(Daily Wire) Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday rolled out a sweeping proposal to protect children from what he called “left-wing gender insanity” by barring chemical and surgical procedures meant to change the sex of confused minors.
In declaring war on radical gender theory, Trump blasted the Biden administration’s “cruel policies” on so-called gender-affirming care, and vowed to stop federal agencies from promoting such policies. Conservatives broadly oppose chemical and surgical treatments for children suffering from gender dysphoria, and several red states have in recent months outlawed such procedures on minors.
“Left-wing gender insanity being pushed on our children is an act of child abuse,” said Trump, who launched his third bid for the nation’s highest office last November and is so far the only major Republican to have declared his candidacy for 2024. “Very simple.”
The announcement comes as radical gender ideology has become a hot-button issue, with The Daily Wire at the forefront of the conversation. Much of the debate revolves around the distinction between biological sex and the social and cultural differences between the sexes — masculinity and femininity — with some on the Left insisting that gender is not tied to biological sex.
Trump pledged that if elected president again, his administration would revoke Biden’s policies, which include giving kids puberty blockers, altering their physical appearance, and in some cases performing surgery such as double mastectomies on young girls.
Through an executive order, Trump said he would instruct federal agencies to cease all programs that promote the concept of sex and gender transition at any age and ask Congress to permanently stop spending federal taxpayer dollars to promote or pay for such procedures.
Trump’s plan would also bar any hospital or health care provider participating in a minor’s chemical or physical mutilation from benefiting from Medicaid and Medicare programs. Other reforms Trump announced included creating a private right of action for victims to sue doctors who have performed such procedures on minors.
Trump said he would instruct the Department of Justice to investigate pharmaceutical companies and hospitals that have covered up long-term side effects of sex transitions “in order to get rich at the expense of vulnerable patients” and whether such companies have illegally marketed hormones and puberty blockers, which he said have not been licensed or approved for such use.
