A 17-year-old girl who is looking to make a transition to becoming a boy, was barred, by her parents, from being evaluated by a psychologist that would subsequently have led to receiving hormone therapy.
Her parents are Christian and decided that she should go to Christian-based therapy. This is not to be confused with gay conversion therapy.
As the Washington Post reports, “The teen told authorities his parents once forced him to sit in a room and listen to Bible scriptures for six hours and refused to allow him to adopt a male appearance.”
On Feb. 16, Judge Sylvia Hendon ruled in favor of the 17-year-old girl and gave custody to her maternal grandparents, who plan to allow her to be evaluated by a psychologist and to receive therapy at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. The ruling also gives the maternal grandparents the right to allow her to change her name.
The Post also reports, “The judge also called on the state legislature to consider enacting laws that provide ‘framework’ for juvenile courts in Ohio to evaluate a minor’s ‘right to consent to gender therapy.’”
This could very well be one of the most damaging precedents of the decade.
Keep in mind that this young girl is a minor, and there is a reason that she is such. Parents of minors have not only a right but also a duty to steer their children in a direction that they think is best.
My parents did just that. Although I could not see it at the moment, my mother and father always had my best interest in mind, even if they had to say “no” sometimes. The reason I could not is that I was a kid with a lack of emotional maturity and experience that my parents had.
This is why minors are not allowed to vote, buy cigarettes or marry. So, the notion that we should allow minors to change their gender is beyond comprehension.
My parents didn’t tell me “no” because they didn’t want me to be happy or because they didn’t want me to have fun. They said ‘no’ because they loved me, and they knew what was best because they were once kids, too.
It is also important to note that, obviously, these parents were misguided, trying to brainwash their little girl. However, I believe at the heart of all parents is a desire to provide the best for their child.
This 17-year-old girl, or any other 17-year-old girl or boy, does not have the capacity to make a decision that will alter her life in unimaginable ways. The statistics that show that hormone therapy and surgical transition leads to happiness are misleading, at best.
The Journal of Adolescent Health, for example, reported that 180 transsexual youth (106 female-to-male; 74 male-to-female) had a two-fold to three-fold increased risk of psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety disorder, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, self-harm without lethal intent and both inpatient and outpatient mental health treatment, when compared to a control group.
But that is just one aspect of this case.
This vile ruling gave way to intersectionality ruling the courts and families. If your child thinks he/she is a she/he or neither, the court can take your children away.
The bottom line is that minors don’t have the capacity to make life-altering decisions for themselves, and parents have the right to say ‘no.’ This is not child abuse. These are parents who love their little girl and believe that this is not what’s best for her life. And for that, these parents no longer have their child.
Reagan Meredith is a sophomore political science major from Monroe, Louisiana.
