The Associated Press is offering helpful advice to parents who grapple with whether or not their children are transgender. Among the outlet's helpful "tips" for mom and dad? Just let the kids "call the shots in terms of their gender."
The Free Beacon summarizes this highly disturbing "advice column":
The article, “Wondering if your child is transgender? Here are some tips,” accompanied another AP story Monday that gave a glowing review of a San Francisco summer camp for transgender four-year-olds.
The AP spoke to “gender experts,” who tell parents to allow their sons and daughters to “do a weekend as a different gender.”
“How can a parent know if their child is transgender? What separates a young boy who might be transgender from one with a vivid imagination who likes to dress up in his sister’s dresses?” the AP asks. “What do you do if your daughter tells you she’s a boy?”
The answer, according to the wire service, is "we don't know."
The primary gender expert the AP talked to was Diane Ehrensaft, the author of The Gender Creative Child, a book that "unlocks the door to a gender-expansive world."
Ehrensaft, who is a clinical psychologist who gives "gender assessments and consultations" to children and adults, told parents they should buy dresses for their little boys.
The AP asked Ehrensaft, "My son likes to wear dresses. Is this a phase or something more?"
"My answer is, we don't know," Ehrensaft said. "What we know is, you have a son who likes princess dresses. I would say get him the dresses. Have your child feel free to choose. Maybe they'll stop wearing dresses. Maybe they'll grow up to be gay."
"We don't know," but you should take our word for it, and our advice. Sounds reasonable.
The Beacon notes that Ehrensaft also "serves on the board of Gender Spectrum, which has a guidebook for K-12 schools that argues a child's 'age and maturity' should 'never be a basis for denying a transgender student an opportunity to transition in a safe and supportive environment.'
In fact, Ehrensaft "encourages children to 'socially transition' to the opposite gender as early as the age of 2," writes the Beacon.
And I encourage authorities to revoke Ehrensaft's license to practice psychology and keep her far away from children.
