Louisiana mom claims her child's dietary preference for raw green veggies 'proves' transgender identity
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA: A mother asserts that she thinks her transgender child's predilection for eating raw green veggies as a child proves their gender identity. She made the remarks while she testified against HB 463 before the Louisiana State House's Health and Welfare Committee before a vote.
The bill, which calls for a prohibition on all procedures classified as "gender-affirming" for minors, was advanced by a legislative committee in Louisiana. These include procedures like top surgery, which aims to create a more masculine or feminine appearance by removing or adding breast or chest tissue, as reported by DailyMail. It also includes the use of drugs, known as "puberty blockers," informally.
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A woman testifying to the Louisiana House of Reps against HB 463, which would ban pediatric gender mutilation, says that she knew her daughter was actually a boy because "her food choices were odd. They were always raw green vegetables." pic.twitter.com/ts7wFpG5W8
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 2, 2023
Speaking against the bill, the mother explained how they had taken their son (a trans boy born as a biological female) to neurologists for brain scans to try and determine why he had experienced persistent sleeping and anxiety problems, as per reports.
'Most kids don't like to eat those things'
Then, she claimed, he began to sleep, but his eating habits began to change to something she called "odd." She explained, "They were always like green vegetables, raw green vegetables, which, if you know kids, most kids don't like to eat those things," as reported by Fox.
When they discovered the child was transgender, the mother claimed, "the pattern of everything he had experienced as a child - including eating green vegetables because that boosts testosterone - were just methods of his body trying to become who he was meant to be." His mental identification does not fit his physical, she said in conclusion. Green leafy vegetables, fatty salmon, avocados, eggs, cocoa products, and select berries are some foods that affect testosterone levels.
'If HB 463 passes, it will result in permanent...irreversible changes to children'
According to some opponents of the measure, denying children and teenagers who identify as trans people access to these treatments could endanger their mental health. One of them is LSU's Dr. Ryan Pasternak, an expert in pediatric medicine. "If HB 463 passes, it will result in permanent...irreversible changes to children," he declared. It will deepen our mental health problems and increase the number of suicide attempts. Meanwhile, those who favor outlawing these therapies have emphasized that procedures like top surgery are permanent. As a result, some contend that only adults should make decisions involving alterations to the body that are permanent and irreversible, as reported by DailyMail.
Additionally, they claim that the long-term effects of puberty blockers are still poorly understood and could result in problems with fertility and the inability to orgasm. Rep Gabe Firment stated in a statement about his measure, HB 463, that it is "not about hate" but rather about safeguarding children from what he currently views as "experimental" treatments, as per reports.