A California group positioned to shape the future of Artificial Intelligence regulation for children believes drag queens are positive role models for 4-year-olds.
Common Sense Media, a California nonprofit with a stated <a href="https://www.commonsense.org/">mission</a> to protect kids online, gave a children&#8217;s show featuring two male drag queens a <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/the-fabulous-show-with-fay-fluffy">perfect</a> child safety score and recommended it for kids ages 4 and up. &#8220;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGyr45BKn_o&amp;list=PL2F3nYtGth8cylKCts9if0EkyoZF1FRiI">The Fabulous Show With Fay &amp; Fluffy</a>&#8221; received a 5/5 star rating and was praised for offering positive role models, having educational value, and showcasing diversity.
Bluey, the popular family-friendly cartoon, was outshined by the drag queens and only received a 4/5 star rating.
Common Sense Media provides safety reviews of movies, books, and video games through a vast database that includes many positive reviews for LGBTQ+ content aimed at young children. The nonprofit has an entire <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/celebrate-lgbtq-pride">webpage</a> devoted to &#8220;LGBTQ+ Stories for the Whole Family.&#8221;
&#8220;From affirming, relatable stories about queer kids and teens, to history-making moments and figures on screen, LGBTQ+ representation in media is increasing. Now, kids have more choices that reflect their world and lived experiences, whether they&#8217;re queer, straight, trans, cisgender, or figuring it all out,&#8221; states its website.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-1071609" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.51.41-PM-736x576.png" alt="" width="736" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.51.41-PM-736x576.png 736w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.51.41-PM-300x235.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.51.41-PM-768x601.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.51.41-PM-1536x1202.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.51.41-PM.png 1766w" sizes=" (max-width: 736px) 100vw, 736px" /></div>
Recent reports say it&#8217;s attempting to extract millions of dollars from AI companies to help them self-regulate in the litigious environment. It&#8217;s simultaneously supporting legislation in California that would require AI chatbot products to submit to regulation from groups like Common Sense Media.
The nonprofit, which claims it&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/what-we-stand-for/tech-accountability">holding tech companies accountable</a>,&#8221; is asking for millions of dollars to launch a new institute focused on providing safety assessments for AI products, according to reporting from <a href="https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2026/04/key-nonprofit-pitches-tech-giants-to-pay-100m-each-for-ai-safety-effort-00853205?site=pro&amp;prod=alert&amp;prodname=alertmail&amp;linktype=headline&amp;source=email">Politico</a>. Common Sense Media offered the tech companies the opportunity to provide input on the safety assessments if they provided a donation, Politico reported.
Its current ratings, however, indicate it&#8217;s in no position to assess what is appropriate for children.
The group recommends transgender content for 4-year-olds, including &#8220;I Am Jazz,&#8221; which it <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/i-am-jazz">calls</a> a &#8220;Sweet, straightforward story about a transgender girl.&#8221; It also <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/jacobs-new-dress#modal">recommends</a> &#8220;Jacob&#8217;s New Dress,&#8221; a story about a young boy who likes to crossdress and was written by parents of a &#8220;gender-nonconforming child,&#8221; and “Sparkle Boy,” the <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/sparkle-boy">story</a> of a 3-year-old boy who “loves all the glittery stuff his older sister loves” and “causes a stir” when he crossdresses.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-1071613" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.58.10-PM-844x576.png" alt="" width="844" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.58.10-PM-844x576.png 844w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.58.10-PM-300x205.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.58.10-PM-768x524.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.58.10-PM-1536x1048.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.58.10-PM.png 1864w" sizes=" (max-width: 844px) 100vw, 844px" /></div>
Common Sense Media also <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/marleys-pride">recommends</a> &#8220;Marley&#8217;s Pride,&#8221; the &#8220;joyful&#8221; story of “Marley and their grandparent&#8221; who identify as nonbinary and attend their first pride celebration together.
“RuPaul&#8217;s Drag Show” is <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/rupauls-drag-race">recommended</a> for teenagers 15 and older and called a program that promotes &#8220;self-love and compassion for heavily marginalized communities.&#8221; The review tells parents to expect &#8220;lots of sexual innuendo, including references to various sex acts and partial nudity, mostly bare torsos&#8221; and warns it includes strong language and sexual terms such as &#8220;f&#8211;k,&#8221; &#8220;s&#8211;t,&#8221; &#8220;doggy style,&#8221; but notes these words are mostly used &#8220;for tongue-in-cheek humor and camp.&#8221;
The nonprofit also has an education wing and has partnered with schools to provide training about media and online safety to more than <a href="https://www.commonsense.org/">1.4 million</a> educators, according to its website. Common Sense Media has also worked with the <a href="https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/et/dc/index.asp">California Department of Education</a> and the <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/press-releases/common-sense-educations-digital-literacy-curriculum-selected-as-connecticuts-statewide-model-for-k-12#:~:text=%22Connecticut%20has%20taken%20an%20important,new%20technological%20developments%20and%20challenges">Connecticut State Department of Education</a>, who announced in February 2025 that they were implementing the nonprofit&#8217;s K–12 Digital Citizenship <a href="https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship">Curriculum</a> statewide.
Common Sense Media provides <a href="https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/supporting-lgbtq-students-in-the-classroom-and-online">ways</a> teachers can create LGBTQ+ inclusive classrooms, telling them, &#8220;Your courage is critical. Know that you may be the only adult in a kid&#8217;s life who shows acceptance &#8212; their only oasis,&#8221; according to its website. Teachers are recommended to funnel gender confused students to transgender activist groups like the Trevor Project and PFLAG.
Common Sense Media now has its eyes on shaping the safety standards of artificial intelligence products for kids. Common Sense Media is <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/featured-content/files/common-sense-media-2026-ca-legislative-priorities.pdf">supporting</a> two <a href="https://sd18.senate.ca.gov/news/assemblymembers-bauer-kahan-and-wicks-and-senator-padilla-introduce-legislation-protect">California</a> bills aiming to regulate AI chatbot products for minors.
&#8220;Because of the potential risks of AI to children and teens, California must take the lead in establishing a process for vetting the impact of AI products and services on kids,&#8221; states a Common Sense Media <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/featured-content/files/common-sense-media-2026-ca-legislative-priorities.pdf">document</a>.
California Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan introduced <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2023">AB 2023</a> in <a href="https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billHistoryClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1119">February 2026</a> saying the bill will establish &#8220;nation-leading safety standards for AI companions used by children and teens,&#8221; in a <a href="https://bauer-kahan.asmdc.org/press-releases/20260326-assemblymembers-bauer-kahan-and-wicks-and-senator-padilla-introduce">press release</a>.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-1071611" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.52.27-PM-801x576.png" alt="" width="801" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.52.27-PM-801x576.png 801w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.52.27-PM-300x216.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.52.27-PM-768x552.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.52.27-PM-1536x1104.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-02-at-4.52.27-PM.png 1764w" sizes=" (max-width: 801px) 100vw, 801px" /></div>
Chatbot operators will be required to undergo an annual safety assessment of any &#8220;child safety risks&#8221; posed by the AI chatbot if the bill becomes law.
&#8220;This bill would require an operator of a companion chatbot to&#8230;annually perform and document a comprehensive risk assessment to identify any child safety risk posed by the design, configuration, and operation of the companion chatbot that assesses, among other things, the likelihood of a covered harm,&#8221; states the bill.
One of the &#8220;covered harms&#8221; included in the bill is &#8220;gender identity&#8221; discrimination. California considers <a href="https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2022/11/The-Rights-of-Employees-who-are-Transgender-or-Gender-Nonconforming-Fact-Sheet_ENG.pdf">declining</a> to use a person&#8217;s preferred pronouns or not allowing a man to use the women&#8217;s bathroom forms of &#8220;gender identity&#8221; discrimination.
Under AB 2023 if an AI chatbot product is found to be unsafe by the safety assessment, the operator must make changes to the product and then undergo an independent compliance audit that, upon completion, will be submitted to the California Attorney General.
Common Sense Media is positioning itself to be the go-to for AI chatbot safety assessments and stands to play a powerful role in shaping how information is defined and disseminated, if California&#8217;s chatbot bills pass.
&#8220;Three of the people familiar said Common Sense will be positioned to become a default safety auditor in California for AI products aimed at kids,&#8221; Politico reported.
Public figures known for their transgender activism spoke at the March 2026 Common Sense <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/common-sense-summit-speakers-2026">Summit</a> on Kids And Families including <a class="gmail-team-profile-title gmail-link gmail-link--title" href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/common-sense-summit-speakers-2026#">Randi Weingarten</a>, President of The American Federation of Teachers, JB Pritzker, Governor of Illinois, and Rob Bonta, Attorney General at the California Department of Justice. Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and Rebecca Bauer-Kahan also spoke at the summit.
Common Sense Media did not respond to The Daily Wire&#8217;s requests for comment.

Drag3

It Says Drag Queens Are Safer For Kids Than Bluey. Now It Wants To Regulate AI For Children.

