It’s not in your imagination: children’s television has been overrun with LGBT themes, and Netflix is leading the charge, waving the rainbow flag right into your living room.
A <a href="https://concernedwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/CWA-Netflix-Report.pdf">new report</a> from Concerned Women for America (CWA) confirms what many parents have long suspected about LGBT propaganda in kids’ entertainment. According to the study, one-third of all Netflix shows rated for children contain LGBTQ characters, themes, or messaging, and the percentage jumps to 41% in both TV-G and TV-Y7 categories.
In other words, the shows most aggressively marketed to the youngest viewers now routinely include sexual-identity content that would have been unthinkable in children’s entertainment just a decade ago.
Parents got a glimpse of this last October when a clip from the series “Dead End: Paranormal Park” went viral due to the main character “coming out” as transgender, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/elon-musk-says-he-will-cancel-netflix-subscription-over-trans-propaganda-aimed-at-children">reported</a>. 
Elon Musk amplified the video and urged users to “cancel Netflix.” Within hours, the platform lost an estimated $15 billion in value. But while many dismissed the situation as an isolated incident, the CWA report demonstrates that it was only the tip of the iceberg.
The research team examined 326 Netflix series rated TV-G, TV-Y, or TV-Y7 — categories traditionally meant to be free of sexual topics altogether. They then catalogued LGBT themes as explicit (openly identified characters), implied (queer-coded characters or storylines), meta (LGBT families on reality shows), or none.
Even among TV-Y shows, which are geared toward preschoolers, 21% of the programs introduce LGBT identity concepts. Shows such as “The Magic School Bus Rides Again” and “Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City” feature transgender, nonbinary, or “trans-coded” characters.
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CWA President and CEO Penny Nance, who leads the nation’s largest public policy organization for women, told The Daily Wire she was stunned by what the researchers uncovered. “I think I was most surprised that they had even targeted preschool children,” she said. “Over 20% of the programming aimed at the smallest viewers had LGBTQ themes included.”
For Nance, the numbers aren’t just data points, but a wake-up call for parents who thought age ratings provided a safeguard against adult content.
“Back in the day when my children were young, sometimes you need a reprieve from your day,” she explained. “You just need a few minutes, and you feel safe. You’ve done the work as a mom. … And yet, over all that content, at least 30% of it was LGBTQ themes.”
“The bottom line is the rating systems do not work,” she said. “You have the networks and the companies rating themselves … We have to go in a different direction because it’s absolutely insidious what they’re doing.”
Netflix and other major media companies often frame LGBT content as “representation.” But Nance rejects that narrative outright.
“I think their own content creators have been very clear on what their intent is,” she said. “It’s not as if they think that they’re not moving the needle in culture. They’ve been very forthright in what they’re planning to do.”
She points out the obvious discrepancy between the Netflix representation and actual population demographics. “You’ve got a very small percentage of the population, and yet the overall content that is being developed for little children is much larger than those numbers. … It’s overrepresenting.”
In May of this year, Netflix published a <a href="https://assets.uscannenberg.org/docs/aii-2025-netflix-full-report.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com">report</a> highlighting Netflix’s efforts to add diversity to its original films and series. The report bragged that “2023 was a standout year &#8230; over half (52.4%) of all [episodic] programs released in the year featured LGBTQ+ characters as 10% or more of series regulars.”
In 2023, roughly 60% of new children’s shows on Netflix included LGBTQ content. That’s six times the rate one would expect if the goal were simply mirroring population data.
Even more concerning, the spike in youth identification with LGBTQ labels aligns with the rise in this type of media. Among Gen Z, LGBTQ self-identification has jumped from 11% in 2017 to more than 20% in 2023, as the report notes.
The report also reveals a major inflection point around 2021, when LGBTQ representation suddenly spiked across kids’ shows.
“Remember, this is during COVID,” Nance said by way of explanation. “Children are out of school, at home … I think there was absolute intent on the part of the culture warriors and content creators to try to target children.”
That spike coincided with a rise in minors identifying as transgender, which is something Nance believes is not a coincidence. “It wasn’t just on the darkest corners of the internet,” she told The Daily Wire. “It was apparently in their parents’ living room.”
When parents raise concerns, they’re often brushed off as overreacting or hopelessly bigoted. But Nance insists their instincts are correct.
“Parents are being gaslit,” she said. “Anyone who’s ever paid for an ad knows that children and adults both are impressionable … Just basic common sense tells you that people are impressionable, and children are even more impressionable.”
She says Netflix and the broader entertainment industry have betrayed families: “Parents … are right to be on their guard. Unfortunately, Netflix has let them down, as has much of the industry.”
One of the findings in the report is how classic franchises, including “The Magic School Bus,” “She-Ra,” “Power Rangers,” and “The Baby-Sitters Club,” were rebooted to incorporate LGBTQ characters or themes for the first time.
“It is so sad that these incredible franchises … have been rewritten to have a bias toward left-wing ideology and gender ideology,” Nance said. 
When asked what parents should do in response to this report, Nance recommends vigilance and taking a firm stance on streaming services that have zero regard for conservative values. 
“I would recommend parents not allow their children to watch Netflix or other … streaming services that also offer adult content, she said, adding that the days of turning on any kids&#8217; show and walking away are long behind us. 
“[Parents] should not trust the rating system … The days of just checking the rating and feeling okay about it are over.”
Instead, she urges families to pivot toward platforms aligned with their values. “They should be really serious about seeking out alternative media, like all the children&#8217;s programming that you all offer at Daily Wire, Angel Studios. … We have got to … support the people who are doing the work in order to create content that we can support.”

