Rewind 2023: Did the LGBTQ movement cross the line?

“…I can assure you that my four-year-old and my two-year-old daughters will not change (their clothes) in front of biological men. This is ridiculous,” the US Representative for Texas Wesley Hunt angrily said on July 27, 2023, as he torched the idea of gender-affirming care.

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government was hearing testimony from former female college swimmer Paula Scanlan — who was forced to compete alongside a trans-identifying male. 

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“If you think that we are all equal and the same biologically, you’ve literally lost your mind. And when my two daughters work hard in a sport, work hard in their craft to be the best that they can be, amongst other women, they will compete against other women,” Representative Hunt said. 

He pointed out that when it came to gender dysphoria in children, many in the American medical establishment had “absolutely lost their mind.”

The LGBTQ movement is not new and has been around for decades. But over the years, there has been an attempt to impose the movement’s ideologies onto people, especially in the education system.

The efforts to appease the community in recent years have caused significant damage, especially to children and parents.

Here’s a look at what has happened this year:

Parents fume over LGBTQ teaching at school

This year, there have been multiple protests by parents against the LGBTQ curriculum in schools in Western countries.

 In early July, around 100 parents gathered for a protest at Birchfields Primary School in Manchester, United Kingdom (UK), the BBC reported. They held signs which said “Stop sexualising our children,” and “Too much too soon.”

The following month, about 150 protesters marched from the City Hall to the Los Angeles Unified School District headquarters on Aug 21, a report by the LA Times said. The protesters included parents whose children were studying at Saticoy Elementary, where fighting broke out between opposing sides during a protest over Gay Pride activity in June. In this case, the two main demands were placed. First - a discussion about the LGBTQ+ community and sex-related education be kept out of schools. Second- school districts notify parents if their children are asked to identify in school in a manner different than the gender assigned to them at birth.

In January, American media highlighted a few cases where school students changed their gender identity and their parents were completely unaware. They argued that the school administration should have sought their permission or at least told them.

Also read: To marry or not to marry: An analysis of Indian Supreme Court's same-sex marriage judgment

In late September, thousands of people in Canada rallied across the country, expressing concerns about how LGBTQ+ issues were handled in schools, CBC Kids News reported. They were opposing how schools were addressing sexual orientation and gender. The protesters pointed out that parents should be responsible for deciding when their children should be exposed to LGBTQ+ teaching. These protests were met with counter-protesters who said such kind of education was essential and schools should be safe places for children to explore gender.

Social media, LGBTQ 'propaganda', and the dangers

Social media is a dangerous place if not explored carefully. The most potential victims of social media-related crimes are children who explore this part of the internet with little to no supervision from parents at times.

A study conducted by the MARA Technological University in Malaysia in 2019 showed that there had been aggressive attempts by the LGBTQ community in the country to push their agenda through Facebook and Instagram. The study further said that Seksualiti Merdeka- an annual sexuality rights festival held in Kuala Lumpur - was organised by organisations deemed illegal in the country.

Malaysia opposes LGBTQ advocacy and has criminalised same-sex sexual activity between men and between women.

Two years back, campaigners in the UK accused TikTok of helping children to be brainwashed by showing viral social media videos that promoted changing sex as “cool.”

A report by the DailyMail said that millions of young people were watching content posted by transgender influencers on the social media app- providing advice on transitioning and accessing hormone therapies.

One such video on TikTok said- “Heal with me after top surgery!” – a reference to a reconstructive chest operation.

Another video on the platform said- “I used to be a good Christian kid” before showing the person’s transformation as a "trans, gay atheist who loves tattoos and chaos".

Speaking to the publication, Kate Harris, of the LGB Alliance, which opposes LGBTQ rights charity Stonewall’s policies on transgender issues, was concerned that millions of children were watching these online transgender influencers.

“It’s no coincidence that the growth of TikTok coincides exactly with the exponential growth of children presenting with gender dysphoria,” she said, adding the videos delivered a message that parents should not be involved.

“What these videos would lead a generation of children to believe is that it is easy to change sex and that it is the answer to all of your problems.”

Now there’s nothing wrong with identifying yourself as different from the gender you were born with or having a different sexual orientation. There is nothing wrong with same-sex marriages. 

People from the LGBTQ community deserve equal opportunities everywhere be it education, workplace, citizen and human rights, etc. Unfortunately, the community is still fighting for these things, along with the stigma it faces. 

But does the community have the right to force others to think like them? Should those who oppose and want to stay out of this matter due to personal or religious beliefs be labelled bigot or homophobic? That's some food for thought.

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)