Artificial Intelligence

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Children's Books

Entertainment

Transgender

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
In a hundred years&#8217; time, people will still remember the name J. K. Rowling — and not only for writing one of the most beloved and best-selling fantasy book series of all time. She will be remembered for the role she played in saving civilization from the harms of gender ideology.
Rowling is an internationally beloved icon, known for bringing joy to millions through the Harry Potter book series. Harry Potter was, and still is, a cultural behemoth that has been retold through movies, video games, and theme parks, and is now being turned into an HBO<a href="https://people.com/harry-potter-series-cast-side-by-side-original-movie-actors-11934425"> television series</a>.
But in 2020, almost overnight, Rowling went from being the queen of popular culture to becoming an internationally hated villain. Her crime? Defending women&#8217;s rights and publicly acknowledging you can&#8217;t change your sex.
In late 2019, Rowling was already receiving backlash for hinting she disagreed with the transgender agenda in social media posts. However, she fully outed herself as &#8220;transphobic&#8221; in June 2020 by publishing a powerful and highly controversial <a href="https://www.jkrowling.com/opinions/j-k-rowling-writes-about-her-reasons-for-speaking-out-on-sex-and-gender-issues/">essay</a> that defended women&#8217;s rights and biological reality.
Rowling explained in the essay how &#8220;trans activism&#8221; was threatening the rights of women across the globe and expressed concerns over women losing their fertility from medical transitions and the dangers of allowing men into female private spaces.
&#8220;It’s been clear to me for a while that the new trans activism is having (or is likely to have, if all its demands are met) a significant impact on many of the causes I support, because it’s pushing to erode the legal definition of sex and replace it with gender,&#8221; Rowling wrote.
&#8220;I do not want to make natal girls and women less safe. When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he’s a woman — and, as I’ve said, gender confirmation certificates may now be granted without any need for surgery or hormones — then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside. That is the simple truth.&#8221;
It&#8217;s incredible to read this essay today and see how ahead of the curve Rowling was in understanding the many ways gender ideology harms women and society. 
As one of the earliest and boldest celebrity figures to speak clearly on these issues, Rowling earned brutal backlash from nearly every corner of the internet, from fans removing their Harry Potter tattoos because they now represented &#8220;<a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/fans-tell-us-why-they-want-to-cover-up-their-harry-potter-tattoos/#:~:text=Some%20people%20have%20covered%20up%20their%20Harry,assume%20she%20has%20similar%20views%20to%20Rowling.">transphobia</a>&#8221; to harsh<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/may/01/daniel-radcliffe-says-rupture-with-jk-rowling-over-trans-rights-is-really-sad"> criticism</a> from Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who played Harry Potter in the movies.
Rowling has been called derogatory names and had her physical safety<a href="https://www.ncregister.com/blog/jk-rowling-opens-up-about-threats"> threatened</a> thousands of times over her opposition of gender ideology. And almost six years after publishing her initial essay, she&#8217;s still being criticized for supporting biological reality and women&#8217;s rights.
Just last week, Andrew Garfield, a B-list actor best known for being Emma Stone&#8217;s<a href="https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a65796803/emma-stone-andrew-garfield-spider-man-experience/"> ex-boyfriend</a>, went viral for taking a dig at Rowling in an interview. Garfield called watching the Harry Potter movies &#8220;<a href="https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/films/news/andrew-garfield-harry-potter-daniel-radcliffe-jk-rowling-b2948074.html">controversial</a>&#8221; and said, &#8220;We shouldn’t be, you know, putting money in the pocket of inhumane legislation right now through she that shall remain nameless.&#8221;
Rowling has a <a href="https://jkrwf.org/">fund</a> that supports individuals and organizations &#8220;fighting to retain women’s and girls’ sex-based rights in all aspects of life.&#8221; Rowlings financially <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/16/critics-of-trans-rights-win-uk-supreme-court-case-over-definition-of-woman">supported</a> a group that won a U.K. Supreme Court case in 2025 that clarified the definition of &#8220;woman&#8221; should be based on biological sex in the U.K.&#8217;s Equality Act 2010.
In response to that win, Rowling tweeted a photo of herself, holding a drink and smoking a cigar, with the simple caption, &#8220;I love it when a plan comes together.&#8221;
Tuesday is Transgender Day of Visibility, a fake holiday<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/the-history-behind-international-transgender-day-of-visibility"> created by a man</a> pretending to be a woman, and I think it&#8217;s a perfect day to celebrate J.K. Rowling. Rowling is a real woman who has held the line on biological reality for us all. She has given the issue of gender ideology visibility in a way that only a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattcraig/2025/05/30/jk-rowling-is-a-billionaire-again/">billionaire</a> cultural icon could.
She&#8217;s chosen to make herself visible, putting a target on her back, and has taken many arrows from angry transgender activists who have threatened her safety and tried to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-64729304">destroy her legacy</a>. In spite of it all, she&#8217;s carried on with a smile and a sharp sense of humor and has helped other women fighting similar battles.
One of her first acts of defiance against gender ideology happened in 2019 when Rowling defended <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jul/01/maya-forstater-woman-who-lost-job-after-tweeting-view-on-biological-sex-awarded-100000-by-tribunal">Maya Forstater</a>, a British researcher who lost her job for tweeting that a man cannot change his biological sex. She continues to face headwinds for women fighting for biological rights on the ground through the<a href="https://jkrwf.org/"> J.K. Rowling Women&#8217;s Fund</a>.
Rowling could have just chosen to stay quiet and enjoy life in her private Scottish castle. Instead, she chose to fight for and support those who don&#8217;t have the means or voice to fight alone. Those who give up their own comfort for the betterment of others are the kinds of historical figures that save civilizations. History will remember J. K. Rowling for doing her part.

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She Spoke Out On Gender Ideology And Became A Global Target

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America&#8217;s most influential psychological association told The Daily Wire it still recommends children receive so-called gender affirming medical interventions, despite downplaying its support of child transgenderism in a letter to government <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/about-ftc/commissioners-staff/commissioners" target="_blank" rel="noopener">officials</a><a href="https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/chairman-ferguson-gender-affirming-care-workshop-speech.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> investigating</a> fraud in pediatric gender medicine.
The American Psychological Association (APA) confirmed in a written statement that it continues to &#8220;support treatments for minors seeking gender affirming care&#8221; in alignment with its 2024 <a href="https://www.apa.org/about/policy/transgender-nonbinary-inclusive-care.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">policy statement,</a> which endorses minors receiving harmful gender medical interventions, condemns state laws banning child sex-changes, and says &#8220;non-affirmation&#8221; of a child&#8217;s transgender identity can cause &#8220;significant harm.&#8221;
In a September 2025 <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/American-Psychological-Assocation-Response-to-FTC-RFI_Gender-Affirming-Care-9-26-2025_Signature.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to the Federal Trade Commission — which is actively investigating <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2025/06/ftc-announces-workshop-exploring-unfair-or-deceptive-trade-practices-gender-affirming-care-minors#:~:text=Home-,FTC%20Announces%20Workshop%20on%20Exploring%20Unfair%20or%20Deceptive%20Trade%20Practices,whistleblowers%2C%20detransitioners%2C%20and%20parents.&amp;text=Tags:,Health%20Care" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unfair and deceptive</a> practices within the field of pediatric &#8220;gender affirming care&#8221; — the APA downplayed its support of &#8220;gender affirming care,&#8221; stating the primary role of a therapist treating children with gender dysphoria is assessment, not affirmation.
&#8220;It is important to stress that during the assessment and evaluation process, a diagnosis of gender dysphoria or the identification of a youth as gender-questioning is not an automatic or singular pathway to medical intervention or even social transitioning,&#8221; the letter reads.
This statement contradicts the idea that &#8220;non-affirmation&#8221; poses a direct harm to children, as included in the 2024 policy.
Kurt Miceli, the chief medical officer at Do No Harm, says the APA wants to &#8220;have it both ways.&#8221;
&#8220;The American Psychological Association continues its attempt at having it both ways,&#8221; Miceli told The Daily Wire. &#8220;In its 2024 Policy Statement, the APA explicitly endorses &#8216;medical gender‑affirming care,&#8217; even urging insurers to cover these interventions for minors.&#8221;
The APA told The Daily Wire the &#8220;2024 policy statement and the FTC letter are consistent&#8221; and that &#8220;both documents reflect APA&#8217;s consistent commitment to evidence-based psychological care.&#8221;
The APA is the latest medical group to try to shed its reputation for radical transgender ideology. When President Donald Trump returned to office, his administration purged gender ideology from the government and launched investigations into practices within pediatric gender medicine. Since then, gender clinics <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hospitals-across-u-s-stop-transitioning-children-after-trump-signs-order-protecting-kids">across the country</a> have closed their doors, while the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/this-fight-is-not-over-major-medical-org-rejects-transgender-surgeries-for-kids">American Society of Plastic Surgery</a> has backed away from supporting sex-rejecting procedures for minors.
&#8220;The APA’s 2024 and 2025 statements cannot be reconciled,&#8221; Miceli told The Daily Wire. &#8220;It is an audacious contradiction for the APA to try to claim that their definition of ‘affirming care’ means anything other than sex-rejecting interventions.&#8221;
The Daily Wire asked the APA how it simultaneously viewed the &#8220;non-affirmation&#8221; of a child&#8217;s gender identity as causing &#8220;significant harm&#8221; while recommending a psychologist&#8217;s role is to assess, rather than affirm, a child&#8217;s gender confusion. The Daily Wire also asked for clarity on what clinical standards the APA recommends to help therapists determine when non-affirmation of gender identity is harmful versus when it&#8217;s an appropriate part of a clinical assessment.
The APA did not provide a straightforward answer to these questions, but said, &#8220;In APA’s professional framework, affirming care does not mean a predetermined outcome, automatic validation of any particular intervention, or bypassing clinical judgment.&#8221;
The Daily Wire asked the APA if a therapist should withhold using a child&#8217;s preferred pronouns — a form of &#8220;social transition&#8221; — until the child undergoes an extensive assessment.
&#8220;Affirmation and assessment work together,&#8221; the APA told The Daily Wire. &#8220;Supporting a child does not mean steering them toward any particular outcome, and neither a diagnosis nor a youth’s questions about gender automatically lead to social or medical transition.&#8221;
The APA also said it &#8220;cautions that equating gender‑affirming care solely with medical transition can stigmatize and limit access to essential mental health services.&#8221;
With more than<a href="https://www.apa.org/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> 190,000 members</a> nationwide, the APA has a far-reaching impact on the psychological field and the practice of therapy throughout the United States. The APA has received more than 20 million dollars in federal funding since 2020, according to a government transparency <a href="https://taggs.hhs.gov/Detail/RecipDetail?arg_EntityId=EiNnLpTBhhCS2ZCRaSuz3Q%3D%3D">website</a>.

