Why I Testified Against A Bill That Would Let The State Take Gender-Confused Kids From Parents

COLUMBUS, OHIO—I just finished testifying against a bill that would make it illegal for the state government to rip children away from loving parents who refuse to “affirm” that child’s so-called “transgender identity.”

It’s not every day an investigative journalist weighs in on legislation like this. But this is different.

More than two years ago, I began investigating how transgender activists were working to weaponize child welfare systems against loving parents.

I was horrified by what I found.

The Cuyahoga County Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) was chosen as one of four agencies nationwide to develop gender ideology-based child welfare interventions that suggest parents and caregivers who do not affirm a child’s sexual orientation or gender confusion are unsafe.

As part of its “Safe Identification” program, Cuyahoga County DCFS created a database that tracked the sexual orientation, transgender identity, and pronouns of children who interacted with the child welfare system. The database noted if parents were “accepting” or “rejecting” of their child’s gender identity. Parents who were “rejecting” could be referred to re-education programs where parents learned to “accept” their child’s transgender identity as a last resort before CPS stepped in and removed the child.

Some transgender activists believe refusing to affirm a child’s gender confusion is a form of child abuse and have even suggested families should be prosecuted as abusers for refusing to call their gender confused child the opposite sex.

Public records revealed that behind the scenes, members of the Cuyahoga County DCFS team were communicating with the Biden administration on how interventions like Safe Identification could be implemented at the federal level.

This would be insane regardless of where it was happening. But the fact that it’s been going on in a red state like Ohio is truly shocking.

As part of my reporting, I reached out to Ohio State Representative Gary Click and asked him to comment on what was happening in Cuyahoga County. He promised the Ohio legislature would not be idle while local government attempted to usurp the role of the family and harm children.

Click has kept that promise by co-sponsoring the Affirming Families First Act, the bill I testified in favor of today. It states that parents have a right to use their child’s given name and correct pronouns, and prohibits state agencies from using state funds for training, education, or programming that characterizes affirming a child’s sex as abuse or neglect.

I’m proud to have played a part in this bill’s inspiration. As a mother, I know if we can’t protect our children from lies and raise them according to reality, without fear of retribution from the state, we no longer live in a free nation.

When the state strips custody from loving parents who simply don’t want to affirm their confused child’s gender delusions, it violates all the rights Americans hold dear: the freedoms of speech and religion first and foremost, as well as parental rights and medical freedom. All these protections are swiftly swept away as families are ripped apart and vulnerable youth are placed in the hands of transgender activists who encourage them to destroy their bodies.

I’ve spoken with parents who’ve experienced this nightmare, and I wouldn’t wish their pain on my worst enemy. I want to see vulnerable children and families in our nation protected from this insanity, which is why I’ve traveled to Ohio to testify in favor of a bill that will protect parents who do not “affirm” their transgender-identifying children.

I wasn’t always a journalist. I’m a nurse by training, but switched careers when I realized the extent to which radical transgender ideology was endangering children. I’ve since spent hundreds of hours exposing the horrors of transgenderism because I understand stopping gender ideology is the most important issue of our time. If we can’t define the basic reality of the sexes, we can’t define anything.

President Donald Trump has kept his campaign promises to purge gender ideology from the federal government, but without legislation, these policies can be reversed as quickly as they were implemented.

Some parental rights advocates I’ve spoken with are concerned we are one election away from a full return to the transgender insanity we were living through just 15 months ago.

The transgender activists have lost some major battles under President Trump. But the war for sanity is raging on. We can’t let up on fighting gender ideology until it’s been returned to the pit of hell it came from.