On Saturday afternoon, CNN aired a totally one-sided report by correspondent Gabe Cohen on a couple who fled Missouri for Maryland to make sure their 12-year-old "transgender daughter" can access puberty blockers, aka "gender-affirming care."
After reading a brief about the U.S. Supreme Court planning to take a case to decide whether Tennessee can ban gender transitions for children, CNN host Fredricka Whitfield used all the leftist lingo about "the health care she needs."
When Missouri banned transgender care for minors, one family left the state to find a place for their 12-year-old transgender daughter, but President-elect Trump's promise to roll back transgender rights has them wondering if their child will be able to get the health care she needs. CNN's Gabe Cohen has more.
Reporter Gabe Cohen began by showing a clip of himself speaking with the 12-year-old in question, whose face was obscured and was referred to by "Katie," which isn't her actual transgender name of choice. Displaying a Pride flag, "Katie" said "This shows to the world that I don't want to hide and pretend to be someone else."
Cohen soon recalled: "Twelve-year-old Katie and her family moved across the country last year to flee state restrictions on their daughter's rights." Then came clips of the parents Sarah and Erez Haluf, complaining about those who oppose transgenderism:
SARAH HALUF, MOTHER OF TRANSGENDER CHILD: I don't have the answer of why people hate her and have never met her. Where is Katie allowed to exist? How is she allowed to exist?
EREZ HALUF, FATHER OF TRANSGENDER CHILD: Is she allowed to exist?
No one wants the child dead, despite the dramatic presentation. After a soundbite of Trump speaking out against trying to change a child's gender, Cohen went on to suggest that Republicans were liars in how they have campaigned against Democrats on the issue:
COHEN: Transgender rights have become one of the biggest flashpoints in this country's culture wars, marked in many cases by lies and flat-out conspiracies.
DONALD TRUMP (on Fox & Friends): There are some places, your boy leaves the school, comes back a girl.
CLIP OF AD: Kamala supports taxpayer-funded sex changes for prisoners.
It's not a lie that Kamala supported taxpayer-funded sex changes for prisoners. It's there on tape, in the ad!
After showing another clip of Trump opposing transgenderism, the parents were seen complaining again about how Republicans are handling the issue:
EREZ HALUF: This is 100 percent BS.
SARAH HALUF: It's sowing fear, and then, by doing that, you're sowing hate. And all of this comes back to people like our child. We thought that by leaving Missouri and coming to Maryland, that we would be safe. And now we're being threatened with anti-trans legislation at a federal level.
Nearing the end of the piece, the CNN reporter brought up the possibility that, if Trump is successful in passing a federal law against "gender affirming care" for children, the family may leave America and seek asylum in Canada:
COHEN: So families like Katie's are trying to prepare for what's ahead, even drafting an asylum application.
SARAH HALUF: We have to start thinking about a backup pan.
EREZ HALUF: If push comes to shove, we will need to go north. We will go to Canada.
COHEN: What would it take for your family to say, "We need to leave this country"?
SARAH HALUF: The federal health care ban would likely be the moment we'd know it's time to leave here.
Transcript follows:
CNN Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield
November 30, 2024
2:07 p.m. Eastern
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD: All right, next week, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a potentially explosive case involving transgender care. The case centers on a Tennessee law enacted last year banning puberty blockers and hormone treatments for children. Critics say the law injects the state into family medical decisions and overrides parental rights.
When Missouri banned transgender care for minors, one family left the state to find a place for their 12-year-old transgender daughter, but President-elect Trump's promise to roll back transgender rights has them wondering if their child will be able to get the health care she needs. CNN's Gabe Cohen has more.
GABE COHEN: So what am I looking at here?
"KATIE" (ANONYMOUS TRANSGENDER CHILD): My Pride flag. This shows to the world that I don't want to hide and pretend to be someone else. I want to be me.
SARAH HALUF, MOTHER OF TRANSGENDER CHILD Our child should have the same rights as any other child. Because she's transgender, doesn't make her any different.
COHEN: Twelve-year-old Katie and her family moved across the country last year to flee state restrictions on their daughter's rights. At her parents' request, we're not showing her face, and we're using an alternate name.
SARAH HALUF: I don't have the answer of why people hate her and have never met her. Where is Katie allowed to exist?
EREZ HALUF, FATHER OF TRANSGENDER CHILD: Is she allowed to exist?
PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP: We won't be changing your children's gender with their transgender craziness.
COHEN: Transgender rights have become one of the biggest flashpoints in this country's culture wars, marked in many cases by lies and flat-out conspiracies.
TRUMP (on Fox & Friends): There are some places, your boy leaves the school, comes back a girl.
CLIP OF AD: Kamala supports taxpayer-funded sex changes for prisoners.
COHEN: Republicans support more than $200 million on anti-trans ads before the election
CLIP OF AD: Kamala is for "they/them" -- Trump is for you.
EREZ HALUF: This is 100 percent BS.
SARAH HALUF: It's sowing fear, and then, by doing that, you're sowing hate. And all of this comes back to people like our child. We thought that by leaving Missouri and coming to Maryland, that we would be safe. And now we're being threatened with anti-trans legislation at a federal level.
COHEN: At least 26 states, including Missouri, have passed restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors.
SARAH HALUF: This was their final protest in Jefferson City. We did everything we could to fight this, and there was nothing that we could do to change their minds. We moved to Maryland to be able to access gender-affirming care for Katie. What that looks like is therapy services -- it's clothing -- it's haircuts. And, at this age, it is a hormone blocker to prevent her from going through puberty.
KATIE: This is my hormone blocker right here.
COHEN: Could that treatment be reversed at some point?
SARAH HALUF: Yes, absolutely. It's really a pause button. Katie gets more time to live in the body that she has now.
TRUMP: On day one, I will revoke Joe Biden's cruel policies on so-called gender-affirming care.
COHEN: Trump has promised federal restrictions on transgender rights, including far stricter rights about gender-affirming care, especially for minors. One trans rights organization saw a nearly 700 percent increase in calls to their crisis hotline after the election. What would happen if your daughter didn't get that care?
SARAH HALUF: She would end up going through puberty, and it would be traumatizing to her to see all of those things happen to her body.
COHEN: I know you get some treatment from doctors, from other care. What would happen if you didn't get that?
KATIE: I would be upset and scared.
EREZ HALUF: In the LGBT community, the suicide rate is high for those who are not being supported by their caregivers.
SARAH HALUF: We want her to survive childhood.
COHEN: So families like Katie's are trying to prepare for what's ahead, even drafting an asylum application.
SARAH HALUF: We have to start thinking about a backup pan.
EREZ HALUF: If push comes to shove, we will need to go north. We will go to Canada.
COHEN: What would it take for your family to say, "We need to leave this country."
SARAH HALUF: The federal health care ban would likely be the moment we'd know it's time to leave here.
COHEN: What does this symbolize to you?
KATIE: Freedom and rights. This proves that everybody has their own rights to be themselves.
WHITFIELD: Gabe Cohen, thank you so much for that report.
