U.S. Congressman, Senator Introduce Bills to Protect Children from Gender Transition Procedures

Senator Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) and Representative Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) on Monday introduced two bills aimed at protecting children from gender transition procedures into the Senate and House of Representatives, respectively. While the bills have been introduced into Congress before, in this session they follow a wave of state legislation designed to protect children in response to increasing awareness of the extent and harm of gender transition procedures on minors.

The End Taxpayer Funding of Gender Experimentation Act “would be focused on cutting government funding for anything that could cover … hormone[s], gender reassignment surgery,” LaMalfa explained Monday on “Washington Watch.” The Protecting Children from Experimentation Act “is an all-out prohibition with criminal charges.” Both bills have yet to receive a bill number in either chamber.

LaMalfa emphasized the law’s potential to guide and shape morality. “If we can do this federally, and we can make it stick,” he said, “it just can’t help but build a grass fire amongst normal folks out there that think this is outrageous.” He explained, “There’s folks that are intimidated by those that are pushing [gender transition procedures, who might] say, ‘Well, maybe [I’m] out of touch,’ and ‘Maybe I’m being too mean,’ or ‘I’m too this or that.’ No, you’re not. This is abnormal.”

“You’re not standing alone on this,” Family Research Council President Tony Perkins told LaMalfa, “because we’re seeing tremendous momentum at the state level.” So far in 2023, 13 states have enacted laws prohibiting gender transition procedures on minors to some degree, joining three states who had passed similar legislation in 2021-2022. Bills continue to approach the finish line in Florida, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Texas. As shocking revelations continue to come out regarding the behavior of gender clinic staff, state legislatures have stayed the course in advancing these bills, despite vehement opposition from pro-trans activists. “It’s high time that people really get fired up on this,” said LaMalfa.

“This ideology has gone from the radical fringe 10 years ago to being pushed by the president of the United States,” said Perkins. “How is it that we could be so arrogant?”

“It is the height of arrogance, isn’t it? It’s playing God,” Dr. Jennifer Bauwens, clinical psychologist and director of FRC’s Center for Family Studies, responded on “Washington Watch.” “That’s what this whole ideology is about. It’s like, ‘I am the master of my own ship. I can I chart my own course.’” Bauwens surmised that “some people who are just ideologically bent on it” have “been captured by evil,” while still others are duped by the scientific veneer and “say, ‘Oh, well, if this is helping someone, then we want to be helpful.’”

But that strategy appears to be failing. “We start scratching that veneer, and we look at it, and it doesn’t fit any of the research methods that we’re used to,” Bauwens described. “What we’re seeing right now is a great exposure. The curtain is being pulled back. And we’re seeing what’s actually been going on in psychology offices, the medical offices, and most recently what’s been going on in the research field.” She called these three legs of the gender transition industry a “sort of trifecta of evil.”

Perkins noted this exposure is due to “a few brave folks … willing to basically pull back the curtain,” exposing dubious research. “And lawmakers [are] now equipped with real information and the ability to dissect these false narratives,” he added.

“You have to ask the question: what’s behind it?” said Perkins. “Is it profit? I think it’s evil, frankly. I think it’s pure evil. And I think it’s a part of the lawlessness we see happening. It’s a part of denying truth, but behind it is evil.” LaMalfa agreed. “We need to take people aside and show we care about them and lead them down the right path.”

The path to healing often begins by identifying the root cause, Bauwens explained. When someone experiences gender dysphoria, “there’s always a reason for that to manifest,” she said. “We can’t just take that on face value [that] someone really has a problem with their biological sex. … There’s some kind of issue going on.” Bauwens elaborated, “there’s probably trauma. There’s probably autism. There might be other psychiatric conditions. There is also the social contagion issue.” But recent reports show “gender-affirming care” overlooks those possibilities and jumps straight to placing children on gender transition treatments. “They’re not talking about those root issues,” said Bauwens, which only makes the problems “compounded immensely because you’ve delayed dealing with the root issue and you’ve gone on this horrible bunny trail.”

Such practices are what provoked Marshall and LaMalfa to introduce federal legislation that would ban these procedures on minors. “This is something that’s absolutely necessary to protect our kids and protect them from the ghouls that would do this,” said LaMalfa. “If there’s any science behind this, it isn’t the science about what people’s genetic makeup is. It’s … political science that’s pushing this, and trying to somehow build a broader coalition for the Democrats.”

LaMalfa insisted that listeners get involved in the political process. “If you’re not paying attention to this, if you’re not angered by this, well, then you’re sitting it out.” He urged each listener to “contact your legislator. … Just be relentless in calling their offices. … Just urge them to get onto the bill [as a co-sponsor], but then to vote yes, get it through a committee process, especially in the House.”

“Enough is enough,” said Marshall. “These procedures can cause severe and irreversible damage to children’s bodies and have long-term detrimental health risks. We must protect our kids and make sure American taxpayers aren’t footing the bill for these dangerous procedures.”