Netflix

Preschool Propaganda: Study Finds 41% of Netflix Kids Shows Include LGBT Themes

Children

Entertainment

LGBT

Television

Australia will soon become the first nation to ban children under 16 from creating accounts on many social media platforms, but the law is already facing criticism as some platforms will be excluded.
Beginning on Wednesday, December 10, Australia will require social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, to take &#8220;reasonable steps&#8221; to block children under 16 years old from creating accounts. Any platform that fails to restrict children under 16 from gaining access could face civil penalties of up to $49.5 million, according to the government&#8217;s <a href="https://www.esafety.gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/platforms-on-notice-to-comply-with-social-media-minimum-age">eSafety Commissioner</a>.
&#8220;We haven&#8217;t really seen a plan like this be put into action,&#8221; said Jessica Melugin, the director of the Center for Technology &amp; Innovation at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. &#8220;So I think the world is certainly watching.&#8221;
Along with Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube, the Australian government also lists Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, and X as &#8220;age-restricted&#8221; social media platforms. Numerous social media platforms, however, will not be affected by the law, including messaging platforms and gaming apps such as Discord, Roblox, and Steam. Australia&#8217;s decision to keep those platforms off its age-restricted list has raised more questions about whether the law will keep children away from online harm.
&#8220;It is a little bit of a red flag. I don&#8217;t agree with doing it this way at all, but it does make it harder for the government to make its case when you have gaming apps and AI chatbots exempted,&#8221; said Melugin. &#8220;It seems like a strange line to draw.&#8221;
The Australian government says the new law is popular with parents and would reduce the number of risks that children are exposed to online, the BBC <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyp9d3ddqyo">reported</a>.
&#8220;Delaying children’s access to social media accounts gives them valuable time to learn and grow, free of the powerful, unseen forces of harmful and deceptive design features such as opaque algorithms and endless scroll,&#8221; said Australian eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman. &#8220;This important normative change will be invaluable to parents and young people alike – creating friction or a check in the online ecosystem that previously did not exist.&#8221;
To support its move, the Australian government cited a <a href="https://www.esafety.gov.au/research/the-online-experiences-of-children-in-australia/snapshot-content-associated-with-harm">study</a> that it commissioned earlier this year, which found that more than 70% of children between 10-15 who use social media are exposed to harmful content. The government says that harmful online content includes &#8220;sexist, misogynistic or hateful content, content depicting dangerous online challenges or fight videos, or content that encourages unhealthy eating or exercise habits.&#8221;
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The first-of-its-kind law is already receiving some strong pushback.
Melugin told The Daily Wire that she has some major concerns about the new law.
&#8220;We live in a digital world. That&#8217;s how you are going to maybe find your partner one day. It&#8217;s probably how you&#8217;re going to find a job one day, maybe how you promote yourself or your business, maybe how you keep in touch with friends and pursue your interests,&#8221; Melugin said.
She added that the law could create a &#8220;false sense of security&#8221; for parents, who she argues would take a step back from monitoring their children&#8217;s social media. &#8220;They think, &#8216;Well, the government has now stepped in with its magic wand and silver bullet and now everything is safe,&#8217; which certainly won&#8217;t be the case,&#8221; Melugin added.
Melugin argued that the best way to keep children safe online is for parents to keep having conversations with their kids on &#8220;how to keep yourself safe online, how to avoid making mistakes online.&#8221;
Australia&#8217;s exclusions for Roblox, Discord, Steam, and other platforms have also come under scrutiny. Roblox, an online gaming platform marketed toward children, has been criticized for <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2024-roblox-pedophile-problem/">allowing</a> adults to use the platform alongside children, and even the Australian government has acknowledged that Roblox has given pedophiles an open door to &#8220;groom children.&#8221;
Roblox was also sued by Texas last month, with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton calling the children&#8217;s gaming platform “a habitual destination for child predators.”
An Australian government official told The Daily Wire that &#8220;gaming and messaging services were excluded under the legislative rules.&#8221; The official also directed The Daily Wire to a press release from September, showing that Roblox <a href="https://www.esafety.gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/roblox-commits-to-lift-game-to-protect-kids-from-online-grooming-under-australias-world-leading-online-safety-codes-and-standards">committed</a> to introduce new safety measures for its site in response to concerns raised by the Australian government.
“We know that when it comes to platforms that are popular with children, they also become popular with adult predators seeking to prey on them. Roblox is no exception and has become a popular target for pedophiles seeking to groom children,&#8221; Inman said at the time. “We’ve been engaging with Roblox on this issue for several months to make it clear to the platform that under Australian law they are required to take meaningful action to prioritize the protection of children.&#8221;
Discord has also faced scrutiny for allowing child sex predators, extremists, and terrorists who <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/discord-messages-server-dhs-terror-extremist-charlie-kirk-fbi-patel-rcna232377">target</a> children.
Some of the social media giants affected by Australia&#8217;s new law have blasted the government&#8217;s strategy. Meta argues that families, not the government, should &#8220;decide which apps teens can access.&#8221;
“To comply with Australia’s Social Media Minimum Age Law, teens under 16 will begin losing access to Facebook, Instagram, and Threads next month. While we’re committed to meeting our legal obligations, we’ve consistently raised concerns about this law,&#8221; a Meta spokesman told The Daily Wire. &#8220;Experts, youth groups, and many parents agree that blanket bans are not the solution—they isolate teens from online communities and information, while providing inconsistent protection across the many apps they use. There’s a better way: legislation that empowers parents to approve app downloads and verify age allows families—not the government—to decide which apps teens can access.&#8221;
Meta believes its &#8220;teen accounts,&#8221; which were <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ig-introduces-teen-accounts-with-built-in-privacy-settings-to-better-support-parents">introduced</a> last year, are effective at keeping children safe online by putting parents in control and limiting who can contact children on social media.
Australia&#8217;s new law is already facing a legal challenge brought on behalf of two 15-year-old Australians who argue that the law robs them of their right to free speech, according to the BBC.
&#8220;We shouldn&#8217;t be silenced. It&#8217;s like Orwell&#8217;s book 1984, and that scares me,&#8221; said 15-year-old Macy Neyland.
Noah Jones, the other 15-year-old pushing back against the law, added, &#8220;We are the true digital natives and we want to remain educated, robust, and savvy in our digital world. &#8230; They should protect kids with safeguards, not silence.&#8221;
The Daily Wire reached out to the prime minister&#8217;s office for comment.
Following Australia&#8217;s move to ban some social media for kids, Malaysia introduced a similar ban. In the United States, Utah passed a law last year requiring social media platforms to verify a user&#8217;s age and obtain parental consent. Parts of the Utah law, however, have been temporarily <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/utah-law-restricting-youth-social-media-use-blocked-by-judge-2024-09-11/">blocked</a> by a federal judge.

Social Media

Australia’s Novel Social Media Ban For Kids Sparks Debate As Some Platforms Get A Free Pass

Australia

Instagram

Social Issues

World

YouTube

A newly published <a href="https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article-abstract/doi/10.1542/peds.2025-072941/205716/Smartphone-Ownership-Age-of-Smartphone-Acquisition?autologincheck=redirected">study</a> by the American Academy of Pediatrics found that children who were given smartphones before the age of 12 were at a greater risk of developing future issues, including depression, obesity, poor sleep, and more.
Researchers noted that the earlier the study participants were given the devices, the more likely they were to develop the adverse effects.
Lead study author Dr. Ran Barzilay <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/kids-smartphones-age-12-higher-risk-depression-obesity/story?id=127998537&amp;cid=social_twitter_abcn&amp;utm_social_post_id=612027417&amp;utm_social_handle_id=28785486">told</a> ABC News that his motivations for conducting the study were both personal and professional. “I have a nine-year-old who wants a phone, and I think [whether to get them a smartphone] is a question that is relevant for every parent of a kid going into adolescence, even before adolescence,” he told the outlet.
“We didn’t even look at what the kids did on the phone,” the child psychiatrist said, <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/children-smartphones-increased-risk-of-health-problems-study/">per</a> CBS News. “We basically asked one simple question: does the mere factor of having one’s own smartphone at this age range have anything to do with health outcomes?”
The study included data collected from 10,500 participants in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD) between 2018 and 2020. It was noted that 63.6% of the ABCD study participants owned a smartphone, and the median age at which they received the phone was 11 years old.
Researchers focused on children aged 9 to 16, seeking to identify health outcomes associated with when they were given a smartphone. The team found that 12-year-olds who had a cell phone had a 1.3 times higher risk of depression, a 1.4 times higher risk of obesity, and a 1.6 times higher risk of insufficient sleep as compared to their peers who did not have phones. 
The risk of developing these problems increased by 10% for each year earlier the children were given phones, with some kids being given smartphones as young as 4.
Dr. Barzilay said it was “quite surprising” to find that children who had no smartphone at 12 and then got one at 13 also had worse mental health and poorer-quality sleep that year, even after the study controlled for those factors.
The study’s conclusion stated, “Smartphone ownership was associated with depression, obesity, and insufficient sleep in early adolescence. Findings provide critical and timely insights that should inform caregivers regarding adolescent smartphone use and, ideally, the development of public policy that protects youth.”
The researcher also concluded that his 9-year-old, who wants a phone, is “not getting a phone anytime soon. Clear decision.”

