How the PC Police Ruined Childhood (and Adulthood)

It looks like liberals see no minimum age when it comes to drilling the dictates of  political correctness into the skulls of the next generation.  Because they have established footholds in Academia, the media, and Hollywood, they have seized the opportunity to do just that as they have sought to develop a permanent upper hand in the culture war.

For nearly my entire life, the PBS series “Arthur,” based on the children’s book series featuring an anthropomorphic ardvaark and his friends, has provided entertainment and educational benefits to young children across America.  Between 1976 and 2011, author Marc Brown wrote nearly four dozen installments.  As a matter of fact, I had the privilege of meeting Brown’s sister Kim, who served as the inspiration for the character DW, 16 years ago as a second grader.  Sorry, I do not have any photographs to prove that I actually met her.  I also had a computer game called “Arthur’s Thinking Games” at one point based on the books (and TV series).

It appears as if the writers for the “Arthur” TV series have run out of ideas.  They have decided to go full PC and introduce the concept of same-sex marriage to little kids.  A recent episode of “Arthur” featured a same-sex marriage between Arthur’s teacher Mr. Ratburn and his “significant other.”  In retrospect, based on its decision to air this episode, Mitt Romney’s proposition to defund PBS actually seems like a good idea.  If PBS wants to advance a left-wing agenda, then it should do so without the use of taxpayer dollars. This development with Mr. Ratburn should not come as a surprise since one of the writers for “Sesame Street” recently said that he always saw Bert and Ernie as gay partners. 

Liberals seem to have no respect or admiration for the innocence that once defined childhood.  Instead, they have apparently made the calculation to turn public school children into foot soldiers of the Cultural Revolution.  They have already successfully implemented radical sex education into the curriculum of many schools across the country in the form of the “Guidelines for Comprehensive Sexuality Education,” which provides teachers with a framework for K-12 sex education.  As I have explained before, “this framework advocates teaching children as young as five about masturbation, sexual intercourse and homosexuality.”  I also touched upon California’s Healthy Youth Act, which they might want to rename the “Horny Youth Act.”  After all, this “comprehensive sex education” framework teaches students about “lubricants, anal sex, and sex toys.”  The textbook encourages students to use cucumbers, carrots, and bananas as dildos.  These same people probably like to lecture the rest of America about the importance of “feeding the hungry,” especially when it comes to the immigration debate. Nothing says “feeding the hungry” like wasting and destroying perfectly good food by rubbing it against genitalia.    

A recent piece of legislation championed and passed by liberals in both parties has consequences for those currently in childhood and adulthood. The House of Representatives passed the so-called Equality Act Friday, with every Democrat who voted voting yes and all but eight Republicans who voted voting no.  The Equality Act serves as the latest example of how liberals have mastered manipulating language to make their policy proposals more palatable to the American people.  Other examples of this include substituting the word “marriage equality” for same-sex marriage, “Medicare for all” for socialized, government-run healthcare, “family reunification” for chain migration, “Road Repair and Accountability Act” for gas tax, and a whole boatload of euphemisms for abortion; including “reproductive rights,” “reproductive health,” “women’s health,” “choice,” and “bodily autonomy.”

An article published by The Daily Signal entitled “7 Reasons Why the Equality Act Is Anything But” cuts through all the crap and outlines what the “Equality Act” means for all Americans.  First of all, “it would penalize Americans who don’t affirm new sexual norms or gender ideology.”  This has already happened to a teacher in Virginia named Peter Vlaming who lost his job for refusing to refer to a biological female as a male in accordance with “her” wishes; although The Daily Signal article lists Vlaming under the second reason, “it would compel speech.”  Vlaming’s situation actually applies to both reason number one and reason number two.  The third unintended (or more likely intended) consequence of the “Equality Act” listed warns that “it could shut down charities.” For example, a shelter for “homeless, abused, and trafficked women” faced a lawsuit on the basis of “gender identity discrimination” because it refused to admit a biological male.

Nothing has more dire consequences for children and adolescents across America than the fourth aspect of the Equality Act as outlined by The Daily Signal: “It would allow more biological males to defeat girls in sports.”  Believe it or not, this aspect of the Equality Act has drawn the ire of both the left and the right.  From the left, women’s rights organizations have argued that the Equality Act would roll back decades of progress in creating women’s sports that resulted from Title IX of the Civil Rights Act. 