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Your Therapist Is Being Told To ‘Affirm’ Child Transgenderism

American Psychological Association

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COLUMBUS, OHIO—I just finished testifying for a bill that would make it illegal for the state government to rip children away from loving parents who refuse to &#8220;affirm&#8221; that child&#8217;s so-called &#8220;transgender identity.&#8221;
It&#8217;s not every day an investigative journalist weighs in on legislation like this. But this is different.
More than two years ago, I began investigating how transgender activists were working to weaponize child welfare systems against loving parents.
I was horrified by what I found.
The <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2024/10/23/exclusive-child-services-dept-working-with-biden-harris-admin-tracked-trans-kids-on-secret-database/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cuyahoga County</a> Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) was chosen as one of four agencies nationwide to develop gender ideology-based child welfare interventions that suggest parents and caregivers who do not affirm a child’s sexual orientation or gender confusion are unsafe.
As part of its &#8220;Safe Identification&#8221; program, Cuyahoga County DCFS created a database that tracked the sexual orientation, transgender identity, and pronouns of children who interacted with the child welfare system. The database noted if parents were &#8220;accepting&#8221; or &#8220;rejecting&#8221; of their child&#8217;s gender identity. Parents who were &#8220;rejecting&#8221; could be referred to re-education programs where parents learned to &#8220;accept&#8221; their child&#8217;s transgender identity as a last resort before CPS stepped in and removed the child.
Some transgender activists believe refusing to affirm a child’s gender confusion is a form of<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-harris-hhs-consulted-activist-who-said-parents-should-be-prosecuted-for-transphobia" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> child abuse</a> and have even suggested families should be prosecuted as abusers for refusing to call their gender confused child the opposite sex.
Public records revealed that behind the scenes, members of the Cuyahoga County DCFS team were communicating with the Biden administration on how interventions like Safe Identification could be implemented at the federal level.
This would be insane regardless of where it was happening. But the fact that it&#8217;s been going on in a red state like Ohio is truly shocking.
As part of my reporting, I reached out to Ohio State Representative Gary Click and asked him to comment on what was happening in Cuyahoga County. He promised the Ohio legislature would not be idle while local government attempted to usurp the role of the family and harm children.
Click has kept that promise by co-sponsoring the<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ohio-may-protect-parents-who-wont-affirm-their-childs-gender-identity" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Affirming Families First Act</a>, the bill I testified in favor of today. It states that parents have a right to use their child’s given name and correct pronouns, and prohibits state agencies from using state funds for training, education, or programming that characterizes affirming a child’s sex as abuse or neglect.
I’m proud to have played a part in this bill’s inspiration. As a mother, I know if we can’t protect our children from lies and raise them according to reality, without fear of retribution from the state, we no longer live in a free nation.
When the state strips custody from loving parents who simply don&#8217;t want to affirm their confused child&#8217;s gender delusions, it violates all the rights Americans hold dear: the freedoms of speech and religion first and foremost, as well as parental rights and medical freedom. All these protections are swiftly swept away as families are ripped apart and vulnerable youth are placed in the hands of transgender activists who encourage them to destroy their bodies.
I&#8217;ve spoken with parents who’ve experienced this nightmare, and I wouldn&#8217;t wish their pain on my worst enemy. I want to see vulnerable children and families in our nation protected from this insanity, which is why I&#8217;ve traveled to Ohio to testify in favor of a bill that will protect parents who do not “affirm” their transgender-identifying children.
I wasn&#8217;t always a journalist. I&#8217;m a nurse by training, but switched careers when I realized the extent to which radical transgender ideology was endangering children. I&#8217;ve since spent hundreds of hours exposing the horrors of transgenderism because I understand stopping gender ideology is the most important issue of our time. If we can’t define the basic reality of the sexes, we can’t define anything.
President Donald Trump has kept his campaign promises to purge gender ideology from the federal government, but without legislation, these policies can be reversed as quickly as they were implemented.
Some parental rights advocates I&#8217;ve spoken with are concerned we are one election away from a full return to the transgender insanity we were living through just 15 months ago.
The transgender activists have lost some major battles under President Trump. But the war for sanity is raging on. We can&#8217;t let up on fighting gender ideology until it&#8217;s been returned to the pit of hell it came from.

‘1 Million March for Children’ protest in Toronto

Why I Testified For A Bill That Would Stop The State From Taking Gender-Confused Kids From Parents

