Ohio Governor Mike DeWine made headlines when he vetoed House Bill 68. That bill would have banned “gender interventions” for minors, protected women’s sports, and protected parental rights to raise children according to traditional gender norms. His veto was distressing for those of us who want to protect children and young women.

However, DeWine then issued an executive order banning gender-mutilation surgeries on children ages 18 and younger. The executive order made it plain: “Although I vetoed … House Bill 68, I stated clearly in my Veto Message that I agreed with the General Assembly that no gender transition surgeries should be performed on anyone under the age of 18 and I directed agencies under my purview to draft rules to ban this practice in Ohio.”

That’s well and good, but the truth is that DeWine vetoed the legislation because he had fallen for the lie that many a parent gets sucked into — that without medical intervention, gender-confused children will commit suicide. Drawing the line at cutting up the body doesn’t save these children from the irreversible damage done by cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers. Nor does it address the real comorbidities plaguing these kids.

Thankfully, Ohio has a House Republican supermajority and was able to override the veto on January 10. The Ohio Senate has yet to decide on this veto.

Ohio is not the only red state facing activists or “well-intentioned” governors trying to allow experimentation on our nation’s children because of a specious and disproven scientific theory. A theory that is more based in political science than medical science.

In Louisiana, there is a push by “transgender youth” to overturn the ban on so-called “gender-affirming care.” The plaintiffs are five minors under the age of 18. One of them is on Medicaid, and one of them is nine years of age. None of them want to leave their home state for a blue state that allows gender-mutilation treatment. Since we are talking about children, we can assume this is really what their parents are saying. These activist parents would rather force a red state to conform to their warped gender theories than vote with their feet.

In Texas, the gender fight is being litigated on several fronts. Dr. Susan Neese’s private practice is associated with Baptist Hospital in Amarillo, Texas. She is appearing before the Fifth Circuit Court to plead for protection from the federal government. She does not wish to be forced to practice gender-affirmation-related medicine on minors. She is afraid that Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra may use the Supreme Court’s *Bostock v. Clayton" decision as justification for cutting federal funding to her practice.

Another fight going on in Texas is seemingly over HIPAA violations. Dr. Ethan Haim was the whistleblower against his Texas hospital after it continued to perform clandestine transgender surgeries on minors, even after the state enacted a ban on it. Texas Children’s Hospital quickly announced its halting of the practice after Haim’s claims became public. Not a year later, Heath and Human Services informed Haim he was a target of a criminal investigation by the Department of Justice. His crime? He allegedly exposed children’s medical records to validate his whistleblower claims, which is a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

However, Haim and journalist Christopher Rufo, to whom he gave the exclusive scoop, maintain that none of the documents Haim provided were a HIPAA violation. No children’s information was released, only schedules for operation rooms, and all were heavily redacted.

The Biden administration has decided that transgenderism is the civil rights fight of this generation. Democrats don’t care about these gender-confused children; they only care that they look good politically and that they look like they’re standing up for a marginalized minority. The reality is that they are pushing Gender Marxism and using the power of the executive branch to bully everyday Americans. Their pro-transing-the-kids propaganda is pervasive and has even infected Republican governors.

If we want to protect our children from this dangerous ideology and the abusers who are forwarding it, we must continue to be vigilant and not be distracted by the lies.