It seems as if girls competing with biological males in sports find themselves in the same position as Republicans in California: no matter how hard they work, they simply cannot beat the Democrats; who have a huge head start thanks to the transformation of the Golden State caused by America’s failed immigration policy.  As for high school girls, no matter how hard they work, they cannot match up against transgender males, who have biological advantages over biological females that the “pro-science” party seems all to willing to ignore. Selina Soule came in eight at an event in the Connecticut State Track Championships although she came in sixth among the biological females.  Two biological males who identify as women took the top two spots at the event, with one breaking the state record in the 100-meter dash. Had Soule come in sixth place, she would have had the chance “to complete in front of college coaches.” As the article points out, Soule “not only lost to the biological males in the championships but also lost out on valuable opportunities to be seen by college coaches and chosen for scholarships.”  Soule has appeared on “The Ingraham Angle,” where she told her story to Fox News host Laura Ingraham.

While the simple, kindergarten-level biology outlined in “Kindergarten Cop” should serve as the starting point for any conversation about gender or “gender identity,” high school biology teaches about hormones and chromosomes.  As Soule pointed out, “it’s scientifically proven that males are built to be physically stronger than females. It’s unfair to put someone who is biologically a male, who has not undergone anything in terms of hormone therapy against cisgender girls.” To those who have a hard time keeping up with “woke” terminology (myself included), “cisgender girls” means “biological females.” Ingraham went on to explain some of the differences between males and females that have become quite obvious now that biological males get to compete against biological females in Connecticut track racing: “females are, on average, nine percent shorter than males; male bones are bigger in both size and density; females have shorter arms and legs relative to body size; females are around 30-35 percent muscle by weight while males are 40-50 percent muscle; females’ ligaments are thinner and softer than males’; the internal organs of…men tend to be bigger, broader, more capable of taking in oxygen; shoulder size…the structure of the anatomy is different period.” Soule closed the conversation by declaring “we are not physically able to be competitive against someone who is biologically a male.”

The article also warns that the Equality Act “could be used to coerce medical professionals” and “it could lead to more parents losing custody of their children.” The article explains that in states where laws similar to the Equality Act have taken effect, transgender individuals have sued Catholic hospitals for refusing to perform hysterectomies.  In addition, the American Journal of Bioethics has argued the state has a responsibility to intervene if parents refuse to give their children “puberty-blocking drugs.” An example of this kind of intervention took place in Cincinnati, where a judge deprived parents of custody of their child because of their refusal to follow the PC playbook when it comes to treating their offspring’s gender dysphoria. The Daily Signal article concludes by warning that the Equality Act “would enable sexual assault,” pointing to an incident in Decatur, Georgia; where a boy who identifies as a girl sexually assaulted a 5-year-old girl in the girls’ restroom.  Thanks to the Decatur City School District’s policy allowing transgender individuals to use the restroom of the gender they identify with (as opposed to their biological gender), this girl had her childhood turned upside down.  When the school district, located in the Atlanta suburbs, refused to change its policy because of what happened, the girl’s mother removed her from the school.

The article concludes with a bottom line summary of the “Equality Act”: “This extreme and dangerous legislation would create unprecedented harm to businesses, charities, medical professionals, women and children, and entire families.” It also warned that the legislation “would be used as a sword to attack people and force them to adopt new ideologies about human sexuality.”

It looks like a majority of the House of Representatives, including virtually all Democrats, have decided not to heed the warnings of The Daily Signal.  One of the two Democrats I discussed in my most recent blog about pro-life Democrats, Dan Lipinski, voted for the Equality Act; while the other, Collin Peterson, did not vote at all.  The eight Republicans who joined Democrats in voting for the Equality Act include all three Republicans who represent districts carried by Hillary Clinton, Mario Diaz-Balart of South Florida, Tom Reed and Elise Stefanik of Upstate New York, Susan Brooks of Indiana, and Greg Walden of Oregon.  According to Roll Call, many of these Representatives have done their best to attract primary challengers by supporting the Democratic effort to block the President’s national emergency declaration and/or joining with Democrats to condemn the Trump administration’s support for a legal challenge to Obamacare.  Although none of the Congressional Republicans have done more to attract a primary challenger than Justin Amash of Michigan.  More on that another time. 

Fortunately, it looks like the Equality Act will not succeed in becoming law; thanks to the Republican-controlled Senate. Every single Democrat except Joe Manchin has signed on as a cosponsor while Republican Susan Collins has joined with the Democrats in supporting the legislation.  The legislation would require 60 votes to pass in the Senate. It looks like the Equality Act will not even receive majority support in the Senate, let alone the 60 vote threshold needed to stop a filibuster. Even if it did pass the Senate, the Equality Act would likely have a veto waiting for it when it makes it to President Trump’s desk.  The second liberals retake all three branches of government, expect the Equality Act to become law.  Do not expect them to let a filibuster stand in their way. 

Many more examples exist of the PC police ruining and politicizing childhood; including the children’s book “A is for Activist” and exposing young children to drag queens at story time.  Let’s not ruin anymore childhoods.  Tell your Senator to vote “no” on the Equality Act.  Religious liberty and the innocence of childhood hang in the balance.