Children's Health

Healthcare

Ohio

Less than a month before the 2024 presidential election, President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration brought together transgender activists, government officials, and major progressive philanthropists in what organizers dubbed a &#8220;speed dating&#8221; event.
The event, called “Our Family Values: Building the Evidence Base for Child Well-Being,” took place just three weeks before Americans would vote to send Donald Trump back to the White House following a campaign that revolved largely around radical gender ideology. But even as the election seemed to break against them, the Biden White House was working to match leaders of “family acceptance” child welfare programs with major funders of the LGBTQ movement, records show.
Biden officials viewed “family acceptance” of so-called gender identity as an <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20221204062339/https://mchb.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/mchb/programs-impact/edc-parental-acceptance.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">important</a> step in “preventing” LGBTQI+ children from entering foster care and wanted to further the impact of radical child welfare programs. The goal of the speed dating event was to expand child welfare programs that re-educate non-affirming parents to accept their child&#8217;s “LGBTQI+” identity, <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">records</a> <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-7.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">show</a>.
“We know that family support around LGBTQI+ identity, as early as possible, is a key protective factor against … entry into the child welfare and juvenile justice systems for LGBTQI+ youth,” Julie Kruse, a contracted senior advisor for the LGBTQI+ Initiatives, wrote in an <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Screenshot-.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">email</a> describing the event. “These programs are critical to preventing LGBTQI+ youth homelessness and entry into foster care.”
Angela Weeks, director of the <a href="https://sogiecenter.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity &amp; Expression Center,</a> was instrumental in setting up the event. On October 13, she sent an email to participants explaining how the &#8220;Partnership Speed Matching” would work.
“You will rotate between tables of philanthropic organizations and ACF leadership. They will be instructed to ask you and question they have of you during the 8-min discussion. When each rotation only has two minutes left, Marlene will give the 2-minute warning, which is the cue for you all to start discussing next steps/collaboration,” Weeks wrote in the <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/speed-date5.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">email</a>. “Try not to leave the table without a next step and a contact person. It will be the purveyor’s responsibility to follow-up.”
At least 14 donors were invited to participate in the speed dating event, along with government officials who came from the Administration for Children and Families, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, records show.
After the event, Kruse sent several follow-up <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/speed-date-6.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">emails</a> <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/speed-date-7.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">indicating</a> the meeting was successful and that donors were interested in funding the family acceptance programs.
“Our great hope is that you made connections and identified resources at this event that will help you take actions to increase the availability of LGBTQI+ family support services, so that children can stay safely in their homes with families of origin and kin, preventing LGBTQI+ youth homelessness and entry into foster care,” wrote Kruse.
Some transgender activists believe refusing to affirm a child’s gender confusion is a form of child abuse. During a webinar hosted by the Department of Health and Human Services in the fall of 2023, one activist called “transphobia” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-harris-hhs-consulted-activist-who-said-parents-should-be-prosecuted-for-transphobia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">child abuse</a> and suggested families should be prosecuted as abusers for refusing to call their gender confused child the opposite sex.
“Biden promised to enforce LGBTQ ideology throughout government systems in his 2020 campaign platform, and no administration has done more damage to child welfare systems,” Laura Hanford, senior policy analyst at the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Human Flourishing, told The Daily Wire. “He funneled millions of dollars to toxic ideological training programs promoting the lie that raising a gender-confused child as his or her sex is abusive, and forcing parents to ‘transition’ their gender-confused children or lose them to the state.”
The organizers of the invitation-only October 16 event hoped to elevate “family acceptance programs” to the scientific standards of the <a href="https://preventionservices.acf.hhs.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Prevention Services Clearinghouse</a>, a federal database of social services programming used by child welfare agencies across the country.
“October 16 will focus on building the evidence base (e.g., research, analysis, evaluation) for family support programs that would make them eligible for the Family First Prevention Services, a significant source of federal funds for prevention programs that meet a certain evidence threshold,” Kruse wrote.
The <a href="https://acf.gov/cb/title-iv-e-prevention-program" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Family First Prevention Services Act,</a> which became law in February 2018, diverted federal funds from supporting children in foster care to programs aimed at <a href="https://www.myflfamilies.com/kids/news/family-first-prevention-services-act-ffpsa#:~:text=The%20Family%20First%20Prevention%20Services%20Act%20(FFPSA),are%20imminent%20risk%20of%20entering%20foster%20care" target="_blank" rel="noopener">preventing children</a> from entering state systems. The <a href="https://acf.gov/opre/project/title-iv-e-prevention-services-clearinghouse-2018-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Prevention Services Clearinghouse</a> was established in accordance with the law to provide a systematic process to <a href="https://acf.gov/opre/project/title-iv-e-prevention-services-clearinghouse-2018-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rate and review</a> the quality of evidence supporting prevention programs. The database lists available programming with a rating of  “well-supported, supported, promising, or does not currently meet criteria,” according to its <a href="https://preventionservices.acf.hhs.gov/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a>. States can receive <a href="https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF10590" target="_blank" rel="noopener">federal reimbursement </a>for using programs approved by the Prevention Services Clearinghouse.
“The idea was that [the Clearinghouse] was going to give states a list of evidence-based programs that they could choose from and that they would be eligible to receive federal reimbursement if they used those programs,” Naomi Schaefer Riley, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told The Daily Wire. “If they passed, if they got the Clearinghouse stamp of approval, then states could kind of pick these programs off of a kind of shelf and say, ‘We&#8217;re going to use this one and we&#8217;ll get federal reimbursement for it.’&#8221;
The &#8220;speed dating&#8221; event was co-sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families, the Department of Health and Human Services, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Child Welfare League of America, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, the National Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity &amp; Expression Center, the Trevor Project, and Think of Us, records show.
Kruse personally invited Funders for LGBTQ Issues, a philanthropic organization that envisions a “world where all queer, trans, and gender non-conforming people are liberated, loved, valued, respected, and thriving,” to attend the meeting. The group gives approximately $200 million annually to LGBTQ issues, according to its <a href="https://lgbtfunders.org/about/about-mission/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a>.
A representative from the organization wrote it was unable to attend the October 2024 meeting but hoped they could “remain in touch to identify future ways we can partner together to advance our shared goals,” emails show. In response, Kruse set up a personal meeting between the Funders for LGBTQ Issues, the Administration for Children and Families, and Weeks.
The Funders for LGBTQ Issues did not respond to The Daily Wire&#8217;s requests for comment.
The National SOGIE Center is home to a group of activists working to transform social services nationwide through gender affirming programs, many of which are available on its <a href="https://sogiecenter.org/programs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a>. Members of the group <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2024/10/14/activists-behind-biden-harris-foster-care-regulation-want-to-strip-custody-from-non-affirming-parents/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">worked hand in hand</a> with the Biden administration to inform its September 2023 <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/09/28/2023-21274/safe-and-appropriate-foster-care-placement-requirements-for-titles-iv-e-and-iv-b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">regulation</a> requiring foster care families to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/states-press-hhs-over-illegal-rule-that-could-force-foster-care-providers-to-facilitate-trans-procedures" target="_blank" rel="noopener">affirm</a> a child’s gender confusion.
Weeks had a working relationship with Kruse that was critical in organizing the “Our Family Values” event, records reveal.
In July 2024, Kruse <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/speed-date-8.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">emailed</a> Weeks and officials from the Administration for Children and Families, HHS, and NIH, to lay the groundwork for the event. The pair stayed in regular communication through November 2024, records show.
The “Our Family Values” event was focused on three programs: Chosen Affirming Finding Family, Youth Acceptance Project, and AFFIRM Caregiver programs, which are all affiliated with the National Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity &amp; Expression Center.
The Chosen Affirming Finding Family <a href="https://www.kinnect.org/what-we-do/safe-affirmed-youth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">program</a> helps “LGBTQ+ young people” identify “chosen family” who can provide them support and “works with those people to help them understand the young person’s LGBTQ+ identity and the best ways to affirm and support them with their identity and transition into adulthood,” according to a SOGIE Center <a href="https://sogiecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/CAFF-1-pager-PDF.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">document</a>.
The <a href="https://familybuilders.org/programs-services/youth-acceptance-project/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Youth Acceptance Project</a> is a program that re-educates parents of children who are “at risk” of entering the child welfare system due to “family stress” surrounding the child’s gender identity.
“The YAP social workers/clinicians provide a trauma-informed, psycho-educational model while partnering with parents/caregivers; supporting them to process misinformation, resistance, fear, and grief that families often struggle with when they learn that their child is LGBTQ+,” a National Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity &amp; Expression Center <a href="https://sogiecenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/YAP-1-pager-PDF.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">document</a> reads. “The Youth Acceptance Project is designed to work both with families of children already in, or at risk of entering, the child welfare system due to family stress resulting from their child’s sexual orientation, gender identity or expression.”
Finally, the Affirm Caregiver <a href="https://www.affirmativeresearch.net/register/p/affirm-caregiver-june-2026" target="_blank" rel="noopener">program</a> is an educational intervention that enhances “affirmative parenting practices that promote the safety and wellbeing of LGBTQ+ youth,” according to a National Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity &amp; Expression Center <a href="https://sogiecenter.org/programs/affirm-caregiver/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">document</a>.
Parents across the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/murdered-by-gender-ideology-mother-whose-daughter-committed-suicide-blasts-child-protective-services" target="_blank" rel="noopener">country</a> have had their children taken away by child <a href="https://becketfund.org/case/m-c-and-j-c-v-indiana-department-of-child-services/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">welfare</a> <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2024/10/17/exclusive-gender-confused-kids-taken-non-affirming-parents-one-family-fight-son-back/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">services</a> for affirming their child’s sex.
President Trump called for federal action to protect the rights of parents to affirm the true sex of a gender confused child in his recent State of the Union address.
“Surely we can all agree no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents’ arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents’ will,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;Who would believe that we’re even talking about it? We must ban it, and we must ban it immediately.&#8221;
The Trump administration is taking action to stop the spread of child welfare family acceptance programs.
The Clearinghouse <a href="https://preventionservices.acf.hhs.gov/programs-planned-review" target="_blank" rel="noopener">website</a> notes that the <a href="https://sogiecenter.org/programs/affirm-youth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AFFIRM Youth</a>, a sister program of <a href="https://sogiecenter.org/programs/affirm-caregiver/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AFFIRM Caregiver</a>, was “removed from the working list of programs and services planned for systematic review,” in accordance with Executive Order 14151.
The Administration for Children and Families at HHS has also alerted all 50 states that affirming “biological reality” does not constitute child abuse or neglect under federal laws. It has also encouraged states to clearly define the terms “abuse” and “neglect,” saying these definitions should clarify that affirming a child’s sex and “refusing to condone sex-rejecting interventions” does not constitute abuse.
The Trump administration has since &#8220;rescinded a Biden-era rule that required prospective foster families to affirm support for a child’s gender transition or sexual orientation in order to receive federal funding,&#8221; Health and Human Services Press Secretary Emily G. Hilliard told The Daily Wire.
&#8220;This requirement discouraged many faith-based families from participating in foster care at a time when the nation is experiencing a record year-over-year decline in foster families. By removing this barrier, ACF is expanding the pool of qualified caregivers and reinforcing its commitment to biological reality, parental rights, and equal access to the foster care system.&#8221;
“The child welfare actions of the Trump and Biden administrations are diametrically opposed,&#8221; Hanford told The Daily Wire. &#8220;Biden&#8217;s programs embedded toxic gender ideology in child welfare systems, leading to gender-confused children being ripped from parents who simply affirmed the reality of their sex. Trump, in contrast, is taking major steps to protect such families from being ripped apart.&#8221;
The Daily Wire reached out to the organizations named in public records as possible attendees of the October 16, 2024, event.
A spokeswoman for Arnold Ventures confirmed it does not fund the family acceptance programs seeking funding at the October 16, 2024, event.
The Annie E. Casey Foundation told The Daily Wire, “Due to our longstanding expertise in child welfare, over the years the Foundation has frequently been invited by the administrations of both parties to events on topics related to foster care and family well-being. As part of that ongoing engagement, a Foundation representative attended the signing of President Trump’s ‘Fostering the Future’ executive order in November 2025.”
A representative from Blue Meridian Partners told The Daily Wire the invited representative did not attend the event and that it has not considered for funding or funded the organizations or programs discussed at the &#8220;Our Family Values&#8221; event.
The Daily Wire requested a comment from the Pritzker Foster Care Initiative, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Child Welfare League of America, the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, the National Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity &amp; Expression Center, the Trevor Project, Think of Us, Angela Weeks, Julie Kruse, Family Builders (YAP program), Kinnect (CAFF program) and Affirmative Research for comment but did not receive a response.