child cell phone

Children Given Smartphones By Age 12 Have Greater Risk Of Depression And Obesity, Study Finds

American Academy of Pediatrics

cell phones

Parenting

Smartphones

study

Technology

Around 25 million American children who would be too old to receive $1,000 for President Donald Trump&#8217;s proposed investment accounts could still be gifted up to $250 thanks to a massive donation from the founder of Dell Technologies.
Michael Dell and his wife, Susan, pledged to donate $6.25 billion to fund &#8220;Trump Accounts,&#8221; targeting children ages 10 and under who live in zip codes with a median income of $150,000 or less, CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/12/02/michael-susan-dell-trump-accounts.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. The investment accounts funded by the Dells would supplement the Trump administration&#8217;s $1,000 deposit into investment accounts for American babies born between the beginning of 2025 through 2028.
Invest America, the nonprofit organization that partnered with the Dells on the donation, said that it would be the largest donation ever to American children.
“We want to help the children that weren’t part of the government program,” Michael Dell told CNBC.
“It’s designed to help families feel supported from the start and encourage them to keep saving as their children grow,” he added. “We know that when children have accounts like this, they’re much more likely to graduate from high school, from college, buy a home, start a business and less likely to be incarcerated.”
Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115650314096956008">praised</a> the Dells following their pledge, writing, &#8220;TWO GREAT PEOPLE. I LOVE DELL!!!&#8221;
Michael Dell founded his technology company, which was initially called &#8220;PC&#8217;s Unlimited,&#8221; in 1984. Dell computers soon became a household name, and he is now the 10th richest person in the world, with a net worth of around $150 billion, according to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/">Forbes</a>.
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The proposed federal government program to hand out $1,000 to American babies is set to begin next summer. Dell was behind the initial push to fund investment accounts for American children back in 2021 after he was convinced of the idea by venture capitalist and hedge fund manager Brad Gerstner, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/business/dell-children-trump-accounts.html">according</a> to The New York Times. Gerstner, founder of the Invest America Charitable Foundation, reportedly discussed the idea with the Biden administration and lawmakers on Capitol Hill, but it did not take off until Dell spoke with President Trump earlier this year.
<div id="attachment_1008355" style="width: 865px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1008355" class="wp-image-1008355 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2219358326-855x576.jpg" alt="" width="855" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2219358326-855x576.jpg 855w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2219358326-300x202.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2219358326-768x518.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/12/GettyImages-2219358326.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 855px) 100vw, 855px" />WASHINGTON, DC &#8211; JUNE 09: U.S. President Donald Trump greets Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell (L) as they arrive for the Invest America Roundtable, where they discussed the Trump Accounts on June 9, 2025. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)</div>
“We’ve always made our focus to getting the support as close to families as possible, and Invest America continues that work,” Susan Dell told the Times. “This is a slightly different way of doing this, but the opportunity now is to do something really major and really touch 25 million children that will really benefit from this in a huge way.”
Legislation introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) last year to create Invest America accounts for children was eventually renamed Trump Accounts and passed under the &#8220;Big, Beautiful Bill.&#8221; The accounts allow parents to invest in low-cost diversified funds so that their children can benefit from the growth of the U.S. stock market and save for major life events, such as starting college.
After an initial $1,000 deposit from the federal government, parents can contribute up to an additional $5,000 per year into Trump Accounts for their children, while employers would also be able to contribute up to $2,500 into the investment accounts without affecting an employee&#8217;s taxable income, according to the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/research/2025/08/trump-accounts-give-the-next-generation-a-jump-start-on-saving/">White House</a>. Under Trump&#8217;s plan, parents will be able to open and contribute to their children&#8217;s Trump Accounts beginning on July 4, 2026.

Michael Dell

Dell Founder Pledges More Than $6 Billion To Fund ‘Trump Accounts’ For 25 Million Kids

Business

Donald Trump

General

schoolchildren

As a lawyer who represents detransitioners like Chloe Cole in medical malpractice cases and parents fighting for the right to notice and consent before public schools may socially transition their children, I am all too familiar with how bad science gets laundered in pediatric gender medicine. For the record, a detransitioner is an individual who medically transitioned but now identifies and presents as their natal sex.
Activists take over medical associations (most notably, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health or WPATH) and use the imprimatur of those organizations to justify providing children with puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and even irreversible surgeries. The unreliability of much of the medical literature on pediatric gender medicine makes the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ recent report, <a href="https://opa.hhs.gov/gender-dysphoria-report">Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices</a>, a necessary development in the field. 
Here are ten key takeaways from the review.
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Children who receive puberty blockers to keep them in a pre-pubescent state longer have marked deterioration of bone health. One-third of patients’ bone density scores exhibit osteoporosis of the hip, while one-fourth have osteoporosis of the spine. </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">A scientific review shows that the effect of puberty blockers on neurocognitive development is unknown, but there is “some evidence” that puberty blockers suppress children’s IQ scores. </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Females who receive testosterone experience vaginal atrophy and other concerning medical symptoms, including one study showing “100% of vaginectomy specimens contained abnormal prostatic tissue growth.”</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">There is moderate and high certainty evidence of some incidence of “cardiovascular events” in women under twenty-six who received testosterone.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">If a male starts puberty blockers at Tanner Stage 2 (the initial stage of puberty) and goes on to take estrogen, he will almost always have the genitalia of a pre-pubescent or early puberty male.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">A Swedish study from 2011 found that adults who had medically and surgically transitioned had 19 times the rate of suicide deaths and nearly three times the rate of all-cause mortality and inpatient psychiatric care compared to peers of the same sex and age group.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">While the precise detransition rate is not known, a British study revealed that one-fifth of patients stopped hormone treatment within five years and that half experienced detransition or regret.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">American, British, Dutch, and Swedish researchers each examined the mortality rates among trans-identified individuals relative to the general population, and while the rates varied, each study found significant increases in mortality among trans-identifying people, with the Swedish study showing that a transgender individual faced a 2.8 times higher risk of death than their age- and sex-matched peers.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">The report concludes that it would be unethical to conduct a study on the effect of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones on fertility because the “mechanism [of how this treatment interferes with fertility] is well-understood” and does not have to be established in a clinical trial.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">A 2025 JAMA Pediatrics study showed that between 2018 and 2022, one in one thousand (0.1%) of American seventeen-year-olds received cross-sex hormones. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is, in absolute terms, a large number of children.</li>
</ol>
The review’s key points put the risks children face when undergoing transgender medical interventions in sharp focus. Do doctors explain to their minor patients that they may experience significant negative health outcomes years or even decades in the future? When children are warned, are they mature enough to appreciate the risk of long-term consequences? Are children asked to consider the possibility that they may not identify as transgender in the future? Are children led to examine how they might feel about the interventions they received if they do indeed detransition? (My work as a lawyer in detransition cases tells me the answer to all these questions is often “no.”)
Debates about pediatric transgender interventions have largely been framed in terms of politics (what are the major parties’ stances?), law (does the Constitution permit states to prohibit transgender interventions for children?), and even philosophy (what is a woman?). But the central question we all should be asking is whether these interventions work. HHS’s exhaustive review of the medical literature makes a compelling case that the medical risk to minors posed by puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries significantly outweighs any benefits these interventions might confer.
* * *
Jesse Franklin-Murdock is the Miles Visiting Fellow at the Center for American Liberty and a counsel at Dhillon Law Group Inc., where his practice areas include political law and civil rights.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
* * *
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Diverse people holding transgender flags

