As I wrote yesterday, James Younger is a 7-year-old boy who has been “transitioning” into a girl since the age of 3, at the behest of his mother, Anne Georgulas. The father, Jeff Younger, went to court seeking full custody of James so that he could shield the child from further abuse. Yesterday, the jury delivered a verdict granting full custody to the mother, apparently agreeing with the ludicrous, anti-scientific notion that a biological boy has an invisible girl magically trapped inside his body. The judge has yet to give a final ruling on all of the related aspects of the case. That is expected to come down tomorrow. So far, it’s not looking good for the father — nor, especially, for the son.
This case has many elements which are horrific, infuriating, and illustrative of the general state of our culture, but one crucial and potentially definitive detail has been largely overlooked. Indeed, every detail has been overlooked by most of the mass media. They know that they cannot reasonably defend what is happening to this boy, so they simply pretend it’s not happening. But for those of us who cannot and will not look away, we would do well to pay attention this part, as reported by The Texan:
Interestingly, [amicus attorney] Dunlop revealed that Georgulas told him that “Luna” was not the first female name that James picked out. The first was “Starfire,” a female character from the superhero cartoon Teen Titans Go! Georgulas, however, encouraged him to pick a different name.
Georgulas insists that her “daughter’s” name is now Luna, but, unsurprisingly, that’s not the name James first chose. James wanted to be Starfire, like the cartoon he watches. Georgulas steered him away from that, and somehow they (or rather she) settled on his current pseudonym. Why is this significant? Two reasons:
1) It shows what realm James was living in when he allegedly claimed he was a girl. He was in the same realm every normal child inhabits from infancy until adolescence — the realm of fantasy. He wasn’t identifying as a girl; he was identifying as a cartoon girl. There is no substantive difference between this “self-identity” and the self-identity of my own 3-year-old boy, who regularly claims to be a dinosaur, a bear, a bear hunter, a shark, or sometimes all four (which gives me a great idea for a movie, incidentally).
Kids at that age have no understanding of reality, in theory or practice. They cannot cognitively grasp the distinction between truth and fiction, fantasy and reality, cartoon people and real people. There’s a reason why you can so easily convince them that a morbidly obese man flies around the entire globe in one night and delivers toys to billions of children. It wouldn’t occur to a 3-year-old to doubt this claim. In his world, literally anything is possible.
Is my son lying when he tells me he’s a 14 ton reptile from the Cretaceous Period? No, he is psychologically incapable of telling a conscious lie. Is he joking? No, he is also incapable of telling a joke at this age. So why does he say it? Because, at some level, he really believes he is a T-Rex. And when he says he’s a bear, or Peppa Pig, or Batman, or a grasshopper, or an astronaut, he really believes that, too. And if he, or any other child his age, says that he is a girl, it will be exactly the kind of claim, born from exactly the same psychological immaturity and magical thinking, and should therefore be taken exactly as seriously. The fact that James identified not just as a girl, but as a cartoon girl, should make this point clear.
2) Reflect on the fact that James’ mom didn’t let him go by Starfire. Indeed, it is striking that these painfully progressive parents, who want their children to have the “freedom” to choose their own genders, still won’t let them choose their own names. There’s a reason why “trans kids” always have names like Luna, or Jazz, or Sky, or Parker, or something similarly ambiguous and trendy. Do we think 3 and 4-year-olds are hopping on Google to find out which unisex monikers are in fashion at the moment? No, if you left it up to a young child to decide for himself, he’ll inevitably gravitate towards something like Starfire, or Ninja, or Pirate PoopButt. All of these options would be better than Luna, but they still wouldn’t look great on a resume.
Yet these parents never end up with a trans daughter named Pirate PoopButt or Starfire. That’s because even Ann Georgulas knows that her son is too young to be entrusted with choosing his own name, and eventually he will grow up and won’t be as fond of the name he liked when he was a child. What sort of idiot parent would allow her young son to make that kind of decision, knowing how immature he is, and how certain it is that he will grow out of this phase? No, we don’t let our kids choose their names for the same reason we don’t let them get tattoos. Hopefully it’s obvious where I’m going with this. If we don’t let our kids choose their names or get tattoos — if even the most progressive of parents would never allow either of those things — then why would we let them choose their genders? Every factor precluding the former should likewise preclude the latter.
Maybe I’m giving these parents too much credit. I suspect that Georgulas didn’t let James be Starfire not because she’s concerned for his long term wellbeing — obviously she isn’t — but because the other enlightened and progressive moms in her circle will think it’s weird. They will applaud her for having a trans kid, but they won’t applaud the ridiculous name. That’s where they draw the line. And so that’s where Georgulas draws the line. Because, in the end, this is all about her.