President Biden Hosts Pride Month Celebration Event

Biden Admin Hosted ‘Speed Dating’ Event For Trans Activists With One Rule

Biden Administration

Department of Health and Human Services

LGBTQ

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The Department of Justice (DOJ) is defending gender clinicians in a medical malpractice lawsuit filed by a female detransitioner who received harmful testosterone treatments while experiencing dissociative identity disorder.
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Layton Ulery had eight documented personalities and was &#8220;practically and legally disabled&#8221; when she was prescribed sex-rejecting testosterone by <a href="https://www.vistaclinicalresearchgroup.com/jason-rafferty">Dr. Jason Rafferty</a> at the <a href="https://www.thundermisthealth.org/about-us/mission-vision-values/">Thundermist Health Center</a> (HC) in Rhode Island, according to her November 2025 <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/1-1-Ex.-A-Second-Amended-Complaint.pdf">lawsuit</a>. Rafferty, the <a href="https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/news/12710/Pediatricians-are-key-in-supporting-transgender">lead author</a> of the American Academy of Pediatrics gender transition <a href="https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/142/4/e20182162/37381/Ensuring-Comprehensive-Care-and-Support-for?autologincheck=redirected">policy</a>, recognized Ulery&#8217;s deeply troubled mental state but still recommended she start testosterone, according to the lawsuit.
&#8220;To take me when I was in such a vulnerable state and essentially give me no hope whatsoever that it was ever possible for me to recover and to sentence me to a life of health issues and permanent physical damage &#8230; I just think it is so heinous,&#8221; Ulery told The Daily Wire. &#8220;I can&#8217;t believe that it was ever allowed to happen.&#8221;
Thundermist HC is part of the <a href="https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/federally-qualified-health-center-fqhc/">Federally Qualified Health Center</a> program that <a href="https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title42/chapter6A/subchapter2/partD&amp;edition=prelim">funds</a> nonprofit community health clinics providing essential healthcare services to vulnerable populations. The program is run by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
HRSA-funded <a href="https://bphc.hrsa.gov/about-health-center-program">health centers</a> and their employees are treated as <a href="https://www.usphs.gov/">public</a> health employees and receive medical malpractice liability coverage from the federal government, in accordance with the <a href="https://bphc.hrsa.gov/compliance/ftca">Federal Tort Claims Act</a> (FTCA). Under the FTCA, those harmed by federal employees can <a href="https://www.opm.gov/about-us/get-help/federal-tort-claims-act/#:~:text=The%20Federal%20Tort%20Claims%20Act%20(FTCA)%20sets,act%20proximately%20caused%20the%20injury%20or%20damage">seek compensation</a> from the federal government rather than the individual who committed the tort, according to <a href="https://bphc.hrsa.gov/compliance/ftca/what-ftca">HRSA</a>&#8216;s website.
&#8220;A covered entity or individual is immune and will not be financially liable for any claims arising from covered activities,&#8221; states the HRSA <a href="https://bphc.hrsa.gov/compliance/ftca/what-ftca">website</a>. &#8220;Covered activities are acts or omissions in the performance of medical, surgical, dental, or related functions resulting in personal injury, including death, and occurring within the scope of employment.&#8221;
Legal documents show DOJ attorneys are representing Thundermist HC and its affiliates in Ulery&#8217;s malpractice lawsuit in accordance with the FTCA.
Ulery&#8217;s lawsuit was initially filed in October 2023 and bounced between state and federal courts for nearly two years before her federal claims were dismissed in September 2025. Ulery amended her complaint in November 2025, and the case was transferred back to federal court. DOJ attorneys recently moved to <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/7-Def-MTD-2.20.26.pdf">dismiss</a> Ulery&#8217;s case with prejudice, while Ulery is asking that the parties be allowed to engage in mediation.
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Josh Payne, PLLC, Ulery&#8217;s lawyer, told The Daily Wire he believes the DOJ&#8217;s actions in this case do not reflect the Trump administration&#8217;s commitment to stopping gender ideology.
&#8220;The Trump Administration is not practicing what it preaches in this particular circumstance,&#8221; Payne told The Daily Wire.
&#8220;We&#8217;re calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi to get a grip on this case and instruct her staff to negotiate with us and try to resolve this case without further burdening the court,&#8221; Payne told The Daily Wire. &#8220;This is not what federal tax dollars should be spent on to defend. It’s bad enough tax dollars were used to fund the mistreatment Layton experienced at the federally-funded clinic. The administration should be protecting vulnerable people like Layton, not fighting them.”
The DOJ told The Daily Wire it is &#8220;fundamentally opposed&#8221; to gender ideology and stated that Ulery filed her claims outside the statute of limitations.
&#8220;The Department is fundamentally opposed to woke gender ideology and is using every legal and law enforcement tool available to protect youth from being mutilated under the guise of ‘care.’ Any suggestion otherwise is patently false,” a DOJ spokesperson told The Daily Wire. “As the Department has stated through filings and to counsel, the U.S. has moved to dismiss Ms. Ulery’s case because her claims are procedurally barred by the statute of limitations and failure to exhaust.&#8221;
Ulery&#8217;s legal team argued the statute of limitations should be extended because the tort occurred when she could not realize she&#8217;d been harmed due to her incapacitated mental state, court <a href="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/8-Response-to-US-MTD-Ulery-25-cv-00619.pdf">documents</a> show.
&#8220;Dr. Rafferty and others at Thundermist misled Layton into believing the testosterone would cure her mental health problems. She had no reason to think the testosterone could harm her. It was only when she heard stories of other detransitioners that she discovered testosterone can harm women like her,&#8221; Payne told The Daily Wire.
&#8220;All of the people that I was surrounded by were essentially people who were dissociated from reality, which was certainly not helpful in the circumstance that I was in,&#8221; Ulery told The Daily Wire. &#8220;No one even presented me with the idea that healing was possible.&#8221;
The lawsuit describes that Ulery escaped a cult from which she suffered 18 years of &#8220;physical, sexual, and psychological torment&#8221; and later sought the help of a therapist for her severe Dissociative Identity Disorder. Her therapist &#8220;began convincing Layton that she was a transgender man and in need of further medicalization&#8221; and referred her to <a href="https://www.thundermisthealth.org/about-us/mission-vision-values/">Thundermist HC</a> for sex-rejecting medical treatment, according to the lawsuit.
Thundermist HC removed a <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20250414024516/https://www.thundermisthealth.org/services/trans-health-access/">webpage</a> devoted to &#8220;Trans Health Access&#8221; that was saved in the Internet Archive on April 14, 2025. The Daily Wire asked the clinic if it still provides so-called gender affirming medical interventions, but it did not respond to requests for comment.
The Daily Wire asked HRSA to clarify if HRSA-funded clinics could provide so-called gender affirming care, but did not receive clarification. A HRSA representative told The Daily Wire it &#8220;does not comment on pending litigation and defers any questions regarding Federal Tort Claims Act litigation to the Department of Justice.&#8221;
Ulery has reclaimed her female identity and no longer experiences dissociation; however, she still suffers from irreversible effects of testosterone treatments, including body disfigurement, ongoing estrogen deficiencies, and chronic inflammation of her vocal cords.
&#8220;Every single day I wake up with a sore throat. Not only is it sore but my vocal cords are chronically inflamed, and I lose my voice very easily,&#8221; Ulery told The Daily Wire. &#8220;I am just asking for the consideration of the settlement for there to be some level of accountability because I think it was beyond unacceptable.&#8221;
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&#8220;Her case should be resolved. We should not even be having a discussion about this. The parties should be able to work this out and get it settled,&#8221; Payne told The Daily Wire.
The Daily Wire tried to reach Dr. Jason Rafferty through his employer, Brown Health, but did not receive a response.
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Mississippi is one of 16 states that has bannedtrans kids from getting hormones.

Trump DOJ Forced To Defend Gender Doctor Against Detransitioner Lawsuit

detransitioner

Gender Transition

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This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
Scrolling through social media can make you feel like the world has gone mad. But this month, that might be a good thing.
It’s officially the time of year when Americans come together to celebrate a very specific kind of madness: March Madness.
For the next three weeks, Republicans and Democrats will unite in their passion for the single-elimination, multi-week tournament competition between the top 68 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I men&#8217;s college basketball teams, euphemistically known as “March Madness” or “<a href="https://fansided.com/2018/03/11/why-march-madness-ncaa-tournament-called-big-dance/">The Big Dance</a>.”
College basketball fans across the nation will come together this month to root for the underdog team, yell at referees when they make bad calls, and be amazed by the beautiful game of basketball. 
Making it to “The Big Dance” is the fantasy of every kid who’s played basketball in high school, but it&#8217;s one that few achieve. Only 1% of male high school basketball athletes go on to play<a href="https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2015/3/2/estimated-probability-of-competing-in-college-athletics.aspx"> at the Division 1</a> level, and even fewer get the chance to play in the tournament. Stepping onto a March Madness court is a dream come true for college athletes, and teams play with a level of energy and heart rarely seen in professional sports.
Top-seeded teams have the advantage of playing lower-seeded teams in the early rounds, which should make their path toward the championship easier. But in basketball, when five players work hard and play as a unified team, they can defeat a team of more talented superstars resting on their laurels.
The tournament is known for thrilling upset victories and Cinderella stories. You can anticipate, with reasonable certainty, that at some point during the tournament a low-seeded David is going to defeat a top-seeded Goliath in an epic, all-heart, buzzer-beating win. It’s complete madness. And that’s why it’s so fun to watch.
While most of us have never stepped foot on a college basketball court, we’ve found a way to feel like a March Madness winner by participating in the beloved tradition of “filling out a bracket.” This is the vernacular to describe trying to predict the outcome of all<a href="https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/bracketiq/2026-02-18/perfect-ncaa-bracket-absurd-odds-march-madness-dream#:~:text=MORE:%20This%20is%20the%20longest,have%20some%20fun%20with%20it."> 63 single-elimination</a> games played during the tournament. The NCAA has no verified record of a<a href="https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/48214906/march-madness-ncaa-men-women-tournament-seeding-brackets"> perfect bracket</a> ever existing. The odds of completing a perfect bracket are<a href="https://abc11.com/post/march-madness-101-ncaa-tournament-format-history-facts/18720731/#:~:text=The%20NCAA%20estimates%20that%20there,sport%20and%20its%20surrounding%20factors."> estimated</a> to be 1 in 120.2 billion, if you’re making educated guesses. Those odds worsen to<a href="https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/bracketiq/2026-02-18/perfect-ncaa-bracket-absurd-odds-march-madness-dream"> 1 in 9.2 quintillion</a> if you’re making picks based on a coin toss.
I started filling out a March Madness bracket as a 10-year-old in the ’90s, and, while I’ve never come close to perfection, I have a lot of happy memories of the process. Back then, you couldn’t instantly print a bracket on Sunday night when the tournament teams were announced. You had to wait until Monday morning, when the entire bracket was printed in a special March Madness edition of USA Today. My dad would come home from work that evening with a stack of special March Madness edition USA Today newspapers. As a college basketball-loving ’90s kid with no internet, I was thrilled to read that newspaper.
Every year, I’d watch the tournament with my dad. Looking back, I don’t remember many specific games, players, or winning teams during the hundreds of hours of basketball we watched. What I remember is being allowed to stay up way past my bedtime on a school night to watch the 1993 championship game. I remember my dad, a Villanova fan, retelling the story every year of when an<a href="https://www.ncaa.com/basketball-men/d1/villanova-college-basketball-championships-complete-history#:~:text=April%201%2C%201985%20(NCAA%20tournament,Ed%20Pinckney%20added%2016%20points.&amp;text=Your%20browser%20can't%20play%20this%20video.&amp;text=An%20error%20occurred.,is%20disabled%20in%20your%20browser."> 8th-seeded Villanova</a> team won the national championship in 1985. I remember trash-talking my brother when the team he picked to win the entire tournament went out in the second round.
While I genuinely love basketball, the memories of being together with family and friends are the real reason I&#8217;m such a fan of the March Madness tournament. Sports create a shared experience and give us a reason to come together as families, communities, and Americans. This is as important as ever in today’s world, where we are chronically online and constantly reminded of the deep divisions in our nation.
And as we root for the underdogs this March, it&#8217;s worth remembering that America is the ultimate underdog story. ​Growing up in the Philadelphia suburbs minutes away from the location of George Washington&#8217;s famous 1776 crossing of the Delaware River, I&#8217;ve long viewed that night as one of the greatest underdog stories — even better than Villanova&#8217;s victory as an 8th-seeded tournament team.
Washington’s army was struggling, and<a href="https://www.washingtoncrossingpark.org/cross-with-us/history/"> morale was low</a> when he led a group of battered soldiers to take on the polished Hessian troops stationed in and around Trenton, New Jersey. The Hessians severely<a href="https://www.washingtoncrossingpark.org/hessians-fortify-trenton/"> underestimated</a> Washington and his army, to their great peril. The American underdogs stunned the British-supporting troops and handed them a swift defeat during the<a href="https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/battle-of-trenton?gad_campaignid=203226191&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gbraid=0AAAAADye4kE-TdbkdYh800YTBjgqe7P4d&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwjtTNBhB0EiwAuswYhvzohJnqxneajUCcovmnlh2M6djUTpkR1TDO4xbHGUmQeqs6M6zIYxoCSTAQAvD_BwE"> Battle of Trenton</a> that provided a critical boost for the fledgling nation. America has a history of defeating Goliaths and winning big, against all odds, when we work together to protect freedom and liberty.
As finding common ground becomes increasingly difficult, watching March Madness with a friend, a neighbor, or even a stranger might be the doomscrolling antidote America needs right now. When we gather to watch the tenacity, camaraderie, and excellence of top athletes competing this March, may we be reminded of our shared humanity that’s deeper than any political divide. The freedom to disagree is a hallmark of our democracy. May we work harder than any sports team out there to keep it.
***
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
</div>

