1. United States
2. Mo.
3. Letter

In your most recent newsletter you asked the question "Do you agree that taxpayers should not be funding the chemical castration and mutilation of children?" I want to address this in a few ways beyond your deliberately obtuse yes and no survey. Let me ask you a question: do you agree to stop beating your wife? This is an unanswerable question isn't it? If you say yes you admit that you are beating your wife, if you say no, you are clearly a heartless beast who enjoys beating his wife. Let's talk about transition for a moment. As you are clearly so terrified of it. The percentage of children who go on puberty blockers is very very vanishingly small. Especially in Missouri where it is nearly impossible to get informed consent from a doctor. But in your hypothetical case they are being given out like candy at the expense of taxpayers. Puberty blockers do not castrate children. They do not impair biological function, they merely slow it down so that the child is not forced into a body they don't identify with. It is 100% reversible, safe and effective in treating transgender children. If a child does not identify with the gender assigned to them at birth this gives them a chance to understand gender for themselves. Puberty blockers have been proven to be safe, they have been proven to prevent teen suicide and they have been proven to be reversible. All it does is buy a child more time. Why are you against that? Let me ask you another question: do you agree to stop causing children to kill themselves? Because trans children without access to blockers often attempt suicide. How about this question: do you agree to stop being fixated on the genitals of children? Yes or no? Let trans children be trans children. Let them grow up. Let them be who they need to be. They won't hurt you, they won't affect sports, they just want to live their lives. Who are you to deny them that?