During a visit to lobby legislators on transgender issues, Senator Carden Summers ® knelt down and told a child he would protect her. When he learned she was trans, he backed away.
On Feb. 6, a group of families met to lobby senators on issues affecting the local transgender community in Georgia. One mother, Lena Kotler, decided to take her two children with her to give the topic a human face. While waiting to meet with Democratic Sen. Kim Jackson, who they had heard was a big supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, another senator passed by — Republican Sen. Carden Summers, the primary sponsor of the state’s bathroom ban bill. Little did he know that one of the children he would be interacting with, Aleix, 8 years old, was a transgender child.
According to Kotler and other families who were present, the senator stopped to say hello. That’s when Kotler spoke to Senator Summers about how she was there with her kids to “talk to legislators about keeping her kids safe.” Although she did not mention that one of her children was trans, they were present with LGBTQ+ signage - something the Senator apparently missed when he knelt down in front of Aleix and said, according to Kotler, “Well you know, we’re working on that and I’m going to protect kids like you.”
Kotler then replied, “Yeah - Alex is trans, and she wants to be safe at school, she wants to go to the bathroom and be safe.”
That is when, according to multiple witnesses, Sen. Summers stood up and fumbled his words, repeating, “I mean, yeah, I’m going to make sure she’s safe by going to the right bathroom,” continuing to use the correct pronouns for Aleix. When asked if he would make her go to a boy’s bathroom, he then allegedly backed away, saying, “You’re attacking me,” turned around, and walked off quickly.
Using your 8 year old in any argument is awful, but here it is also stupid. The mother realizes that the child might still change her mind on this, right? Like it is not a for life decision she made at 8 years old.
Doing what the mother is doing and making her into an activist might back her into a corner of being a girl if she might not want to in the future.
How tf. is it making a child into an activist?
“You have an issue you feel uncomfortable about, and feel your safety is threatened? let’s talk with a democratic representative, so they better understand you.” Is not “activism”. It is normal political process in a democracy and it should be endorsed, especially for children. They have rights too and they have opinions too and since they cannot voice their opinion in elections it is all the more important that they can be heard by politicians. And there the bar is also different. A child cannot be expected to form a conscise political argument, leave alone lobby for it, what would be activism. But children have legitimate concerns that need to be heard nonetheless.
By this definition raising any issue with any politician is “activism”. Also who the fuck would deny a child to change its mind as it grows up?
Look at it differently.
Your child is trans.
Two competing politicians have differing policies. One is against trans people, one supports trans people. Which politician would you be inclined to support?
Would you discuss these issues with your child? If so, would you bring your child to meet the politician who is “fighting for her”?