I'm the parent of a trans daughter. There's nothing conservative about blocking her care. [View all]

Sean P. Madden

I write as the proud father of a courageous, kind and empathetic 24-year-old transgender daughter to provide some insight into our family’s experience with gender-affirming care and hopefully to correct some of the most egregious misinformation about it.

In the past year, there has been a tsunami of anti-transgender legislation in the United States, with bills targeting transgender people introduced in nearly every state. These bills and their sponsors are supported by a richly financed group of anti-LGBTQ+ groups such as the Alliance Defending Freedom, which received more than $96 million in contributions and grants in its 2022 fiscal year.

Most distressing is this network’s focus on banning gender-affirming care for adolescents, which has been passed into law in 25 states. We know from our own experience just how radical and cruel these laws are.

When our daughter came out to us as transgender just before her 16th birthday, we listened to her intently, trying to understand what she was going through and how we could best support her. And we questioned, like many parents of transgender children do initially, whether this was just a phase that she would outgrow. In hindsight, we didn’t really comprehend then what it would mean for her to be transgender, but we understood clearly that she was suffering.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2024/06/24/trans-kids-gender-affirming-care-parents-rights/74090131007/

Politicians should stop trying to impose personal beliefs as statewide mandates that harm children and interfere with the private, individualized medical decisions of families.[/i
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