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Chris J. Karr's avatar

"But rights are not absolute. How far should parental rights be extended in this area?"

My personal feelings (as someone WITHOUT children) is that parental rights in the transgender case should mirror their local rights when it comes to other elective surgeries and medical procedures in their relevant jurisdiction. I don't see a lot of reason to treat a 15 year old wanting to get gender transition surgery any differently than a 15 year old girl getting breast work done. (It does happen[1].)

From a policy perspective, I remain a Federalist on this issue - let's leave it up to States to decide how to manage this issue themselves, and skip attempting to answer this question on a national level. Let the advocates in each State make their appeals to the voters in each State and decide the issue at the ballot box (through referendums or representatives).

[1] https://www.the-sun.com/entertainment/2503251/punky-brewsters-soleil-moon-frye-breast-reduction-teen-bullies/

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Curtis Stinespring's avatar

I suspect (but do not claim with any certainty) the increasing trend of "coming out" is driven by a social contagion. I do agree that whatever, however disgusting I find it, adults do that harm no one else is generally their business. Of course, we normal people have to pick up the pieces and finance whatever remediation is required for self-destructive behavior which are almost a given for the mentally ill.

Kids are a different matter. Caution should be the rule. No irreversible or potentially dangerous procedures should be allowed before puberty. The age of consent for drastic procedures will vary and a lot of lawsuits are inevitable.

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