In the current drag controversy–queens and children, the tree hides the forest. Drag queens, Barbada like the others, do not just read tales: they also talk to children about accepting difference and, as some articles reveal, aboutearly gender identity.
That drag queens read stories to children is not the problem in itself. Coming out of cabarets for years, they provide entertainment at parties, weddings, parades and even children’s storytelling.
On the other hand, when Barbada and its sisters talk about gender identity for children, the question arises: what “gender identity” are we talking about?
gender identity
All young children need to define their sexual identity very early on. He compares himself to his parents, to his friends. He asks his parents if he will ever have a baby in his womb. You then explain to him the anatomical differences between boys and girls, as well as the traditional way of making babies.
You also explain to her that her friend’s two mothers at daycare got her with the help of a generous man. Your child mentions that the boys in his daycare center wear short hair and the girls long hair: you explain to him that boys and girls can wear their hair as long as they want and still be boys and girls. And the clothes? You give him the example of his friend, who superimposes a little iridescent tulle skirt on his pants, but has never asserted himself as anything other than a boy.
Later, step by step, you will explain to your child caesarean section, adoption, assisted reproduction, trans and intersex people, the harmfulness of stereotypes and the importance of respect.
However, to understand all of this, your child needs a solid foundation in anatomy. What if he calls himself trans? You already know that he must first go through a psychological evaluation to avoid joining the growing ranks of mutilated, infertile and unhappy detransitioners. Then, if his trans identity is confirmed, you will accompany him in his transition.
- Listen to Richard Martineau’s interview with Caroline Morgan, translator, on QUB-radio:
Gender theory
Alas, this path is hardly compatible with the “gender theory” to which many children are exposed today. Biology is more and more denied there; the feminine and the masculine, reduced to “feelings” emptied of all meaning or, even worse, to clothing or behavioral stereotypes presented in the form of “continuums”.
Teenagers shop around for their identity among dozens of labels: pangender, agender, half-boy/girl, “genderqueer”, neutrois… “Assigning” a sex at birth? How awful! What about biological women and men? Reduced to “menstruating people” and “prostate carriers”.
Far from facilitating the acceptance of differences, this discourse encourages the most total confusion.
Trans and intersex people need safety and respect. However, according to the Statistics Canada census, they represent less than 1% of the population. It is not doing them a favor to multiply labels, to dismiss biology and to expose more than 99% of children to doubt about their identity.
So, let’s ditch the drag queens and get to the real stuff. Before they or anyone else talks about “gender identity” to children, parents have a right to know: what kind of identity are we talking about?
Photo courtesy of Caroline Morgan
Caroline Morgan, Translator, Saint-Lambert