President Joe Biden is taking aim at Texas and other states for efforts to end children gender modification. On Wednesday, President Biden signed a new executive order advancing “LGBT+ equality.” 

“We have a lot more work to do. I don’t have to tell you about the ultra-MAGA agenda attacking families and our freedoms,” President Biden said after the order signing.

The executive order issues the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to lead an initiative to reduce the risk of LGBT+ children being exposed to conversion therapy. 

It also calls on the Department of Education and HHS to protect LGBT+ children and their families from “attacks” on their access to healthcare.

The president’s order also charges HHS to work with states to promote “gender-affirming care”—even to minors. 

During his speech, Biden also claimed there were 300 discriminatory bills introduced in states across the country. 

“Three hundred discriminatory bills introduced in the states across this country,” Biden said. “In Texas, knocking on front doors to harass and investigate parents who are raising transgender children; Florida, going after Mickey Mouse, for God’s sake.”

But what are some of the “discriminatory” bills he mentioned?

In 2021, Republicans in the Texas Legislature passed a bill that protect girls’ sports by ensuring that athletes compete with those of the same biological sex.

This bill came in the wake of many states considering legislation that would prevent men pretending to be women from trying to compete in women’s sports.

Texas’ bill does not apply to college sports, however. 

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed into law the parents right to education bill, derisively referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by detractors, which Disney vocally opposed. The bill prohibits classroom discussion by teachers or other parties regarding sexual orientation or gender identity in grades K-3. 

Additionally, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recently issued an opinion stating that body modification surgeries and other forms of gender modification in children, such as puberty blockers, would be considered child abuse. 

In Paxton’s opinion on the matter, he stated, “These procedures can cause or permit the child to be in a situation in which the child sustains a mental or emotional injury that results in an observable and material impairment in the child’s growth, development or psychological functioning.”

Meanwhile, legislation to outlaw the practice was killed in the Texas House.

While many on the left say that these efforts will only cause the suicide rate among youth to skyrocket, there is little evidence to support that children who receive hormone blockers and undergo sex changes have a reduced suicide rate. 

There is also evidence to prove that children grow out of their gender dysphoria stage if treated with proper medical care, excluding irreversible gender modification procedures.

As Texas Republicans hold their biennial convention this week, efforts to make ending child gender modification a legislative priority continue.

Emily Medeiros

Emily graduated from the University of Oklahoma majoring in Journalism. She is excited to use her research and writing skills to report on important issues around Texas.

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