It is vital that Americans support and promote these efforts, state by state, to ensure children have the opportunity to stay children as long as possible.

A number of important measures have been introduced nationwide to protect children from the reckless implementation of gender identity concepts ranging from school privacy to health care. While LGBT and transgender groups have sounded the alarm that Republicans are “attacking transgender youth,” these measures are responsible and moderate.

It is vital that Americans support and promote these efforts, state by state, to ensure children have the opportunity to stay children as long as possible and decide for themselves who they want to be when they are ready as adults.

Ensuring Athletics Remain Fair

For several years, athletics have struggled with how to maintain a fair playing field with biological males competing against girls under the argument they are equally female. Despite LGBT advocates insisting transgender athletes pose no disadvantages for women, female athletes, parents, and equality advocates have been demanding fairness.

Several states have introduced legislation that will protect student athletics from gender politics. These bills will specifically prohibit public schools from sponsoring or participating in athletic events in which students are required to compete against members of the opposite sex unless both sexes participate.

Chase Strangio, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, who is transgender, argues these laws are merely reactionary, like state efforts to restrict public restroom access to biology rather than identity. However, the argument from GOP leaders is simply one of fairness. Last year two biological male students who identify as female dominated high school girls’ track championships in Connecticut, leading female athletes and their parents to observe their participation is an unfair advantage.

State Rep. Chris Pringle (R) of Alabama introduced HB20. The measure will be heard in the Alabama House on 02/04/2020.

Georgia state Rep. Philip Singleton (R) introduced HB747, titled the Student Athlete Protection Act.

Missouri state Rep. Robert Ross (R) introduced HJR82, which proposes a constitutional amendment to protect the integrity of interscholastic athletic contests. Was read for the second time on 01/09/2020.

Missouri state Rep. Cindy O’Laughlin (R) introduced SJR50, which requires “students participating in any single-gender event or activity organized by a statewide activity association to participate in the event corresponding to the student’s biological sex.” Read for the first time on 01/08/2020.

State Sens. Bob Giuda (R), Regina Birdsell (R), and Ruth Ward (R) of New Hampshire introduced SB480 on 01/08/2020.

State Reps. Bruce Griffey (R) and Coach Byrd (R) of Tennessee introduced HB1572. As of 01/15/2020 the bill is in committee.

State Reps. Brad Klippert (R), Dan Griffey (R), and Jesse Young (R) of Washington introduced HB2201, in committee as of 01/13/2020.

West Virginia state Sen. Sue Cline (R) introduced SB296, in committee as of 01/10/2020.

Protecting the Privacy of Students in Schools

An ongoing controversy involving students using the restroom or locker room of the opposite sex has concerned parents, students, and conservative and feminist advocates alike. The most famous case of this is Gavin Grimm, a female student who identified as male. Grimm’s case went all the way to the Supreme Court in 2017 before being referred back to lower courts.

Grimm’s Virginia high school prohibited the student from using the boys’ restroom, and Grimm argued this violated the student’s civil rights. Concerns, primarily surrounding the privacy and safety of female students exposed to anatomically male students, have been heard by several state legislators.

Arizona state Rep. John Fillmore (R) introduced HB2082, which lays the foundation of privacy legislation by prohibiting school officials from being required to use a student’s preferred pronoun.

State Reps. David Hale (R), Myron Dossett (R), Robert Goforth (R), Kim King (R), Melinda Prunty (R), Sal Santoro (R), Jim Stewart III (R), and Ken Upchurch (R) of Kentucky introduced HB132, in committee as of 01/07/2020.

Massachusetts state Reps. Colleen Garry (D) and Joe McKenna (R) separately introduced H1427 and H1504. Both bills restrict lawfully sex-segregated spaces to members of the associated biological sex, including school restrooms and locker rooms. Both bills are scheduled for committee on 01/22/2020.

In 2019, Tennessee, Republicans passed SB1297 and HB1151, both signed into law, which restrict all lawfully sex-segregated spaces to members of the associated biological sex.

Banning Transgender Medical Intervention in Minors

Of all the issues surrounding the safety and wellbeing of minors, medically approved efforts to interfere with a child’s natural development with the use of puberty blockers with hormone treatment and plastic surgery in older minors is the most concerning. Despite official medical organizations endorsing the use of puberty blockers to treat gender dysphoria in children, conservative, feminist, and children’s advocates continue to challenge the status quo. Many state legislators have realized the only solution is to legally ban the practice altogether at the state level.

These laws each act to prevent specific medical procedures from being conducted, with legal and criminal penalties. Essentially the bills, individually and together, focus on the use of elective medical treatment options on minors for the purpose of stopping puberty or mimicking the opposite sex.

Children are routinely prescribed hormone blockers as a “pause” on physical development until they reach their teenage years, where they are placed on cross-sex hormones and undergo elective cosmetic surgeries like double mastectomies. These medical procedures are largely permanent and can sterilize the minor. A full reading on the negative effects of these procedures can be found in Ryan T. Anderson’s illuminating book, “When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment.”

Florida state Sen. Dennis Baxley (R) and state Reps. Anthony Sabatini (R), Jason Shoaf (R), Mike Hill (R), and Stanley McClain (R) have introduced companion bills S1864 and H1365, titled Vulnerable Child Protection Act and introduced on 01/14/2020.

Illinois state Rep. Tom Morrison (R) introduced HB3515 titled, Youth Health Protection Act. In committee as of 03/29/2019.

Missouri state Rep. Adam Schnelting (R) introduced HB1721 on 01/08/2020.

Missoui state Rep. Suzie Pollock (R) introduced HB2051, which adds an additional penalty that a “person commits the offense of abuse or neglect of a child if such person assists, coerces, or provides for a child to undergo any surgical or hormonal treatment for the purpose of gender reassignment.” Associated bills are state Sen. Bill Eigel’s (R) SB848 and state Sen. Ed Emery’s (R) SB842.

New Hampshire state Rep. Dave Testerman (R) introduced HB163, defining elective transgender medical intervention in minors as “child abuse.”

South Carolina state Reps. Stew Jones (R) and Garry Smith (R) introduced H4716. In committee as of 01/14/2020. An associated bill is HB1057, introduced on 01/17/2020 and sponsored by 43 Republican state representatives.

Each one of these legal efforts function as the foundation for wider legal change, so they are vital for not only the citizens of their respective states, but for concerned and responsible citizens everywhere. These efforts must be passionately supported by conservatives across the nation to be successful.

Each bill provides contact information for its sponsors, and direct advocacy and support is powerful. Rather than relying on the courts to enforce or block activities or hoping for the federal branches to act, state legislation is the most direct representation of the people.

The media representation of each of these bills will most likely be negatively positioned as “anti-LGBT” and harmful for transgender children. LGBTQ Nation, for example, described bills designed to ban elective transgender medical intervention as, “Some of the bills go as far as making it a felony to provide health care to a transgender child.”

The battle will be difficult, but these efforts represent a vital purpose for our generation to protect minors from leftwing social experimentation. We have an obligation to promote, defend, and ensure these legislative measures get passed and signed into law. Those brave enough to sponsor these important efforts should be recognized and appreciated for the good they are doing.