Here Are My Ten Takeaways From The HHS Pediatric Gender Medicine Review

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This Thanksgiving, parents across America have much to be thankful for — their children, their health, and the simple gift of gathering around the table with people they love. We’ll share food, laughter, and stories about how quickly the kids have grown. And yet, many parents will also feel a quiet, unspoken worry about the world their children are growing up in.
Today’s kids face a culture that’s louder and more confusing than ever before. From social media to entertainment, they’re bombarded with messages about identity, relationships, and sex that can leave them adrift. They’re told to “follow your feelings” and “do what feels right.” Commitment is treated like a burden, and pornography is always one click away. It’s no wonder parents worry about how their kids will turn out — or whether they’re equipped to guide them through it all.
But amid the noise, Thanksgiving gives us a moment to pause and remember there’s still so much to be grateful for. Because despite the cultural chaos, research continues to show there is a proven path that works, one that’s as practical as it is hopeful.
It’s called the Success Sequence.
Researchers Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill at the Brookings Institution <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/brookings-scholars-ron-haskins-and-isabel-sawhill-make-history-as-the-first-joint-recipients-of-the-daniel-patrick-moynihan-prize/">uncovered</a> this refreshingly simple roadmap to stability. Finish high school. Get a full-time job. Get married. Then have children, in that order. It may sound old-fashioned, but the results are remarkable. Only about 3 to 4% of young adults who follow this path end up in poverty. What once seemed like common sense has become one of the strongest predictors of lifelong success.
And it’s not just about money. Young people who follow this path will have fewer sexual partners, fewer sexually transmitted infections, and more stable families. I’ve seen this to be true throughout my medical career. Decades of experience tell us that children who grow up with both parents in a committed home are more likely to thrive emotionally and physically.
That’s something to be thankful for, not just as researchers or clinicians, but as parents and grandparents who want to see the next generation flourish.
So this Thanksgiving, as we give thanks for food and family, let’s also give thanks for the wisdom that still lights the way forward. Let’s be grateful for the teachers, mentors, and parents who still model responsibility, hard work, and faithfulness. And let’s be grateful that even in a changing world, some truths don’t change.
The future isn’t fixed. Despite what the headlines say, our kids aren’t doomed by the world around them. The choices we encourage and the examples we set can profoundly shape their lives. The Success Sequence isn’t about restriction, it’s about freedom. It gives young people a sense of direction and the structure they need to build meaningful lives, one decision at a time.
That’s what I’m most thankful for this year, the privilege and responsibility of guiding the next generation. As parents and grandparents, we get to be the competing voice our children need. We get to show them that real joy doesn’t come from instant gratification, but from purpose, discipline, and love.
So yes, be thankful for the turkey and the laughter, but most importantly, be thankful for the family gathered around the table. Look at your children and the generations below you and be thankful for truth that still holds, for children who still turn out right, and for the grace that allows us to keep trying.
The world may change. The challenges may look different. But the truth doesn’t change, and that’s something worth celebrating every Thanksgiving.
* * *
Joe S. McIlhaney, Jr., MD, is a board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist who resides in Plano, Texas.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
* * *
<h4>Right now, DailyWire+ annual memberships are fifty percent off during our Black Friday sale. Join now at <a href="http://dailywire.com/blackfriday">dailywire.com/blackfriday</a>.</h4>

