Liberals like to say they’re pushing these gender-neutral bills for the kids, but new research suggests they’re doing it despite the kids. Every day, it seems like another city or school board is pushing a policy that tells children to ignore the anatomy that classrooms should be teaching! The waves of gender-neutral bathroom and athletic proposals keep coming, no matter how devastating it can be for students. Gender isn’t a matter of self-determination, the American College of Pediatricians (ACP) is arguing, and suggesting otherwise can harm kids for life.

This isn’t about helping children “find themselves” or accepting them for who they are, it’s about glamorizing a disorder with life-long consequences. When legislatures or educators indulge and even encourage this confusion, ACP warns, it’s child abuse. In a strong response to the transgender ideology marching across America, U.S. pediatricians are urging a complete and total rejection of these so-called “non-discrimination” bills. “Conditioning children into believing a lifetime of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex is normal and healthful is child abuse,” they write in a statement released [Monday]. In an eight-point dismantling of the trans-movement, they remind Americans that gender confusion is a “mental disorder” — a fact, ACP points out, that has never been disproven.

“When an otherwise healthy biological boy believes he is a girl, or an otherwise healthy biological girl believes she is a boy, an objective psychological problem exists that lies in the mind not the body, and it should be treated as such,” they write. No one, the pediatricians explain, “is born with a gender. Everyone is born with a biological sex. Gender (an awareness and sense of oneself as male or female) is a sociological and psychological concept; not an objective biological one. People who identify as ‘feeling like the opposite sex’ or ‘somewhere in between’ do not comprise a third sex. They remain biological men or biological women.” For the vast majority of students, this kind of sexual expression is just a phase. “According to the DSM-V, as many as 98% of gender confused boys and 88% of gender confused girls eventually accept their biological sex after naturally passing through puberty.”

Yet here we are, as a society, crafting entire policies and putting whole populations at risk for a tiny minority of students who have a fleeting flirtation with another gender. That isn’t just a disservice to these young men and women, but to the other students who are left to cope with the invasion of their privacy, the un-level playing field, or worse — the risk to their personal space and safety. Instead of helping these children and adults, we’re sentencing them to a miserable life because we refuse to address the underlying issues. Even in places that embrace this alternate gender universe, people still stuffer. “Rates of suicide are twenty times greater among adults who use cross-sex hormones and undergo sex reassignment surgery, even in Sweden which is among the most LGBQT-affirming countries,” the pediatricians note. “What compassionate and reasonable person would condemn young children to this fate knowing that after puberty as many as 88% of girls and 98% of boys will eventually accept reality and achieve a state of mental and physical health?”

It’s time for Americans to wake up from this spell of political correctness and fight for what’s in the best interest of kids — which, as the American College of Pediatricians points out, is not a radical gender ideology. Let’s hope the leaders of North Carolina take this into account [today], when they convene a special session on Charlotte’s extreme bathroom ordinance. Thanks to House Speaker Tim Moore and Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, state leaders are making good on a promise to take legislative action if the city dared to implement a measure that puts children, public safety, and religious liberty at risk. Under the Charlotte measure set to take effect on April 1, not only would grown men be allowed in women’s public restrooms and showers, but businesses would be ordered to cater to same-sex weddings, even if it violates their personal beliefs. In a joint statement, Moore and Forest were clear: “We aim to repeal this ordinance before it goes into effect to provide for the privacy and protection of the women and children of our state.”

Of course, liberals like Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts (D) are criticizing the special session as a “waste of money.” But I think most parents would agree — $42,000 is a small price to pay for the safety of even one child. With majorities in the state House and Senate expected to override the controversial ordinance, it will fall to Governor Pat McCrory to live up to his end of the bargain and take steps to protect North Carolina from an agenda that many Americans will live to regret. If you live in the Tar Heel State, contact your leaders today. Urge them to listen to science and repeal Charlotte’s ordinance.

But just because you aren’t in North Carolina doesn’t mean the threat isn’t real where you are. There are a whole host of sexual identity and gender identity bills introduced under the radar in states like Minnesota (H.B. 3215), Louisiana (S.B. 332, H.B. 501), Kentucky (S.B. 176), Michigan (H.B. 4538), Idaho (S.B. 1196), Arizona (H.B. 2414), Missouri (H.B. 1924), and countless local school board and city council measures. Make sure you’re tracking these proposals and calling your elected officials to oppose them. For more reasons why, check out FRC’s paper, “The Transgender Movement and ‘Gender Identity’ in the Law.”

Originally published here.

Pray for Belgium

Night fell on Brussels hours ago, completing a darkness that had overtaken the city when terrorists rocked the small country with a series of deadly attacks. In the wreckage of the airport terminal and underground subway, the world is faced with yet another reminder that the evil of ISIS is not contained to the Middle East — but living and breathing among us. While Paris’s neighbors try to cope with the nightmarish scene, we stand with Belgium and the many grieving families whose senseless losses continue to send shockwaves through the global community.

As we pray for the victims’ loved ones, the Belgium authorities, and everyone involved, let us also pray for America, which is on the verge of a decision that could impact scenes like this one for generations to come. What happened in Brussels is a reminder of why America must be strong and lead. When our nation is weak and fails to lead, the world is a much more dangerous place. In November, voters will choose whether we will stay this path or summon the courage to take our rightful place on the global stage. This next election is about restoring America’s moral foundations at home so that we can once against stand strong internationally. We cannot afford to make a mistake.

Originally published here.

Media Notes

FRC’s lecture with Dr. Rosaria Butterfield continues to generate buzz across social media. If you missed this powerful talk from a woman who was freed from a lesbian lifestyle after encountering Christ, I strongly encourage you to watch it. Also, check out CNSNews’s coverage of the event here.

On the eve of the Supreme Court’s oral arguments on the Little Sisters of the Poor religious liberty case, FRC’s Rob Schwarzwalder suggests “Obama’s Religious ‘Accommodation’ on Birth Control Is a Gimmick” in Time magazine.

Originally published here.