Protecting kids is a great slogan to add to any campaign because there is no one who wouldn’t get under that umbrella, no matter what the cause. That is, until the truth comes out that what Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA 14th District) means by making it a felony to provide gender-affirming care might actually have detrimental effects on those kids she claims she’s trying to protect.
The Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, was held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, just outside Washington, D.C. It began Wednesday and will end on Saturday with many events scheduled for the conference, which included MTG taking the stage and pushing for something that was shot down last term. However, even she said in her speech, it would pass now since Kevin McCarthy has taken over the House for the majority. That doesn’t have anything to say about the Senate, which is still controlled by the Democrats and that would make what MTG is trying to do a complete waste of time.
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s CPAC speech is pure transphobia pic.twitter.com/1EwPZR1TqG
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 3, 2023
The World Health Organization defines gender-affirming care as a range of treatments that encompass, “Social, psychological, behavioral, and medical interventions.” Targeting all of the gender-affirming treatments solely because of medical interventions only serves to deny kids of quality care they need as the Association of American Medical Colleges reports the observations of Katherine Imborek, MD, “It decreases depression, anxiety, and suicide attempts.” Dr. Imborek, co-director of UI Health Care’s LGBTQ Clinic in Iowa City added, that care is, “A medical necessity, like providing insulin to a person with diabetes.”
The Hill reports that MGT’s act would outlaw, “More than a dozen medical interventions and procedures used to treat gender dysphoria in transgender young people, including puberty blockers, hormone therapy and certain kinds of surgeries done for the purpose of changing the body of such individual to correspond to a sex that differs from their biological sex.” The act would be punishable by up to 25 years in prison and $250,000 and seems on its front to be only targeting doctors or professionals in the healthcare industry. However, the way it’s written, it doesn’t only include those surgical procedures and it could be used against the parents of the child as well, parents who have every right to decide what’s best for their child.
When MGT announced her plan for a “National Divorce,” Former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Steele unloaded on her, “She has no clue what the hell she’s talking about. Why do we listen to this crazy fool? Marjorie Taylor Greene, please just shut the hell up. Do us all a favor. You are an embarrassment to the Republican Party and to the country as a congresswoman.”
MGT’s bold attack on the trans community and trying to make it a felony to seek healthcare is just more hateful rhetoric being thrown around to disparage the venerable group even further. It’s really time for the extremist to heed Steele’s words and shut the hell up!