Prairie View v Lehigh

The Madness That Still Unites America And Why It Feels Different This Year

College basketball

March Madness

NCAA Basketball

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
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Conservatives have a lot of opinions on how many children a woman should have. But, if they really cared about increasing the birth rate, perhaps they wouldn&#8217;t.
This week, Hannah Neeleman caused a stir after announcing she was having her ninth child. Dubbed “<a href="https://www.thetimes.com/magazines/the-sunday-times-magazine/article/meet-the-queen-of-the-trad-wives-and-her-eight-children-plfr50cgk?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=AWEtsqcIWiomL9m6qEpeJqI0-L-Y4eUtFrKd1z-kaPqT1lmL-Q1POKloXT3ocfezY3Q%3D&amp;gaa_ts=69a79562&amp;gaa_sig=RXICRL1HgipIN974mMksBv3HDXm8U_orOlf-radgwXjYxFWjYvJvREPmMuMsyiHn_6WfDSFjSnbOg95qt9CXeA%3D%3D">queen of the ‘trad wives,</a>” Neeleman creates content of her family’s life running a beautiful farm for her more than 10 million Instagram followers. A viral <a href="https://x.com/rebeccacnreid/status/2028157735892631620?s=46&amp;t=ZAoIkqhiKpZyQayFV_2XbQ">tweet</a> responding to Neeleman’s announcement of her ninth baby questioned if two parents could give nine children the love and connection they need. 
Conservatives rightly rushed to her defense — after all, in an age where children are no longer valued, this gorgeous former ballerina is spending her millions raising a big family, and that&#8217;s something to celebrate.
&#8220;What the heck do you know about having 9 kids?&#8221; American Principles Project President <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/author/terry-schilling">Terry Schilling</a> <a href="https://x.com/schilling1776/status/2028495979838591475">asked</a>. &#8220;You should talk to a big family or a kid from a big family about their experience. You really get a lot more attention in a big family than a small one. And kids from big families are way more stable and less anxious than kids who need everything to be perfect for them.&#8221;
But just because the Neeleman family has the desire and resources requisite for nine kids, that doesn&#8217;t mean everyone needs to have enough children to fill a baseball field.
Simple math provides the basis of the viral question: The more children two parents have to care for, the less time they have to spend individually with each child. Sociologists call this resource dilution, which <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11413873/#:~:text=The%20resource%20dilution%20model%20suggests%20that%20parental,the%20effect%20of%20siblings%20on%20intellectual%20development.">one study</a> described as an acknowledgement that “parental resources are finite and that as the number of children in the family increases, the resources accrued by any one child necessarily decline.”  
I’m not suggesting there are only negatives to having a big family; the internet is filled with testimonies of their joys. But, like most things in life, having a big family brings pros and cons. This used to be something conservatives were allowed to <a href="https://ifstudies.org/blog/for-kids-large-families-have-pros-and-cons/">talk about</a>. The suggestion that big families might have any downsides drew the sharp ire of conservatives and pro-birth pronatalists alike, who wholeheartedly defended big families, with some seemingly expressing contempt for smaller ones. 
&#8220;If you had a large family like mine, you would know that plenty of time without the searching eyes and drilling attention of the mother of two is one of the best thing you can give your children,&#8221; doctor and writer Grazie Pozo Christie <a href="https://x.com/gchristiemd/status/2028499223763620256?s=46&amp;t=ZAoIkqhiKpZyQayFV_2XbQ">said</a>. &#8220;Oh and siblings! Don’t forget about the incalculable blessing of siblings.&#8221;
An account called Meta Trav was more direct in its criticism of small families, <a href="https://x.com/meta_trav/status/2028590350844207293?s=46&amp;t=ZAoIkqhiKpZyQayFV_2XbQ">tweeting</a>, &#8220;The modern obsession with &#8216;adequate time and attention&#8217; per child is a broken framework. Two parents hovering over one or two kids produces anxious, poorly socialized children who never had to negotiate with a real peer group.&#8221;
This response makes sense when you understand that a certain branch of the pronatalist movement views having many children not only as an example of peak womanhood but also as an example of good morality. Many parts of the conservative movement have adopted this messaging. You’ve probably heard someone telling young people to get married and have more kids than they can afford, while saying next to nothing about the stress and finances needed to raise a large family.
Big families are a luxury good, particularly if you can afford a large family on one income. The average yearly cost to raise a child in America <a href="https://smartasset.com/data-studies/cost-raise-child-state-2025">grew</a> to $27,743 in 2025. That’s $83,229 a year to support three kids or $249,687 to support nine children. Estimates show the <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2025/09/median-household-income.html#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Current%20Population%20Survey's%202025,by%205.5%25%20*%20**Black**%20Decreased%20by%203.3%25">median</a> American household income is around $84,000. While I’ve seen conservatives brush off the financial concerns that affect family formation, the real-world consequences of <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34504382/">financial stress</a>, such as marital instability and health deterioration, can be devastating.
Neeleman not only runs a very successful business but is also the daughter-in-law of a multi-millionaire and, foreseeably, has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ballerina-farm-controversy-rustic-videos-family-wealth-critique-tiktok-2024-1">access to resources</a> of which most middle-class families could only dream. Being able to afford family support, such as nannies and house cleaners, can make having a large family seem easy. I have yet to see an online influencer with a big family delivering pronatalist messaging share her monthly income, her extended family support, and the number of full-time nannies she employs. This information would be helpful to young people wanting to achieve a big family.
Building a family isn’t simply about birthing children. It’s about parenting well and raising adults who will, one day, parent their own children well. That’s how you create a generational legacy. 
If you have the familial, emotional, and financial resources to provide for and parent nine kids, that’s incredible. Go for it! Every one of those nine children will be a blessing to your family. But not everyone is equipped or called to have nine kids. And the number of children you have, whether it&#8217;s zero or nine, isn’t a reflection of your morality. It’s a personal calling between you, your spouse, and God — not the internet. 
I would strongly advise young people to take advice on family formation from parents, family, and mentors — the people who will help raise and support your children — rather than online influencers.  The conservative movement is doing young families, in particular young women, a great disservice by pushing a message that having and caring for many children is easy and blissful. Real motherhood isn’t a beautifully curated online fantasy. 
Being a mom, particularly a new mom, is hard. Experiencing sleepless nights and huge hormonal shifts while small people depend on you to meet their every need is no small task. And the identity shift — learning to completely center your world around the needs of a baby — is a lesson in servanthood for which no one can prepare you. 
The message I tell my own daughter is that, if she is blessed to become a mother, raising kids will be the hardest but best thing she will ever do. And I will do everything in my power to support her.
Conservatives need to understand that normal, middle-class young women who are scared of having kids or struggling with young motherhood need encouragement and support — not scolding about how many children they should have. Offering to babysit regularly for a struggling young mom will be much more effective in helping her grow her family than telling her why she should have more kids. We are all tired of that anyway.
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The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

World Premiere Of “Truth & Treason”

