The Left’s Culture War Harms Children

Progressives appeal to the “think of the children!” sentiment when it suits them. Take gun control, for instance. This month, state representative Justin Jones (D., Tenn.) carried a child-sized casket through Nashville and tried to bring it inside the state legislature. Or take transgenderism, about which activists claim that unless we all facilitate and celebrate medicalized gender transition, children will die by suicide: “Tantamount to torture” is how one Montana Democrat described the restriction of such procedures.

Child homicide and suicide are horrific tragedies and every parent’s worst nightmares. But there is little evidence that progressive policy preferences prevent either. On the contrary, children are often the primary victims in the Left’s culture war.

About the Author

Madeleine Kearns

Madeleine Kearns is a former staff writer at National Review.

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Progressives appeal to the “think of the children!” sentiment when it suits them. Take gun control, for instance. This month, state representative Justin Jones (D., Tenn.) carried a child-sized casket through Nashville and tried to bring it inside the state legislature. Or take transgenderism, about which activists claim that unless we all facilitate and celebrate medicalized gender transition, children will die by suicide: “Tantamount to torture” is how one Montana Democrat described the restriction of such procedures.

Child homicide and suicide are horrific tragedies and every parent’s worst nightmares. But there is little evidence that progressive policy preferences prevent either. On the contrary, children are often the primary victims in the Left’s culture war.