In the past few years, right-wing activists agitating against LGBTQ rights and freedoms insist that they aren't acting out of bigotry towards trans or queer people. No, they argue, they are doing this to protect "the children."
In Florida, Republicans defended a law critics dubbed the "don't say gay" law with risible accusations that erasing LGBTQ identities from the classroom is necessary to prevent "grooming" of children, equating, for instance, a book that features a same-sex married couple with a pedophile manipulating a child into accepting sexual abuse. The escalating protests of drag shows and brunches around the country are justified with claims that the shows expose "children" to "sexualized" material, even though performers and audiences have testified that shows geared towards families with small children don't feature the ribald jokes of more adult fare. Republican legislators and conservative activists have targeted trans kids in schools, saying their access to sports teams and restrooms must be restricted in order to protect the "privacy" of cis children. A growing national moral panic over gender-affirming care for minors has even led to protests and threats against children's hospitals, even though the American Academy of Pediatrics describes the treatment as the "accepted standard of care for adolescents at risk of or suffering from gender dysphoria." In fact, it's rare to unheard-of for minors to get major surgical interventions.