Young man and women picking up plates after having Thanksgiving at home

A Thanksgiving Reminder: Our Kids Still Have A Clear Path Forward

family

Gen Z

Opinion

The Daily Wire is releasing an important new documentary today. In association with Our Rescue, “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/hiding-in-plain-sight-america-s-trafficking-epidemic">Hiding in Plain Sight</a>” takes you inside the shocking world of digital predators who use everyday apps to hunt, groom, and traffic children from their own bedrooms — at a scale law enforcement has never seen before.
Few people know that better than Derek Benner, CEO of <a href="http://www.ourrescue.org">Our Rescue</a>. Benner helped lead the creation of the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking, the nation’s first unified task force dedicated to ending modern slavery.
As Benner points out, the crisis is closer than we think. — The Daily Wire
* * *
One of the most common questions I get as the CEO of Our Rescue is: “Does child exploitation and sex trafficking really happen here?” 
I often reply, if you ask any law enforcement officer working sex trafficking and child exploitation cases, they’ll tell you the same thing: “The biggest mistake people make is thinking this crime doesn’t happen at home, in our communities, in the United States. It does. And it’s everywhere.”
Worldwide, there are nearly 50 million people trapped in modern slavery, according to the International Labor Organization. In 2024, the Global Tips Report showed that the number of children being trafficked had increased 31% in 2022 compared to 2019, with a 38% rise recorded for girls. Before I joined Our Rescue, I spent my career at Homeland Security Investigations — leading complex efforts to combat human trafficking and child exploitation and spearheading the creation of the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking, the first unified, inter-agency coordination center dedicated to combating trafficking in all forms. And I can tell you, everyday law enforcement officers uncover cases of children and adults being groomed, recruited, coerced, or even sold in our own communities. The victims are not just statistics; they are neighbors, classmates, and children whose lives are being stolen in plain sight.
But beyond these trafficking cases, another fast-growing threat is here in the U.S. — the online sexual exploitation of children. Technology has opened new frontiers for predators and organized criminal groups, making it easier than ever to target American kids in their own homes.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Hiding in Plain Sight: America’s Trafficking Epidemic | The Official Trailer" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AOS9VUHpDpE?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The scale of child sexual exploitation in the United States is staggering. In 2024 alone, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline received over 20.5 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation. These reports included more than 62.9 million files of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). This is not just a statistic; it represents real images, videos, and other materials depicting children enduring unimaginable harm.
Mike Prado, who heads the Cyber Crimes Center (C3) at Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), put it plainly: “This is no longer just about lone offenders. Today, organized criminal groups overseas are running sextortion schemes that deliberately target American children for profit.” Operations out of places like West Africa have pushed kids in America into such despair that some have taken their own lives within hours of first contact. That is the new face of exploitation. And it’s happening in U.S. households. Every. Single. Day.
The game has changed. “Now these offenders have access to the same technology that the government has,” Prado told me. “They don’t have to go to MIT. They don’t have to have a computer science degree to figure this stuff out.”
Two decades ago, law enforcement relied on basic email for victim identification. Smartphones weren’t widely available, the darknet was barely in use, and exploiting technology required computer science expertise. Today, both predators and our children can figure out these tools with ease. Technology is everywhere, and every device a child receives, whether for school or learning, can become a portal into the darker areas of the internet. According to a 2019 Kaspersky study, 84% of parents worldwide are worried about their children’s online safety. Yet also according to the study, on average, parents only spend a total of 46 minutes talking to their children about online security throughout their entire childhood. Ignoring that is a luxury we can’t afford anymore.
While law enforcement and government investment in combating exploitation have increased over the years, there is still much more to do to stay ahead of increasingly sophisticated offenders.
The core challenge is sheer scale. Every success is quickly met with new cases, and for every criminal network taken down overseas, another takes its place. It is the demand for Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) in the U.S. that keeps this cycle in motion.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/videos/hiding-in-plain-sight-america-s-trafficking-epidemic"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-993575 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Untitled-design-7-1024x576.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Untitled-design-7-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Untitled-design-7-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Untitled-design-7-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Untitled-design-7-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Untitled-design-7.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a>
In 2024, reports involving generative artificial intelligence (AI) increased by 1,325%, highlighting how technology is being weaponized against our children. Additionally, reports of online enticement, including sextortion, rose by 192%, with nearly 100 reports of financial sextortion per day. Since 2021, NCMEC has been aware of at least 36 teenage boys who have taken their lives due to this crime.
The problem is not just the number of cases but the sophistication of the predators and the overwhelming volume of reports. In 2024, NCMEC assisted law enforcement with 29,568 cases of missing children and helped bring 91% of them home. However, the risks, especially online, are becoming more complex and widespread.
But I believe that partnerships are the key to changing the tide in this fight. Just this year, the inaugural Interstate Justice Coalition surge operation (coordinated between Our Rescue, We Fight Monsters, and Skull Games Solutions and in partnership with local law enforcement agencies) spanned across Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, resulting in the identification of 32 trafficking victims, the safe recovery of 26 survivors, and the arrest of 15 traffickers.
It’s work like this — collaboration between law enforcement, nonprofits, communities, and individuals is what ultimately keeps children safe. Fighting sex trafficking and child exploitation isn’t only about arrests: It’s also about prevention and education, because the best defense is an informed community. I invite you to learn more about how you can <a href="https://ourrescue.org/join-the-fight">Join the Fight</a> against sex trafficking and child exploitation.
We must stop living like it is someone else’s problem. It’s not. It’s here, and it’s exploding at a rate our communities are not prepared to handle.
No one can fight it alone. But together we can save lives and dismantle networks that exploit and harm children.
* * *
Derek Benner is proud to serve as the CEO of Our Rescue. Formerly the Chief Mission Officer, overseeing international and domestic Operations and Survivor Care teams, he brings expertise gained from a 30-year career in federal law enforcement that includes leading Homeland Security Investigations within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Derek led the creation of the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking, the first unified, inter-component coordination center for countering human trafficking.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/">DailyWire.com/Subscribe</a> to join now.

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Confronting The Crisis Of Child Exploitation In America: Why We Must Act Now

Child Sex Abuse

DailyWire+

Department of Homeland Security

Documentaries

kidnapping

Sex Trafficking

Just two months after making headlines for questioning a same-sex kiss scene in the Disney film “Lightyear,” Snoop Dogg has fully caved to the progressive mob. The 53-year-old rapper just announced that he teamed up with the LGBT activist organization GLAAD and wrote a new song with gay pride themes for his children’s series.
The recording artist, whose legal name is Calvin Broadus Jr., worked with GLAAD to promote “Spirit Day” for LGBT teens on Thursday. He teamed up with The Voice contestant Jeremy Beloate on “Love Is Love,” a song highlighted in the latest episode of Snoop’s animated children’s series Doggyland on YouTube.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Love Is Love | Doggyland Kids Songs &amp; Nursery Rhymes by Snoop Dogg" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JZzYrWHSIxY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
“Our parents are different/ No two are the same but the one thing that’s for certain is the love won’t change/ Families are special/ They are so unique/ Everybody’s got a purpose more than what you see/ We love you parents/ We love you so,” the dogs sing, including one voiced by Snoop and one new character voiced by Beloate. 
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“It’s teaching parenthood. It’s teaching situations that kids in the world is (sic) going through right now in a beautiful way through song, dance, melody, just trying to get more clarity on how we live and the way we live. And I felt like this music is a beautiful bridge to bringing understanding,” Snoop said during an interview with Beloate that was promoted on both GLAAD and Doggyland&#8217;s Instagram pages.
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“This is a program we’ve been doing for years where we involve kids,” he added. “These are things that kids have questions about so now hopefully we can help answer these questions and help them to live a happy life and understand that love is love.”
The rapper went on, “It’s a beautiful thing that kids can have parents of all walks and be shown love, to be taught what love is … being able to have parents from all walks of life, whether it be two fathers, two mothers, whatever it is, love is the key.”
This is a drastic about-face for Snoop, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/snoop-dogg-calls-out-hollywood-for-lgbt-themes-in-childrens-films-theyre-putting-it-everywhere">criticized the inclusion</a> of same-sex couples in children’s programming in August after watching the movie “Lightyear” with his grandkids.
“What you see is what you see, and they’re putting it everywhere,” Snoop said before referencing the 2022 Disney film, which featured a same-sex couple. 
“They’re like, ‘She had a baby with another woman.’ Well, my grandson, in the middle of the movie is like, ‘Papa Snoop? How she have a baby with a woman? She’s a woman!’” he went on.
The rapper said he thought, &#8220;&#8216;Oh sh**, I didn’t come in for this sh**. I just came to watch the g**damn movie.’” But his grandson wouldn’t let it go, and said, &#8220;They just said, she and she had a baby … they’re both women. How does she have a baby?” 
Snoop said the whole thing “f***ed me up. I’m like, scared to go to the movies. Y’all throwing me in the middle of sh** that I don’t have an answer for.”
“It threw me for a loop. I’m like, ‘What part of the movie was this? … These are kids,” he added. “We have to show that at this age? They’re going to ask questions. I don’t have the answer.”
Many of Snoop’s followers were furious over the comments and accused him of defecting to the conservative side, especially considering that he had performed at a celebratory event before President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
An Instagram apology that appeared to be sent from the rapper’s official Instagram account went viral one week later, but Snoop’s rep <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/was-snoop-doggs-apology-for-criticizing-gay-kiss-in-disney-movie-a-fake?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Was+Snoop+Dogg%E2%80%99s+Apology+For+Criticizing+Gay+Kiss+In+Disney+Movie+A+Fake%3F">denied</a> that it was legitimate. Snoop never issued an official apology for the “Lightyear” comments.

