Minors who believe they are transgender and are seeking sex change procedures and drugs “will be protected from the intervention of estranged parents” under a measure Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed into law Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.
Before the law was passed, licensed shelters and host homes were required to notify parents within 72 hours when a minor came into their care. But under the new law, facilities will contact the state Department of Children, Youth and Families, “which could then attempt to reunify the family if feasible,” according to the report. Those minors will also be allowed to stay at host homes without parental permission.
Before signing the measure into law, Inslee called the bill a “more compassionate, developmentally appropriate and reasoned approach to support these youth as they access gender-affirming treatment and reproductive health care services.” But “gender-affirming care” is actually a far-left euphemism intended to make the mutilation of minors — via sex change procedures, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones — sound like a compassionate course of action.
Republican lawmakers spent weeks speaking against the legislation, with Senate GOP leader John Braun warning it would drive “a wedge between vulnerable kids and their parents,” according to the report.
The left-leaning Associated Press, which has long set corporate journalistic standards, notably titled the article: “Trans minors protected from parents under Washington law,” and claimed that people online “twisted the content of the measure to suggest it will see the state ripping children from their homes.”
“Legal experts and the bill’s primary sponsor say the legislation does not address custody issues or removing youths from their parents. The legislation is intended to help keep estranged young people housed, not remove children from parents,” according to a separate AP “fact focus” article about the bill.
Washington Senate Republicans spoke out against the bill on May 5, saying it allows youth shelters to “hide kids seeking ‘gender-affirming care’ from their parents.”
“People are overwhelmingly against SB 5599, including many LGBT+ folks. Democrats pass it anyway, allowing youth shelters to hide kids seeking ‘gender-affirming care’ from their parents,” the caucus tweeted.
Washington state Rep. Jim Walsh (R) said the bill goes against parental rights.
“The extremists have picked their position against WA families and parental rights. Now they can try to defend it. Spoiler: It’s indefensible,” Walsh tweeted.
As AP notes, more than a half-dozen states have passed or are considering passing similar legislation around transgender individuals and minors and “gender affirming care.”
Several Republican-led states are going in the complete opposite direction by protecting minors from accessing sex changes procedures, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones. Some red states are also shoring up parental rights by preventing schools from hiding sex transitions from parents.
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