Nine Kids? That’s Fine — But There’s One Thing The Debate Is Missing

Birth Rates

Children

family

Psychologists, counselors, and social workers in Texas can be penalized just like doctors for helping facilitate children&#8217;s sex changes, according to an opinion clarifying the state&#8217;s ban on sex-rejecting interventions.
The Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council (TBHEC) asked Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton if mental health providers met the criteria of “health care provider” described in the state&#8217;s child sex-rejection ban, <a href="https://legiscan.com/TX/text/SB14/id/2756089">S.B. 14</a>, suggesting the care provided by mental health professionals fell outside the outlawed interventions.
“The agency respectfully seeks clarification as to how such providers are impacted by S.B. 14, given that the prohibited activities and services are exclusively medical in nature and fall outside the scope of practice for mental health professionals,” the council wrote in a July 2025 <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/request-files/request/2025/RQ0605KP.pdf">letter</a>. 
“Any radical facilitating the ‘transitioning’ of our kids is committing child abuse. The law is clear that these radical procedures are illegal and in no world should Texans’ tax dollars be used to permanently harm children,” Paxton told The Daily Wire. &#8220;This opinion should send a clear warning that there will be consequences for any medical professional, whether a doctor or a therapist, who is illegally ‘transitioning’ Texas kids.”
The <a href="https://bhec.texas.gov/">TBHEC</a> helps regulate and uphold professional standards within the state&#8217;s behavioral health and social service professions.
Paxton unequivocally said mental health professionals fell within the criteria of the ban in an <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/2026/kp-0518.pdf">opinion</a> published on February 27, 2026.
“The unambiguous definition of ‘health care provider’ does not require a prescription pad or scalpel,” Paxton stated in the opinion. “S.B. 14 codified more than a prohibition on providing certain surgeries and prescriptions.” 
Paxton further clarified that the Texas <a href="https://legiscan.com/TX/text/SB14/id/2756089">ban</a> on child sex-rejection forbids the use of public money to fund any individual or organization that “provides or facilitates” the gender transition of minors.
The TBHEC told The Daily Wire the professionals they help regulate are “expected to comply fully with Texas law.” 
“S.B. 14 prohibits certain medical procedures for minors in Texas. The question before us was whether the technical statutory definition of ‘health care provider’ included behavioral health professionals,” Darrel Spinks, Executive Director of the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council, told The Daily Wire. 
“Out of deference to the statutory framework and the Attorney General’s role in interpreting state law, we sought formal clarification to remove any ambiguity. The opinion confirms what many would reasonably assume; that licensed mental health professionals are health care providers under the statute. This does not change the law or our responsibilities. Our licensees are expected to comply fully with Texas law,” Spinks stated. 
The council&#8217;s letter mentioned the pending Supreme Court case, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/scotus-to-hear-challenge-to-colorados-gender-identity-censorship-law">Chiles v. Salazar</a>, where Christian counselor Kaley Chiles is challenging Colorado’s law banning so-called conversion therapy. The Colorado <a href="https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2019a_1129_signed.pdf">law</a> prohibits counselors from “attempts or purports to change an individual’s sexual orientation or gender identity,” which Chiles argues violates her freedom of speech and pushes children towards sex-rejecting medical interventions. 
“The court is examining whether the regulated practice of mental health counseling is conduct or speech,” wrote the TBHEC. “Circuit courts are split, as the Third and Eleventh Circuits treat mental health counseling as speech and not conduct, while the Ninth and Tenth Circuits treat it as conduct and not speech. Given the significance of the question before the court, which may have far reaching implications, this case may be something you want to consider in your opinion.” 
Paxton addressed these concerns in the opinion footnotes, writing, “You also imply that your questions may intersect with the First Amendment, referencing Chiles v. Salazar … But Chiles concerns a statute that is markedly different from the framework at issue in your request.”   
However, Paxton wrote his office generally did not comment on pending litigation and would offer “no speculation on the scope of the Court’s eventual holding in Chiles.” 
Mental health providers play a pivotal role in the sex-rejecting medical intervention pipeline by providing psychological assessments that are often required to obtain sex change surgeries, such as a double mastectomy, the opinion noted. 
“The multidisciplinary path to medically transitioning children often starts with mental ‘health care,’” the opinion states. “Mental health professionals serve as the ‘clinical gatekeepers whose assessments and recommendations initiate the interventions’ prohibited by S.B. 14.”
Many insurance companies and surgeons require a recent mental health assessment and surgery recommendation <a href="https://transcare.ucsf.edu/surgery-referral-assessment-requirements">letter</a> in order to move forward with sex-rejecting surgery.
The quality and clinical practice surrounding these assessments were heavily criticized in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) 2025 <a href="https://opa.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/2025-11/gender-dysphoria-report.pdf">report</a> on the treatment of gender dysphoria. 
Leor Sapir, PhD, a Senior Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and co-author of the HHS report, explained how gender clinician assessments often focus on achieving teens&#8217; sex-rejection goals rather than examining their gender dysphoria. 
“Gender clinicians have abandoned the assessment model pioneered by the Dutch and replaced it with ‘readiness assessments’ designed to help kids clarify and pursue their ‘embodiment goals,’” Sapir told The Daily Wire.   
“Importantly, gender clinicians freely acknowledge that these goals can shift, with some claiming that this is not a failure of treatment but rather part of a teen&#8217;s ‘gender journey.’ And increasingly, the gender-focused specialists in the mental health field have come to view assessment in the traditional sense as a form of harmful gatekeeping, or even ‘conversion therapy.’ “ 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
TODAY: The Texas Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case of <a href="https://twitter.com/SorenAldaco?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SorenAldaco</a>, an Independent Women ambassador &amp; detransitioner seeking justice for what she says is medical malpractice that led to her double mastectomy at age 19. 
🧵 <a href="https://t.co/EQc7rtsaua">pic.twitter.com/EQc7rtsaua</a>
— Independent Women (@IWF) <a href="https://twitter.com/IWF/status/2021629602805035171?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 11, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Mental health assessments performed by gender clinicians have recently been scrutinized in detransitioners&#8217; lawsuits. 
Fox Varian, a female detransitioner, successfully sued her psychologist and surgeon and was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shocking-details-emerge-in-landmark-2-million-trans-malpractice-judgment">awarded $2 million</a> for harm caused by a double mastectomy she received at age 16.  Psychologist Dr. Kenneth Einhorn recommended and pressured Varian’s mother to sign off on the surgery, saying the gender-confused teen would commit suicide without it, according to reporting from independent journalist Benjamin Ryan for the <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/a-legal-first-that-could-change-gender">Free Press</a>.
Arguments in the case centered around a letter sent by Einhorn to Varian’s surgeon recommending she receive the double mastectomy, which Varian’s legal team argued was inaccurate and improper, according to reporting from <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/surgeon-psychologist-defend-approval-of-teen-gender-surgery-at-trial-5971471?lwpw=k_3a6luJl_-CKlybsxi5TcsF1XMIfeLvxAWJ_opV_QjuH3SoPr-dweybn_1R_4jnUcku1lvvVrkIBDi4KGrrtXa48JW6iWemlCp6rSMUQ0lVHv3817gNdnxMqZTK8d2Nmvvm64G934EWxturDVNPiSs7aFEUdDDgJsypHaol">The Epoch Times</a>.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/texas-supreme-court-case-could-help-destransitioners-seek-justice">Soren Aldaco</a>, a woman who struggled with gender confusion throughout her adolescence and underwent a double mastectomy at 19 that she later regretted, sued her mental health providers, alleging they negligently wrote a surgical recommendation that granted her access to the mastectomy, <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/second-court-of-appeals/2024/02-24-00217-cv.html">court documents</a> show.

hc020425Genderpolicyfolo

Texas Therapists Will No Longer Get Away With Pushing Kids Toward Sex Changes

Ken Paxton

LGBT

Texas

Transgenders

The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has alerted all 50 states that affirming &#8220;biological reality&#8221; does not constitute child abuse or neglect under federal law.
&#8220;We sent letters to every state reminding them that children may not be removed from their home solely because parents declined to support a child&#8217;s self-identification as the opposite sex,&#8221; said Alex Adams, the Assistant Secretary for the ACF, in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWhuT4EHHdQ&amp;t=2s">video</a> published by HHS.
&#8220;Removing a child from their home must be based on objective evidence or imminent risk of serious harm. So a state&#8217;s decision to break up a family cannot be based solely on a parent&#8217;s objection to radical gender ideology or irreversible sex rejecting medical interventions,&#8221; Adams stated.
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President Trump highlighted the importance of protecting families from being labeled as abusive for rejecting gender ideology at last week&#8217;s State of the Union <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-do-you-not-stand-the-jaw-dropping-moments-democrats-remained-seated-at-sotu?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=7&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98How+Do+You+Not+Stand%3F%E2%80%99%3A+The+Jaw-Dropping+Moments+Democrats+Remained+Seated+At+SOTU">address</a>. He told the story of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/maryland-refused-to-give-back-a-virginia-runaway-because-her-parents-misgendered-her-then-she-was-sex-trafficked-mother-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sage Blair</a>, whose parents were denied custody of the Virginia teen for not affirming her transgender identity, as reported by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/maryland-refused-to-give-back-a-virginia-runaway-because-her-parents-misgendered-her-then-she-was-sex-trafficked-mother-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Daily Wire</a> in 2023.
<div>&#8220;HHS is sending a clear and unequivocal message to all 50 states about cases like that of Sage Blair, acknowledging biological reality and exercising sincerely held religious beliefs should not constitute child abuse or neglect under federal law,&#8221; Assistant Secretary for Health Admiral Brian Christine stated in the HHS video.</div>
Parents across the country, including <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/murdered-by-gender-ideology-mother-whose-daughter-committed-suicide-blasts-child-protective-services" target="_blank" rel="noopener">California</a>, <a href="https://becketfund.org/case/m-c-and-j-c-v-indiana-department-of-child-services/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indiana</a>, and <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2024/10/17/exclusive-gender-confused-kids-taken-non-affirming-parents-one-family-fight-son-back/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maryland</a>, have had their children taken away by child welfare services for affirming their child’s sex.
</div>
<div>
During the State of the Union address, President Trump called for further federal action to protect families from the harms of gender ideology.
“Surely we can all agree no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents’ arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents’ will. Who would believe that we’re even talking about it? We must ban it, and we must ban it immediately,” Trump said.
The <a href="https://acf.gov/media/press/2026/acf-defends-biological-reality-parental-rights-letter-50-states">letter</a> from the ACF appears to be an initial step in answering President Trump&#8217;s directive.
The letter reminded states that child welfare systems are supported by federal funding, noting the ACF has a &#8220;vested interest and duty in ensuring funds are used appropriately.&#8221;
&#8220;States have a duty to protect children from abuse and neglect while safeguarding parental rights and federal resources. Recently, ACF has received reports of certain states removing children from their homes because the parent disagreed with the rejection of the child’s sex, including sex-rejecting interventions,&#8221; the letter states. &#8220;States receiving federal child welfare funding are obligated to ensure that investigations and removals are grounded in objective evidence of harm or imminent risk, and that parents are afforded their full procedural and substantive rights.&#8221;
</div>
</div>
The ACF encouraged states to clearly define the terms &#8220;abuse&#8221; and &#8220;neglect,&#8221; saying these definitions should clarify that affirming a child&#8217;s sex and &#8220;refusing to condone sex-rejecting interventions&#8221; does not constitute abuse.
Several states have already taken steps to legally clarify that affirming a child’s sex is not abuse, including <a href="https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2025/house/bills/HB1412/HB1412.06.ENRS.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indiana</a>, <a href="https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2025/house/bills/HB1412/HB1412.06.ENRS.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">North Carolina</a>, and <a href="https://www.childwelfare.gov/resources/definitions-child-abuse-and-neglect-texas/#:~:text=Exceptions,A%20child's%20expressed%20sexual%20orientation">Texas</a>.

