Kansas Democrats would not answer this question

Opinion/Education and LGBT Issues

Listening to testimonies regarding Senate Bill 509, a bill that would provide tax credits to parents with school-aged children in nongovernment schools and to Senate Bill 233, the Forbidding Abusive Child Transitions Act, I found interesting similarities.

For example, written testimony from Americans for Prosperity, a Libertarian organization, had the following statement supporting SB 509:

“Families ought to be able to tailor their children’s education to their unique needs and talents, ensuring personalized learning experiences because parents, rather than bureaucracies, should have authority over their children’s education.”

Compare the above with written testimony from Rep. Brandon Woodard, a Democrat representing parts of Lenexa, Olathe, and Overland Park, opposing the Forbidding Abusive Child Transitions Act:

“This bill unnecessarily inserts the government into personal healthcare decisions that should be made by transgender Kansans, their medical and behavioral health providers, and their families.”

Both testimonies suggest that families should be able to make decisions for their children rather than the government. One is simply supporting parents to make the decision on how their child gets educated while the other is supporting parents to make the decision to transition their child.

Even more interesting is that Democrats really support parents being able to transition their children without government intervention. In fact, all 11 Democrats in the Senate and 37 of the current 40 Democrats in the Kansas House voted against the Forbidding Abusive Child Transitions Act. Two other Democrats in the Kansas House were absent and not voting while Rep. Marvin Robinson of Kansas City was the lone Democrat to vote in favor of the bill, having made the news for doing the same last year and was told to “go die” from a colleague for daring to have an opposing opinion.

In contrast, Democrats regularly oppose parents having a say in their children’s education, favoring the government educating children rather than giving parents an opportunity to decide how they want their children to be educated.

Interested in understanding why Kansas Democrats felt comfortable letting parents make decisions for their children when it comes to transitioning a child, but not comfortable allowing parents to decide how their children are educated, I reached out to Chair of the Kansas Democratic Party Jeanna Repass as well as the Senate Minority Leader Sen. Dinah Sykes (Johnson County) via email the morning of Thursday, March 28, to get answers.

“I couldn’t help but notice that the arguments that proponents for SB 509, a bill Democrats seem to oppose, were similar to the arguments made by opponents about SB 233, a bill Democrats seem to also oppose.

“Specifically, it seems Democrats feel that the government knows better when it comes to a child’s education over the child’s parents. Yet, when it comes to health services, specifically transitioning a child, they seem to think the parents know better than the government.

“I am curious to understand why this is, and why they seemingly only trust parents to make decisions with the child’s health when it comes to transitioning, as they do seem to distrust parents when it comes to the child’s health when it comes to other issues as demonstrated during COVID.”

I sent a reminder email on Monday, but neither of the Kansas Democrats have responded.

Personally, I support parents having a say in their child’s education because government educations regularly suck regardless of the amount of money thrown at government schools. They are indoctrination camps, but I don’t mean like how Republicans think they’re indoctrination camps for a “queer agenda.” Rather, they are indoctrination camps that get kids to grow into ignorant adults that shill for the government.

I can also believe parents should have such a choice for their children in education while simultaneously being okay with the government stepping in when it comes to parents trying to transition their children. This is because, at least from the half-dozen studies supporting the transitioning of children that I’ve read, they’re about as scientific as creationist research—which is not scientific at all. They are more so written to support an agenda than to actually advance the science of the field. Politics in science dilutes science to the point that it no longer exists—there is only politics written in such a way that those that support such policies are fooled into believing such work is truly “science-based.” These practices are harmful to children and governments are putting a stop to these predatory practices by big pharma in a number of other more progressive countries after years of transitioning children and noting studies and trends among those that have received irreversible transgender services that have manipulated and destroyed healthy body parts.

I can defend my stance on both issues, so why won’t Kansas Democrats?

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