Heartless attitudes about people’s emotional distress seems to have become part of the formula for success in today’s Republican Party.
Consider the policies enacted by Texas Republicans regarding the young people struggling with what we call “gender identity.” Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken “Under Felony Indictment” Paxton believe parents who seek treatment for their children’s gender ID issues are committing “child abuse.”
It baffles me that grown men and women, who do not have such issues with which to contend, can make judgments on others who do have them, or who have children they are seeking to help guide along on their life’s journey.
Abbott and Paxton — the latter of whom is awaiting trial on an allegation of securities fraud — believe that parents who seek “gender-affirming care” are guilty of abusing their children. My goodness! How in the name of humane treatment can these people pursue their constituents in this manner?
I am one American who cannot possibly relate intimately with the struggles of others who have these issues. Thus, I cannot in good conscience pretend to understand this complicated emotional behavior. How, then, do politicians who are supposed to represent me justify imposing their will on others?
It is a heartlessness I find terribly unbecoming.