It is no secret that we live in a time of absolute moral upheaval, with items as basic and fundamental as what it means to be male and female
being called into question. There are now more lewdness and obscenity on accessible display than ever before in our nation’s history, and
the left’s ever-evolving dogma of what constitutes gender and acceptable sexual behavior is thrust upon us from every side.
Dealing with these issues is one thing. Having them forced upon our children is another.
I have filed legislation that will protect the innocence of children by addressing three items:
• Gender transition procedures for children
• Child Exploitation by streaming services
• Obscenity exemptions in statute allowing children to be exposed to lewd and obscene material
Prohibiting Gender Transition Procedures for Children
Studies have indicated that up to 94% of childhood gender dysphoria cases are alleviated by puberty or otherwise resolve on their own.
And yet, very young Texas children whose parents think they are suffering from gender dysphoria are being prescribed puberty blocking drugs, cross-sex hormone therapies, and mutilating surgeries (mastectomies on girls and genital removal on boys) that can cause
irreversible physical and psychological damage.
In addition to being incredibly immoral, these treatments are unproven and dangerous. Julia Mason, a pediatrician of the Society for
Evidence-Based Gender Medicine, stated: “What we are doing now is a massive uncontrolled medical experiment on children without
adequate informed consent and without the backing of any kind of institutional review board.”
Every single child is created in the image of God. Altering a healthy, completely natural part of His creation in such a way is not only
morally wrong, but also carries dire consequences. There are countless testimonies of adults who underwent transition procedures as
children, but regret it now. Ranging from bone density problems to fertility issues, these are more than just side effects of a drug or
procedure. They significantly decrease the quality of life for many individuals – forever. Also, the suicide rate for these surgical and drug
victims is extremely high.
Parents and health care providers who request, prescribe, or perform these medical treatments are maiming children for life. I have filed
legislation to prohibit health care providers from performing or prescribing these medical treatments. In addition, it would require the
Texas Medical Board or other appropriate state agencies to revoke the license of any provider offering sex change treatments to minors.
Finally, it would prohibit health insurance from covering these procedures.
Penalizing Child Exploitation by Streaming Services
Last year, the Netflix film “Cuties” caused waves of controversy when it featured extremely graphic scenes of children performing very
provocative dances and wearing inappropriate clothing.
If an individual were to film a single child performing acts to arouse sexual excitement, it would clearly be prosecuted. Yet somehow, we
ignore when it is done on a mass basis in the name of art. Netflix attempted to defend the movie by saying that it is a “social commentary
against sexualization of children.”
In other words, they purposely sexualized and exploited young girls to comment on sexualizing children.
It is never okay to sexualize children in the name of art or to prove a point.
My bill would penalize corporations such as Netflix – or the specific individuals acting on their behalf – who make the choice to distribute
lewd visual material depicting children as described under Texas Penal Code 43.262. This same portion of statute is what led a Tyler County
grand jury to indict Netflix for promoting “Cuties.”
It is wholly unethical and immoral for streaming services, or any entity for that matter, to make the choice to disseminate what is essentially
child pornography. My bill, if passed, would make this a felony offense.
Obscenity Exemptions
Current provisions in Texas Law allow children to be exposed to harmful and obscene materials if the exposure is for educational, medical,
psychological, or legislative purposes. Obscenity is not constitutionally protected speech, and has no place being shown or made available to
children for any purpose. Unfortunately, the material that falls under these categories is currently accessible to children in many school and
public libraries.
In addition, there are loopholes in statute which currently provide a defense to prosecution for someone who solicited a child to a sexual
performance or conduct, if the individual is able to show that it was for a bona fide “educational, medical, psychological, or psychiatric
purpose.” This unthinkable scenario has taken place in court. There is NO legitimate educational, medical, psychological, psychiatric, or
any other reason to traumatize a child with lewd or obscene material.
My bill would remove all of these exemptions from statute – including the exemptions for judicial and legislative purposes. The only one it
would leave is the law enforcement exemption, so that officers may carry out appropriate investigational duties as needed.
Whenever I evaluate an item of legislation, I always ask, “Is this right for a moral people?”
I apply this principle when evaluating existing Texas laws as well. There is no excuse to ever expose harmful and obscene materials to
children, nor to solicit them to any type of sexual performance or conduct. This bill would correct statute that should have been cleaned up
years ago.
But whoever shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. – Mathew 18:6