Snoop Dogg

After Taking Issue With Same-Sex Kiss, Snoop Dogg Drops Woke Kids Song Glorifying LGBT Families

Snoop Dogg Debuts Song Promoting Gay Pride To Kids After Criticizing Same Sex Kiss In 'Lightyear'

GLAAD

Music

In 10 years, The Daily Wire has put up some incredible wins, and over the next few weeks, we’re looking back at 10 of our greatest victories — none of which could have happened without the support of our loyal members and fans. 
One of our biggest victories occurred over the summer as the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling upholding a Tennessee law protecting children from surgical and chemical gender mutilation. The ruling allowed states across the country to keep in place laws protecting children from life-altering transgender procedures. 
The Tennessee law at the center of ruling was inspired by an investigation from Daily Wire host Matt Walsh. In September 2022, Walsh released an investigation revealing that the pediatric transgender clinic at Vanderbilt University Medical Center was removing the breasts of girls who identified as boys and prescribing cross-sex hormones to gender-confused children.
“My team and I have been investigating the transgender clinic at Vanderbilt here in Nashville. Vanderbilt drugs, chemically castrates, and performs double mastectomies on minors,” Walsh <a href="https://x.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1572313369528635392">reported</a> at the time. “They now castrate, sterilize, and mutilate minors as well as adults, while apparently taking steps to hide this activity from the public view. This is what ‘health care’ has become in modern America.”
In the days following the investigation, Walsh met with top Tennessee lawmakers who vowed to introduce legislation to ban transgender procedures on kids and Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tennessee-looking-at-child-gender-transition-legislation-after-vanderbilt-transgender-videos-released">called</a> for an immediate end to the procedures. 
A month after the investigation broke, Walsh led a rally in Nashville attended by top Tennessee Republicans like Senator Marsha Blackburn and others like Tulsi Gabbard calling for an end to child mutilation. 
Walsh later testified before state lawmakers in favor of the Republican-backed bill to ban transgender procedures on kids in Tennessee. 
“We should be able to agree that it is never OK to chemically castrate, sterilize, butcher, or mutilate a child. And in fact, all decent people do agree on this point,” Walsh said during his testimony. “But many of the people who hold power in this country and who run our institutions — including our medical institutions — do not pass this basic test of decency.” 
After Tennessee’s law was passed in March 2023, over a dozen other states moved to enact similar legislation to protect kids. Tennessee’s law was challenged by leftist activists and the Biden administration, bouncing through the federal court system before the Supreme Court agreed to take it up. Walsh also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1498-on-demand">spoke</a> at a rally in front of the Supreme Court in December 2024, continuing to push for an end to transgender procedures on children. 
In June 2025, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in United States v. Skrmetti that states were allowed to protect kids from transgender procedures under the Constitution. 
Walsh said that the decision was a “fatal blow” to transgender ideology. 
“Three years ago, we launched our investigation into Vanderbilt’s child mutilation practices,” he <a href="https://x.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1935345883769430153">said</a>. “We rallied in the state capital. Our lawmakers responded with a law banning child mutilation in the state. Today the Supreme Court upheld our law, which means child mutilation can be banned anywhere and everywhere in the country. And should be. This is a truly historic victory and I’m grateful to be a part of it, along with so many others who have fought relentlessly for years.”