Trans Protest

Trump Admin Sends New Guidance To All 50 States On Trans Kid Disputes

HHS Tells All 50 States That Affirming 'Biological Reality' Is Not Child Abuse

Gender Identity

radical gender ideology

Democrat leadership in Ohio is silent on whether the party will support a bill that would protect the right of parents to affirm the correct sex of their children.
Ohio&#8217;s Democrat <a href="https://www.ohiosenate.gov/members/minority-leadership">Senate Minority Leader</a> Nickie Antonio and <a href="https://ohiohouse.gov/members/minority-leadership">House Minority Leader</a> Dani Isaacsohn did not indicate support for Ohio&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ohio-may-protect-parents-who-wont-affirm-their-childs-gender-identity?author=Megan+Brock&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=6&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Ohio+May+Protect+Parents+Who+Won%E2%80%99t+%E2%80%98Affirm%E2%80%99+Their+Child%E2%80%99s+%E2%80%98Gender+Identity%E2%80%99">recently introduced</a> Affirming Families First Act, which says that affirming a child&#8217;s sex is not a form of neglect or <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-harris-hhs-consulted-activist-who-said-parents-should-be-prosecuted-for-transphobia?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=8&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Biden-Harris+HHS+Consulted+Activist+Who+Said+Parents+Should+Be+Prosecuted+For+%E2%80%98Transpho" target="_blank" rel="noopener">abuse</a>, when asked for their position on the bill by The Daily Wire.
&#8220;At this time, the office is not providing a comment. Our focus remains on issues Ohio families care about most, including affordability, access to services, and accountability in state government,&#8221; Isaacsohn&#8217;s office told The Daily Wire.
Antonio did not respond to The Daily Wire&#8217;s multiple written and verbal requests for comment on the bill. Amy Acton, the frontrunner to be the Democrat&#8217;s candidate for governor in Ohio, also did not respond to The Daily Wire&#8217;s requests for comment on the bill.
Democrats have made a concerted effort in states across the country to focus on issues such as &#8220;affordability&#8221; ahead of the midterm elections, avoiding discussions of far-left policy positions that hurt them in 2024. The legislation in Ohio comes as Democrat candidates steer clear of radical gender ideology.
In states like Ohio, where lawmakers have embraced radical gender ideology in the past, parents who insist on their children’s biological sex and given name risk losing custody of their kids to the state. Republicans pushing for the bill say the goal is to protect parents.
“No parent should lose custody, face state intervention, or be deemed unfit simply for affirming a child’s sex,” Ohio Representative Josh Williams, the bill’s co-sponsor, told The Daily Wire.
Though leadership declined to take a position, after The Daily Wire sent inquiries, one Democrat lawmaker in the state reached out to call the bill a &#8220;direct attack on the LGBTQIA+ community,&#8221; and particularly on &#8220;transgender children and their families.&#8221;
&#8220;This legislation is not about protecting kids. It is about using the power of the state to stigmatize parents who are seeking medically recommended, evidence based gender affirming care and to make it harder for families to support their children,&#8221; Tristan Rader, an Ohio House member, told The Daily Wire. &#8220;We should be making it easier for parents to access appropriate health care and mental health support, not harder.&#8221;
President Trump highlighted the importance of protecting families from being labeled as abusive for rejecting gender ideology at Tuesday&#8217;s State of the Union <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-do-you-not-stand-the-jaw-dropping-moments-democrats-remained-seated-at-sotu?author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=7&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=%E2%80%98How+Do+You+Not+Stand%3F%E2%80%99%3A+The+Jaw-Dropping+Moments+Democrats+Remained+Seated+At+SOTU">address</a> when he told the story of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/maryland-refused-to-give-back-a-virginia-runaway-because-her-parents-misgendered-her-then-she-was-sex-trafficked-mother-says">Sage Blair</a>, whose parents were denied custody of the Virginia teen for not affirming her transgender identity, as reported by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/maryland-refused-to-give-back-a-virginia-runaway-because-her-parents-misgendered-her-then-she-was-sex-trafficked-mother-says">The Daily Wire</a> in 2023.
&#8220;A left-wing judge refused to return Sage to her parents because they did not immediately state that their daughter was their son,&#8221; Trump said during the speech.
Virginia lawmakers have failed to pass &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/virginia-republican-moves-to-ban-calling-misgendering-child-abuse-after-girl-is-kept-from-her-parents-for-it">Sage&#8217;s Law</a>,&#8221; a bill that would protect a parents right to affirm their child&#8217;s correct sex.
During the State of the Union address, President Trump called for federal action to protect families from the harms of gender ideology.
“Surely we can all agree no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents’ arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents’ will. Who can believe that we’re even talking about it? We must ban it, and we must ban it immediately,” Trump said.
Laura Hanford, senior policy analyst at the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Human Flourishing, explained that without federal action, families in all states remain at risk of gender ideology&#8217;s harms.
&#8220;Even if we pass protections in red states, kids can run away to blue states where many of them simply assert custody if they are there for sex-rejecting procedures. They throw parental rights out the window entirely,&#8221; Hanford told The Daily Wire. &#8220;We need a federal solution—these blue states, aided by a network of non-profits, are enticing kids to run away or be trafficked by &#8216;affirming&#8217; adults to access sex-rejecting interventions. It&#8217;s essentially a country-wide underground network dedicated to enticing kids away from parents.&#8221;
When Democrats failed to stand and applaud Trump&#8217;s call to protect children from being transitioned to another sex without parental consent, it led to one of the most memorable moments of his speech.
&#8220;These people are crazy,&#8221; Trump said as he pointed to the Democrats.
Hanford said the Democrat fear to support the common-sense legislation is the powerful &#8220;gender lobby.&#8221;
&#8220;Congressional Democrats are entirely in the pockets of the billion-dollar gender lobby,&#8221; Hanford said. &#8220;They viciously attack any deviation,&#8221;

Don’t Say gay

Ohio Dems Silent On Bill That Protects Parents Right To Refuse A Child’s Gender Transition

Alabama Attorney General Stephen Marshall is leading a coalition of 20 states demanding the American Medical Association halt its support of hormonal therapies as treatment for gender dysphoria in children, after the organization withdrew support for child sex-rejecting surgeries.
“We thus find it concerning that the AMA continues to support the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to treat gender dysphoria in minors,” the attorneys general wrote in a letter to AMA President John Whyte. “The quality of evidence is the same as it is for surgeries: low and very-low quality.”
&#8220;The American Medical Association has finally admitted what many have warned for years: its recommendations for surgeries on children were not grounded in solid evidence, despite telling doctors and families otherwise,” Attorney General Marshall told The Daily Wire. “Yet the same weak science underpins puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. You cannot dismiss one intervention as unsupported while continuing to push the rest. When children&#8217;s lives and futures are at stake, anything less than full scientific honesty is reckless. The AMA must follow the science completely, not selectively.&#8221; 

Marshall warned the AMA’s inconsistencies could be misleading the public and violate Alabama’s consumer protection laws, which state it is unlawful for an organization to represent that “goods or services” have “uses, benefits, or qualities that they do not have,” according to the letter. 
“We remain concerned that providers, patients, and their families in our States are being confused or misled by the AMA regarding the safety and efficacy of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones to treat gender dysphoria in minors,” the letter says.
To avoid a “formal investigation” Marshall asked the AMA to answer a series of questions meant to clarify its position on the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones as treatment for pediatric gender dysphoria, within 30 days.  
“While we hope to avoid a formal investigation under our consumer protection laws, we do have concerns that the AMA may be violating those laws,” the letter says.
The AMA recently told the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/health/gender-surgery-minors-ama.html">New York Times</a> and other news <a href="https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/patient-safety-outcomes/ama-alters-position-on-gender-affirming-surgeries-for-minors/">outlets</a> that “surgical interventions in minors should be generally deferred to adulthood” due to the absence of “clear evidence&#8221; supporting their use. 
“If you agree that there is insufficient evidence to support using surgical interventions to treat gender dysphoria in minors — as your recent statement indicates — we do not understand how you can find that there is sufficient evidence to support using hormonal interventions to treat gender dysphoria in minors,” Marshall writes in the letter.  
“These interventions have not been shown to be any safer for children than sex-change surgeries are, and in fact may be all the more dangerous precisely because they are viewed as not as serious. But hormones can leave a child sterilized just as surely as surgery can,” the letter states. 
The AMA’s turnabout came shortly after the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) published a February 3 <a href="https://www.plasticsurgery.org/documents/health-policy/positions/2026-gender-surgery-children-adolescents.pdf">position statement</a> recommending “surgeons delay gender-related breast/chest, genital, and facial surgery until a patient is at least 19 years old,” after reviewing available evidence. The ASPS also pointed out in the statement there is &#8220;substantial uncertainty” of the “long-term benefits and harms” of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones. 
Marshall successfully <a href="https://www.alabamaag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2025.5.1-Attorney-General-Steve-Marshall-Announces-Victory-in-Defense-of-Alabamas-Law-Prohibiting-Sex-Change-Procedures-for-Minors.pdf">defended</a> Alabama’s law banning sex-rejecting procedures for minors during Boe v. Marshall and through litigation discovered hundreds of pages of documents revealing the political forces informing transgender medicine. This included emails showing former Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services Richard “Rachel” Levine <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-admins-rachel-levine-met-with-wpath-as-he-pushed-for-removal-of-trans-surgery-age-restrictions?author=Spencer+Lindquist&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Biden+Admin%E2%80%99s+Rachel+Levine+Met+With+WPATH+As+He+Pushed+For+Removal+Of+Trans+Surgery+Age+Restrictions">controversially</a> <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trans-identifying-biden-official-allegedly-behind-push-to-ditch-age-guidelines-for-transgender-procedures-docs-show?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Trans-Identifying+Biden+Official+Allegedly+Behind+Push+To+Ditch+Age+Guidelines+For+Transgender+Procedures%3A+Docs+Show">pressured</a> the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH) into removing gender surgery age minimums from its clinical guidance, called the Standards of Care Version 8.
WPATH’s clinical guideline, which recommends children receive puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries, has been discredited and heavily criticized for lacking scientific rigor.
A 2025 <a href="https://opa.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/2025-11/gender-dysphoria-report.pdf">report</a> from the Department of Health and Human Services on the treatment of pediatric gender dysphoria said the WPATH guidelines were “rated among the lowest in quality” and “have not been recommended for implementation by systematic reviews (SRs) of guidelines.” 
“Despite their lack of trustworthiness, for more than a decade WPATH guidelines have served as the foundation of the healthcare infrastructure for gender dysphoric (GD) youth in the United States,” states the report. 
Marshall views the AMA’s recognition of a lack of evidence to support child sex-change surgeries as a “tacit acknowledgement” that WPATH’s standards are not &#8220;evidence-based,” according to the letter. 
The letter asks the AMA if it views the WPATH guidelines as “evidence-based, reliable, and consistent with the best practices of evidence- based medicine.”
The letter was signed by attorneys general from Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.
“We know that we share a common goal in wanting to protect patients and their families and ensure that they receive trustworthy information about their medical care,” the letter reads.
The AMA did not immediately respond to The Daily Wire’s request for comment.

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Alabama

American Medical Association

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Megan Brock