(RepublicanNews.org) – Provided parental consent is given, minors should have access to hormone treatments and other transgender procedures, says 2024 Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie. The former NJ Governor once codified a measure that allowed minors to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with. Signed into NJ law against a backdrop of national controversy, the measure has led to many states taking the opposite approach. More than a dozen states have recently enacted or tried to enact a law limiting or banning hormone or surgical gender-affirming treatments for children.
16 states have laws limiting the procedures; 6 states have pending legislation, and 33 have bills pending that will address the topic. In some cases, these laws also address the issue of transgender players in sports. Critics of allowing transgender players on men’s or women’s teams point out that biological men have an unfair physical advantage over women, regardless of how an individual “identifies” their gender.
When asked his opinion on actions and positions taken by other Republican governors and 2024 candidates in restricting procedures available to transgender minors, Christie did not address them and instead called for “parental involvement” at “every step.”
Opponents of gender transition for minors say the procedures are non-reversible and that children lack the faculties to comprehend such permanent decisions. Typical transition procedures include mastectomies, removal or alteration of one’s reproductive organs, and long-term administration of hormones and puberty blockers. But supporters say that these procedures (in combination with traditional talk therapy) are the best way to treat gender dysphoria – discomfort with one’s body and the belief that the body is out of alignment with how the person feels.
Among 2024 Republican presidential candidates who have made their opinions on minors and transgender issues known, U.S. Senator Tim Scott introduced a bill in 2022 that would pull federal funding from public schools that facilitate gender transitions in students without parental consent.
Current leading 2024 contender, former President Trump, has referred to the issue as “madness.” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, also a candidate, signed a law that would prevent teachers from discussing topics of gender with children younger than 10 years of age.
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