Matt Walsh/Supreme Court

Decade Of Daily Wire: How We Fought Back Against Child Mutilation And Won

Daily Wire

Matt Walsh

Supreme Court

You may recognize Leland Vittert from his work as an anchor on NewsNation. What you may not recognize, however, is that Leland got to where he is after being diagnosed with autism.
With renewed scrutiny on the causes of autism, his new book “Born Lucky” is flying off the shelves, landing at #4 on the New York Times bestseller list. It&#8217;s not just a story about how Leland managed to build a successful life with autism, but also about the people who sacrificed to make that possible.
So when we asked about publishing an excerpt from it, Leland suggested the afterword, written by his dad. After reading it, we understand why. But we asked him to explain it to our readers as well.
We hope you enjoy. — The Editors
* * *
When I was diagnosed with what we now know to be autism, my father quit his job and became a full time parent, coach, and friend. It was, as he describes it, my only hope. He felt hopeless and helpless and with good reason. The psychologist who tested me told him there was “generally not” anything parents could do for kids in my situation and it was “difficult to understand” what&#8217;s going on in my head.
My father’s mission to adapt me to the world, rather than the world to me, took him 15 years – to be fair, I am now 43 and he is still working on it.
In my new book, &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Born-Lucky-Dedicated-Grateful-Journey/dp/140025468X/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_w=M2Kgd&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.4efc43db-939e-4a80-abaf-50c6a6b8c631%3Aamzn1.symc.5a16118f-86f0-44cd-8e3e-6c5f82df43d0&amp;pf_rd_p=4efc43db-939e-4a80-abaf-50c6a6b8c631&amp;pf_rd_r=ZH2H6KCH5RD7206BW8AE&amp;pd_rd_wg=ZzvPM&amp;pd_rd_r=39261712-bad5-42ce-93ea-31acd52c574f&amp;ref_=pd_hp_d_atf_ci_mcx_mr_ca_hp_atf_d">Born Lucky: A Dedicated Father, Grateful Son, and My Journey with Autism</a>,&#8221; I tell the story of my father’s journey and how he never told anyone of my diagnosis: not teachers, not therapists, not his friends, and not even me!
<div id="attachment_985495" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-985495" class="size-large wp-image-985495" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-14-Oct-2025-08-37-AM-5895-1024x576.jpg" alt="Credit: Leland Vittert" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-14-Oct-2025-08-37-AM-5895-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-14-Oct-2025-08-37-AM-5895-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-14-Oct-2025-08-37-AM-5895-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-14-Oct-2025-08-37-AM-5895-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-14-Oct-2025-08-37-AM-5895-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Credit: Leland Vittert</div>
Thanks to my dad (and mom) things have worked out pretty well. We endured the hell that was middle school, where principals told my parents I was “weird” and teachers compared me disfavorably to their dog’s asses. I am now married to a magnificent woman and I’m a national cable television anchor. What dad didn&#8217;t know at the time was that the hell of middle school would be great training for a Washington newsroom.
Dad says he isn&#8217;t a hero. I would argue that point, but he can describe himself however he wants.
At first, he didn&#8217;t want to tell this story because the book would contain my darkest moments. So, we made a deal: I would write the manuscript and at the end, if he didn&#8217;t like it, we wouldn&#8217;t turn it in to HarperCollins. To be honest, I had no plan if he said he did not like it.
But at that moment of decision, I asked him a question: If, when I was originally diagnosed, the psychologist had given him our book “Born Lucky’ (rather than saying there was not much to do), how would he have felt?
He responded that he would have read it every week because it would give him hope.
The book is hope for every parent with a kid who is struggling, not just with autism but anxiety, ADHD, difficulty at school, etc., and proof of what a father and mother’s love can do.
That’s why I asked my dad to write the afterword in the book in the form of thoughts for parents facing some of the same challenges he did.
I would like to share that with you now.
— Leland Vittert
<div id="attachment_985155" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Born-Lucky-Dedicated-Grateful-Journey/dp/140025468X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3O3L1UKLC7BU8&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.MCP08BnE6vI4ikVNkhJBg72CUwiVpmvlL8qZybVTSZLx_BEqUQGmyDmGpK7jXlU7iZCcob-eOUDY6rbg3C1NjBxWSU2Qe7cCc8CaNp8qCwQ7jeHWCo-3GvFE_ZYtE5X1HiiDd4mb-Kg5aF8mQtn0KNs6EYCmCB-12b31vB_-5jrAx6Zuj6Gsjf3oFbwy2yo9QmShQlmJ7m55riGBazN3-QDQblrGsUiWAs0R9M9NLPk.z4MTp6JWwZEIj8QmHoKGWHoBiTGIr1B6V_Uz9VbpCLo&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=vittert&amp;qid=1760449473&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=vittert%2Cstripbooks%2C112&amp;sr=1-1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-985155" class="size-large wp-image-985155" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-384x576.jpg" alt="Cover credit: Harper Horizon" width="384" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-1360x2040.jpg 1360w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-scaled.jpg 1707w" sizes=" (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" /></a>Cover credit: Harper Horizon</div>
* * *
The following excerpt is taken from the Afterword from the book &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Born-Lucky-Dedicated-Grateful-Journey/dp/140025468X/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_w=M2Kgd&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.4efc43db-939e-4a80-abaf-50c6a6b8c631%3Aamzn1.symc.5a16118f-86f0-44cd-8e3e-6c5f82df43d0&amp;pf_rd_p=4efc43db-939e-4a80-abaf-50c6a6b8c631&amp;pf_rd_r=ZH2H6KCH5RD7206BW8AE&amp;pd_rd_wg=ZzvPM&amp;pd_rd_r=39261712-bad5-42ce-93ea-31acd52c574f&amp;ref_=pd_hp_d_atf_ci_mcx_mr_ca_hp_atf_d">Born Lucky: A Dedicated Father, A Grateful Son, and My Journey with Autism</a>,&#8221; by Leland Vittert with Don Yaeger. (Harper Horizon, September 2025).
 * * *
<h3>Afterword From Dad</h3>
As you have already read, Lucky, decades ago, placed me on a pedestal.
This occurred simply as a result of his fundamental needs, that there was no one else, no other man, to help him and hold him. Consequently, it might appear in this book that I offered him support as a secure and knowledgeable father. That was not true.
I was scared for years. I still am to a degree, uncertain quite often and holding on for my family till sleep comes, bringing a few hours of peace.
For all of us who are in the most difficult and complex battle to help our special children survive, there is no finish line.
I am positive that every father and mother engaged in the monumental effort to help and protect and love our challenged children are dealing with the same issues.
Believe me, despite Lucky’s admiration, I did only what any father would want to do.
All of us in this battle, this fight against what feels like the world has left our side, are in the same place.
We all feel enormous love and responsibility to those little ones who are absolutely lost and, without us, alone. Mothers and fathers need to know that there is definitely hope.
I am not that smart nor capable to have known what to do for him, except to love him and listen always to his cries for help, and to enlist a couple of personal rules that seemed to make sense in a frightening circumstance.
Let me say that his mother, Carol, was the unsung angel here. She not only had to hold Lucky, but also me.
<div id="attachment_985497" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-985497" class="size-large wp-image-985497" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/81f71ca0-3ba6-4bba-99a5-3eea97064c98-1024x576.jpg" alt="Credit: Leland Vittert" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/81f71ca0-3ba6-4bba-99a5-3eea97064c98-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/81f71ca0-3ba6-4bba-99a5-3eea97064c98-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/81f71ca0-3ba6-4bba-99a5-3eea97064c98-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/81f71ca0-3ba6-4bba-99a5-3eea97064c98-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/81f71ca0-3ba6-4bba-99a5-3eea97064c98.jpg 1829w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Credit: Leland Vittert</div>
I really did not know what was ahead, who could help, or if the verdict was just “give up.” Well, the purpose of this book is to offer hope, real hope. Here are the principles that I wrote down for myself when Lucky was diagnosed:
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Have no expectations about the future.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Under no circumstances let your child feel that they have ever disappointed you. EVER, under no circumstance.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">You are the depository of their hurt, their frustration, and their humiliations. You must listen and listen—morning before school and late into the night.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Tell them that they have the right stuff for life. That the currency of high school, etc., is not the currency of life. There are many more years after the six years of junior high and high school.</li>
</ol>
There were times where I reflexively responded to a seemingly endless difficult day with temper. Those were the most regrettable of times.
I fully understand that so many had and will have far more significant challenges and difficulties than we had.
You will need to remember that your child will continue, no matter the advancement, to simply be themself. This is not a broken arm that heals; it is the way they were made.
Together, whatever the circumstance or how dire the situation, there is hope, good hope, but it will require endless understanding and the firm belief that your child can be better.
With the advent of so much bullying and other negative effects from today’s social media culture, it will be hard to escape. We did not have to address that issue.
We did not discuss Lucky’s issues or labels with anyone, nor did we seek outside assistance. Perhaps that would have been better. I do not know.
Whatever your child’s issue, I believe their best chance to progress is you and your love and patience and, in particular, your unwavering belief in them.
It was felt that writing this book could possibly help. There are so many of us who were and are lost in the nightmare of this despair.
If you are in this fight, it will be a challenge that is the most worthwhile of your life. It will probably take years and years, but it will be worth it.
If someone would have told me about what the future held for our little boy, I would have likely yielded right then. I would have been terribly wrong to do so.
If I can do it, you can. You can make an enormous difference for the ones you love dearly.
With all my heart, I wish for you and your child a future that you will make better together.
— Mark Vittert
* * *
This excerpt is published by permission from Harper Horizon. &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Born-Lucky-Dedicated-Grateful-Journey/dp/140025468X/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_w=M2Kgd&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.4efc43db-939e-4a80-abaf-50c6a6b8c631%3Aamzn1.symc.5a16118f-86f0-44cd-8e3e-6c5f82df43d0&amp;pf_rd_p=4efc43db-939e-4a80-abaf-50c6a6b8c631&amp;pf_rd_r=ZH2H6KCH5RD7206BW8AE&amp;pd_rd_wg=ZzvPM&amp;pd_rd_r=39261712-bad5-42ce-93ea-31acd52c574f&amp;ref_=pd_hp_d_atf_ci_mcx_mr_ca_hp_atf_d">Born Lucky: A Dedicated Father, A Grateful Son, and My Journey with Autism</a>,&#8221; by Leland Vittert with Don Yaeger. (Harper Horizon, September 2025).
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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Leland Vittert book IV

‘My Father Never Gave Up On Me’: Leland Vittert On Being ‘Born Lucky’

'My Father Never Gave Up On Me': Leland Vittert On Being 'Born Lucky'

