Kids should not be caught in gender-bender crossfire

We do not execute children who commit capital crimes, because regardless of what we may think about the death penalty when it comes to adults, society has acknowledged that the brain is not fully developed until the age of 18. In Roper v. Simmons, the Supreme Court held more than 14 years ago that minors have less of a sense of responsibility, and are more vulnerable to outside pressure and that, because of this, they should not be treated like adults. Justice Anthony Kennedy noted that society does not let children under the age of 18 vote, drink or engage in a host of other activities that require judgment.

Until recently, society has attempted to protect children by keeping these limitations in place. There are situations where minors can seek to bypass these restrictions by judicial intervention, as when they ask to become emancipated from their parents, but most people agree that kids should not be able to make life-changing decisions, or be held accountable for life-changing acts, before the age of 18.

That’s why what just happened in Texas this week should scare all of us, because it represents a drastic deviation from the standard that places the welfare of children above the priorities of adults.

A 7-year-old boy named James Younger was the subject of a custody battle between his biological father and his mother. It is important to note that the mother has no biological tie to the child, and that the boy was conceived with an egg donor. The mother, however, has been granted sole custody of the boy and his twin brother. A Texas (not California, not New York) jury held that Anne Georgulas will be able to start allowing James (who she calls “Luna”) to take pubertyblocking hormones that will make it easier for him to transition to the female gender.

James’ father, Jeffrey Younger, has been waging a desperate battle to stop his ex-wife from pushing forward with the genderreassignment procedures because he is convinced that his son is being influenced by the mother to “act like a girl.” He notes that when James is with him on visits, he acts like a traditional boy, and that it’s only when he’s with his mother that he likes to wear dresses and watch “Frozen.”

Fortunately, a judge stepped in on Thursday and, for the time being at least, prevented Georgulas from pushing her fragile child into a dangerous morass of sexual ambiguity and moral relativism (boy is girl, right is wrong, black is white, fiction is fact). By court decree, mother and father will share in the medical decision-making for James. This means that for now, he will remain James, and not his female alter ego “Luna.”

We can all disagree about gender stereotypes, even at a young age. My sister was an absolute tomboy, trying to outdo her three older brothers in running, rough housing and climbing trees. She often succeeded. I also taught in a boys’ school, and there were some very gentle, quiet kids who didn’t like football and loved the cooking shows.

Stereotypes are wrong, and society has matured to the point that we don’t get upset if boys start singing “Let It Go” at the top of their lungs (annoyed, perhaps, but not upset).

But this is not about stereotypes. This is about chemically castrating a little boy because there is some suspicion on the part of the mother and her allies that he is really a little girl. Every single one of us, regardless of gender identity, sexual orientation, religion or class should be horrified at that prospect.

As Justice Kennedy noted, children do not have fully developed brains. They are impulsive, impressionable and they also want desperately to please their parents. While one could argue that James Younger’s father is trying to exert as much influence over him to “stay a boy” as his mother is doing in pursuing the gender-reassignment process, there is a big difference: Until he is old enough to demonstrate otherwise, James actually is a boy.

The Trans community and its allies advocate for dignity and respect. That’s fine if they are talking about people who are fully cognizant of their identity, and the consequences of transitioning to a new one. But children are different by every metric, and using them to advance adult agendas is abusive.

Some will say I am writing as a right-wing zealot. In fact, the Washington Post described those who opposed the mother’s decision to treat her little boy as a little girl as “conservatives,” ignoring the fact that good people on the left who have not been injected with that P.C. toxin that simultaneously paralyzes the vocal chords and melts the spine also oppose the mother.

Others will make snide comments about my Christianity, even though people of all faiths (and no faith at all) find this trans fantasy to be repellent when applied to innocent children.

Still others will say that I am “phobic” this, or that.

I expect it, and don’t care. If you know me, or have read me in the past, you know the truth of that comment.

My only concern is the child who is too young to know what he wants, who he is and how he wants to live.

Until he is 18, little boy James should be left alone. And for now at least, by the grace of God, science, common sense and one tough judge, it looks like that is exactly what will happen.