While Democrats tend to embrace the transgender ideology, such as President Biden recognizing Pride Month, many Republican-led states are taking action. As of this month, 16 states have banned gender-manipulation care for minors, for example.
Louisiana was set to join the list last week until a state senate Republican broke ranks and voted against a bill that would have banned gender-manipulation procedures for minors. Now some lawmakers are looking at other ways to enact protections for minors in Louisiana. Rep. Larry Frieman (R) has proposed an amendment that would prohibit certain pharmacies from prescribing gender-manipulation medications.
Frieman supports an effort to bypass the senate committee that killed the bill and bring it to the floor for a vote.
“We must protect our vulnerable children from permanent damage,” the state rep wrote on his Facebook page.
The other side of the gender discussion sees conservatives voting with their dollars. Bud Light and Target have lost billions for their aggressive pro-transgender stances.
Ohio GOP hopes for passage of SAFE Act
Ohio is the latest state to consider a law that would ban gender-mutilation surgeries for minors. This is the second year for the Ohio House’s bill geared toward protecting minors, and co-sponsors have increased from 25 to 40. Sixty-seven of the House’s 99 members are Republicans.
“We've had three committee hearings on it so far, and they've all been fantastic. They've all been in our favor. The Speaker is supportive, and we're hoping to get this out in June and to send it over to the Senate,” Rep. Gary Click (R) said on Washington Watch Tuesday.
The Ohio SAFE Act – Saving Adolescents from Experimentation -- has its opponents, and much of the criticism is aimed at Click. He is also pastor of Fremont Baptist Temple, an independent Baptist church, in Fremont, Ohio, which sits near the shores of Lake Erie between Toledo and Cleveland.
“We do have a lot of opposition. Of course, the children's hospitals are fighting against us. They're lying about us, and we're getting some opposition in the press, especially with me being a pastor. That really triggers them,” Click told show host Tony Perkins.
Click has gotten some blow back from his statement that sometimes the “Bible and science line up together.”
In an effort to educate his constituents and his church members, the pastor and politician explains, he has to condition himself to “think Biblically and speak secularly.”
It’s a challenge for pastors who also help govern within their states.
“We know the Bible is true, but when I come to the legislature I can’t just say, ‘Well, the Bible says male and female.’ I have to give proof, give living experiences,” Click said.
The pastor and state rep said he has been surprised to find unusual allies in his fight because they agree on science and common sense.
"We have people from the LBGT community. They've been my chief witnesses on this. I have one young lady who's an atheist, and she is very supportive on this bill. She’s been helping to get different people here to testify in favor of it,” Click said. “We’re seeing Christians, gays, lesbians, transsexuals, and atheists come together to support something, but it's so common sense that anyone with an ounce of common sense gets it.”
God loves 'everyone' but not 'everything'
From the pulpit, Click senses a congregation eager to hear how the Bible is still relevant in their lives. He believes his responsibility is to present truth with love.
“People in church crave to know what the Bible says about special issues,” he told the radio program.
In a series of messages before the mid-terms in 2018, Click focused on the value of the family.
“I was very critical of people who use harsh language and say unkind and mean things to people. God loves everyone. God doesn’t love everything," he said. "I always ask myself if someone in my church is struggling with an issue, would they be comfortable talking to me and seeking counsel and advice? Would I be able to share the gospel with them?”
'A line has been crossed'
As the layers are peeled back on Target, some of its motivation for its public LBGTQ stance becomes clearer. One of the company’s vice presidents for brand marketing, Carlos Saavedra, is also an officer with GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian Straight Education Network.
GLSEN works through schools to advance LBGTQ initiatives including efforts to keep parents uninformed on gender questions raised by their children in classrooms.
On the "Washington Watch" show, Dr. Jennifer Bauwens said the public unhappily tolerates a "certain level" of Pride Month promotions every year. But then they came for innocent children.
"And you start seeing onesies that are Pride wear, and you start seeing these swimsuits that tell children that there’s something wrong with their biology, and they need to tuck it away, then you see outrage," she concludes. "A line has been crossed.
Bauwens, director for the Center for Family Studies at the Family Research Center, says the public can no longer be silent now that it's clear the homosexual activists are impacting our own children.
"It’s impacting the mental wellbeing, the spiritual wellbeing, of our kids," she warned. "This is an issue that affects people’s psychology, and it’s very much rooted in a spiritual problem."
Last week it was learned that Target partnered with a known Satanist to create Pride apparel for its stores.
Angry Target customers have responded. The retail giant was losing a billion a day for a week and a half and as of Wednesday saw its stock value plunge $12.7 billion, its lowest level in three years.
Only 'small portion' references Satan
A Newsweek report recently soft-played Target’s relationship with British designer Erik Carnell (pictured below), who announced on Instagram in early May that his company, Abprallen, had designed a handful of items for Target’s 2023 Pride campaign.
“A small portion of his collection features a reference to Satan (like a pin that states, "Satan respects pronouns"), which he says was meant to be tongue-in-cheek, according to the Daily Dot. But none of these items were sold as a part of Target's Pride Month collection,” Newsweek wrote.
Bauwens said Target and other retailers are “shoving this ideology down our throats,” and people are responding.
“We need to think about that when it comes to our spending. We need to look at if we’re spending our money … if we’re going to movies and doing things with our money that supports people who are enforcing this kind of ideology,” she said.
Bauwens says voting with dollars is important but so are the pro-youth and pro-children laws being passed and considered in state legislatures like Ohio. But she wants to see more: the church needs to play a larger role in treatment of young people experiencing gender dysphoria.
“Right now we have a system that’s reinforcing bad practices. We can't just say, ‘OK, let's give them another mental health solution,' because in a lot of states we already have these counseling bans in play," she said. "We really have to get creative to help people and get them the right treatment. We need the Church to rise up and to really start thinking about how we can help people who are suffering emotionally."