Autism

Books

Fathers

High School

Media

Middle School

In a grim reminder of a justice system gone adrift, Ronald Exantus — the man who killed 6-year-old Kentuckian Logan Tipton in the dead of night — has been <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15179267/ronald-exantus-killer-arrested-logan-tipton.html">rearrested</a>, this time in Florida, after a controversial early parole release that sparked public outrage.
Exantus, now 42, was convicted in 2018 of multiple assaults after he broke into the Tipton family’s home in Versailles, Kentucky, in 2015. Though he wasn’t convicted of murder — thanks to a jury’s “not guilty by reason of insanity” verdict — the facts were clear: he crept into the family&#8217;s home and repeatedly stabbed a sleeping child in the head with such force that the butcher knife bent.
And yet, after serving just seven years of a 20-year sentence, Exantus <a href="https://www.wkyt.com/2025/10/09/ronald-exantus-arrested-florida-officials-working-send-him-back-kentucky-ag-says/">walked free</a> on October 1 under Kentucky’s Mandatory Reentry Supervision law, bolstered by education and “good behavior” credits. The parole board had recommended he remain locked up. The Department of Corrections overruled the board.
Exantus’ brief taste of freedom ended with handcuffs in Florida. Marion County deputies arrested him for violating his parole and failing to register as a convicted felon, a requirement under Florida law within 48 hours of relocating. He was found living across from an elementary school — the same kind of innocent environment he once shattered.
Sheriff Billy Woods didn’t mince words: “The fact that he was living right next to an elementary school is even more repulsive&#8230; I have no tolerance for this type of dangerous person flaunting our laws and thinking he would hide out in our county.”
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Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier echoed the outrage, saying officials are already working to send Exantus back to Kentucky. “This dangerous individual who murdered a child by repeatedly stabbing him in the head was in Florida. We are not tolerating that,” he stated.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Breaking: Ronald Exantus arrested in Florida; officials working to send him back to Kentucky, AG says: <a href="https://t.co/5jCkLK9Cmn">https://t.co/5jCkLK9Cmn</a> <a href="https://t.co/4HKn0kx3GG">pic.twitter.com/4HKn0kx3GG</a>
&mdash; WKYT (@WKYT) <a href="https://twitter.com/WKYT/status/1976398087175188648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The release ignited a public firestorm. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, speaking for President Donald Trump’s administration,<a href="https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/crime/2025/10/05/white-house-looking-into-ronald-exantus-logan-tipton-kentucky-boy-killing/86535555007/"> stated</a> bluntly: “It’s wholly unacceptable for a child killer to walk free after just several years in prison.”
The facts of the case are not in dispute. On the night of the killing, Exantus — a dialysis nurse from Indianapolis — drove to Kentucky for no discernible reason. He entered the Tipton home through an unlocked door and attacked the family in their sleep. Logan was killed. His father and two sisters were stabbed. The court acknowledged that Exantus was mentally disturbed. That didn’t make the blood any less real.
Logan’s father, Dean Tipton, gave voice to the anguish, declaring, “I’ve told the court — if I ever cross paths with him, I will kill the man.”
His mother, Heather Tipton, said the justice system offered no protection, not even a courtesy call when Exantus was released, offering, “It just feels like a 6-year-old’s life is worth more than ten years in prison.”

MixCollage-10-Oct-2025-08-05-AM-7169

Man Who Killed Kentucky Boy Arrested Again After Controversial Parole

Crime

Florida

Kentucky

Murder

U.S.

Today, the Supreme Court will hear <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/chiles-v-salazar/">Chiles v. Salazar</a>, a case about censorship in private counseling conversations regarding gender identity not sanctioned by Colorado state law. The results will have a lasting influence not only counselors, parents, and children in Colorado, but throughout the United States.
I know, because our family learned the hard way when our 11-year-old daughter went to her school counselors in Wisconsin for advice. 
So many times, just being able to talk about things with someone who knows how to listen can make a life-changing difference. What our family learned, however, was that these people did not know how to listen. They were interested in making a life-changing difference, yes, but mostly in changing my daughter’s life to suit their social sensibilities, not to do what was best for her.
COVID hit at just about the same time my daughter entered into a very real personal crisis. She was 11 years old and decided she hated herself. She hated her looks, hated her personality — everything. The isolation of the epidemic left her with too much time to think about all of that and too few people to talk to about what she was feeling.
Sometimes, as a kid, it can help to know that other kids around the same age are struggling with the same issues. But our daughter was mostly alone with all her growing worries, fears, and frustrations. She didn’t know how to talk to me about what she was feeling, and she started reading about kids who were &#8220;changing&#8221; themselves. That sounded like the answer to everything: changing herself.
Looking back, she says, she doesn’t think she was really feeling that much gender dysphoria. She wasn’t especially wanting to be a boy — she just didn’t want to be herself.
That turned out to be very easy to arrange. In fact, a teacher’s aide approached my daughter and said that, if she wanted to give the people in the front office a new name and new pronouns, they’d happily take care of the paperwork.
They might have suggested that she first talk a little more with her parents about what she was feeling and give us a chance to listen and help her work through these things. But no one — not the school officials, not the doctors she eventually talked to — ever suggested anything like that.
To them, what we as her parents thought and felt was irrelevant. Our love for our child and our authority to influence her life choices didn’t matter at all. All of these strangers just assumed they knew best and had the right to keep her parents out of the conversation.
For that matter, they didn’t include our daughter much, either.
At no time did anyone at school or in the medical facilities our daughter visited ever suggest that there might be a healthy alternative to her social transitioning. They never suggested that she might just be struggling with the kinds of things lots of boys and girls have trouble with — dealing with the pains and awkward changes of puberty and the problems of fitting into a sometimes-crazy teenage culture.
That’s why my husband and I <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/tf-and-bf-v-kettle-moraine-school-district/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped">sued</a> our Wisconsin school district with the help of our attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom. As parents, we have had to really fight for what should be a given — our basic legal right to be involved in our child’s life. And — with our love and support — she had to find her own way out of the confusing jungle of emotions she was dealing with.
We’re glad she was able to do that, but we still wonder how much easier it might have been if someone with the right skills had just been there to help her find the trail — and if her school officials hadn’t tried so hard to block her from finding it.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="How Tammy&#039;s Bold Stand Saved Her Daughter from &quot;Social Transitioning&quot;" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z5le_6Qwe8o?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
That’s also why we’re so interested in another ADF client, Kaley Chiles, and <a href="https://adflegal.org/case/chiles-v-salazar/?utm_source=dailywire&amp;utm_medium=oped">her case</a> being argued before the U.S. Supreme Court today. Ms. Chiles is a counselor who wants to offer help to young people like our daughter, who are going through the kinds of things she’s been going through.
We’ve read a lot about her. She does what it seems like a counselor ought to do. She listens. She asks thoughtful questions. She helps young people figure out where they want to go and how to get there. She’s there to walk with them — not push them through a pre-chosen door or force her own ideas on their disturbed minds and hurting hearts.
To me, that’s what every young person going through what my daughter went through needs. But in Ms. Chiles’ home state of Colorado, it’s actually against the law for a counselor to help a minor that way.
My own state has a similar law. And these laws allow counselors to point the way to transitioning and encourage it, but they can’t offer an alternative or do anything to support a young person who leans toward another conclusion.
That reminds me so much of what my daughter has experienced these last few years. People — professionals — with no interest in helping her, just in changing her.
Ms. Chiles’ attorneys will be making good arguments for why that’s a terrible approach … one that can be life-changing for children and teens in all the wrong ways.
I just hope the justices know how to listen.
* * *
Tammy Fournier and her daughter reside in Wisconsin.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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SCOTUS I

When My 11-Year-Old Daughter Began Hating Herself, The School Told Her To Change Her Pronouns

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