Mike Moon: Is a boy really a boy and a girl really a girl?

(From Sen. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove)

Much talk has been going on about transgenderism. What does transgenderism mean?

According to the Oxford dictionary, transgenderism is a state or condition in which a person’s identity does not conform unambiguously to conventional ideas of male or female gender.

What I’m about to write is, to say the least, controversial. (My thoughts go back to my first year in the MO Senate: I filed the Save Women’s Sports Act, but no hearing was granted. When I requested a hearing, the committee chairwomen replied the bill is too controversial.) It seems that I have a habit of filing controversial bills.

The S.A.F.E. Act, MO Senate Bill (SB) 49 states that no physician or health care provider shall provide gender transition procedures to any minor or refer any minor to another health care provider for such procedures. This includes hormone “therapy” and mutilation procedures (the removal of functioning organs/body parts and the addition of non-functioning organs/body parts).

Exceptions are allowed on minors who suffer from sex development disorders and problems caused by previous transition procedures.

It appears obvious that children are being encouraged to consider persons who wish to identify as someone or something other than the person they were born as normal. Please believe me when I say that everyone has a right to identify as whatever or whomever they wish. And, I’ll further state that, we should not belittle another because of their lifestyle choice(s).

Furries

If we are honest with ourselves, though, we will realize that some of these choices are not normal. For example, a group of adults, and children alike, dress like animals. This phenomenon is referred to as “Furries.” Although reports have not been corroborated, claims have been made that furries have been sighted in public schools across the country. Some maintain that student furries have been accommodated with dog or cat bowls from which to eat and litter boxes in which to defecate and urinate.

Furries could be viewed as harmless fun..., perhaps. However, schools are intended as places of learning. The potential distraction(s) furries may offer could (should) be considered a prime reason to disallow furries in school.

More about the S.A.F.E. Act

So, what should be done to protect children (under 18 years of age) from healthcare professionals agreeing to “treat” them with hormones which are likely to chemically castrate or sterilize? If a parent is convinced that in order to appease the child, the hormone treatments are beneficial for the child's well-being, should the state intervene?

If before, during, or after the hormone treatments are complete the healthcare professionals and/or parents decide it is in the child’s best interest to mutilate the child’s body by removing the breasts or penis, should others simply look the other way (and conclude that the parents know best)?

Remember the outcry when nearly 30 African countries participated in FGM (female genital mutilation). The practice of FGM is recognized internationally as a violation of girl’s and women’s human rights. Adults were complicit in these procedures. Adults are involved in the hormone therapy and mutilation of young people, too. Do we wait until these young folks are adults (and realize that they need further medical attention) to address the physical and emotional difficulties caused by the healthcare community?

European countries turned away from allowing mutilation surgeries for transgenders years ago. Austria, Germany, Sweden, and Norway have outlawed these procedures. Typically, the United States leads in these situations. Not so today.

We must all be afforded the opportunity to make choices (and live with the consequences). However, since our bodies and brains are not fully developed until we reach our twenties, is it too much to ask that these procedures be halted until then (or at least until the age of 18)?

The S.A.F.E. Act does not prohibit persons from hormone or mutilation procedures – it simply requires them to wait until age 18. Although the bill does not require it, I believe that persons who receive these “treatments” should bear the full financial responsibility. Estimates range from $700, 000 to over $1 million over a lifetime.

Some say that unless a child is allowed to begin the transition process they will commit suicide. Reports reveal that after transitioning, suicide is still a factor.

Here’s what’s happening in the MO Senate: although support has been voiced for the S.A.F.E. Act, democrats are threatening to filibuster the bill, unless the prohibition on hormone therapy is removed. This is an integral part of the bill. Since hormones, more often than not, lead to rendering a male impotent and a female sterile after only a few months of treatment, I cannot in good conscience omit it from the bill.

Keep in mind: sterility and castration cannot be reversed.

So, my task is to convince at least 17 other Senators to stand with me in support of SB 49 as it’s written.

By the way, SB 49 has not been scheduled for a hearing (although it’s been in the Emerging Issues committee for three weeks).

I’ll keep you posted.

SB 134

Briefly, a related bill scheduled for a hearing this week is SB 134. The bill, if enacted, would prohibit the discussion of gender identity or sexual orientation with children by school personnel (without the consent of the parents). Conversations, without the consent of parents, have taken place in Missouri schools.

Bathroom Policy

On a related note, the 11th circuit court upheld a Florida school district’s policy that bans transgender students from using bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity. According to the decision, the schools had gone to great lengths to accommodate the students. In the decision, a judge wrote that the court would not get involved in the development of the school’s policies (unless, of course, the policies were unconstitutional).

I think the court demonstrated a bit of sanity in the decision. Something obviously lacking in our world today.