shame rhetoric: “I rarely give explicit advice in my columns, but the stakes are high for our LGBTQ+ children and teens.”
Families BetrayedThe stakes are indeed high for American youth, but not for the reasons Leahy thinks. Rather, an entire generation of our children is being betrayed by the very institutions that are supposed to have their best interests (and health) at heart. The parents in the above terrible story noted that their daughter’s school counselor told them that “schools are not allowed to question or challenge who or what the student identifies as, for fear of a lawsuit.” The clergy member they queried for advice encouraged the girl to develop her “lesbian identity.”
Medical professionals across the United States — like those at Boston Children’s Hospital who we have learned are aggressively promoting medical transition for minors — are engaged in “gender-affirming care” that preys on confused children. When we are talking about puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and various surgeries, the damage can be irreversible. Doctors bully parents by claiming that refusing this “treatment” will put their children at risk of suicide.
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Source:
https://thefederalist.com/2022/08/24/wapo-advice-shames-parents-seeking-help-for-their-gender-confused-child/
