Trans activist says conservatives trying to ‘dehumanize’ trans kids, weaponize 'culture wars' through Dr. Seuss and more

Transgender actress and activist Laverne Cox is hitting out at conservatives for allegedly dehumanizing transgender children, according to a recent interview with Variety.

What are the details?

Variety's Caroline Framke wrote, "[T]rans people are facing unprecedented legal threats to their humanity as anti-trans bills hit states across the country, targeting trans youth in particular without any basis in scientific fact."

Cox agreed and was "deeply concerned" over what Framke said is the "coordinated effort to undermine trans rights" through such bills, which would ban males from participating in female sports and vice versa.

“What they're trying to do is to dehumanize these children, which is so heartbreaking," Cox told Framke. “It's really heartbreaking when you see the way they're talking, the fervor with which they're going after these children. In the face of that, we have to insist on the humanity of everyone. Insist on the humanity of trans people, and particularly the humanity of trans children."

Cox added, "It's no accident that 35 states have introduced over 100 bills targeting trans kids and gender-affirming health care for trans youth. They've been so organized."

Cox pointed out that such attacks are indicative of a mass misunderstanding.

"Underlying all this is so much of the work we still have to do about trans people," the activist insisted. "People still don't fully believe that trans women are women, trans men are men, trans girls are girls, trans boys are boys, and nonbinary people are real. So we still have to understand that trans people are who we say we are."

Cox said that gender-affirming care should be between the doctor and their patient — without any state intervention.

"Every reputable health organization in the United States and globally has said that gender affirming care is life-saving for trans youth," Cox insisted. "That's the science. Those decisions should always be made between a parent their doctor, and the child itself. The government should not have anything to do with what anybody is doing with their body."

Elsewhere during the interview, Cox said that "a lot of conservatives were very frustrated when marriage quality became the law of the land" and that that prompted them to begin fearmongering.

"[W]hen that decision came down, they were like, 'OK, what can we do to fear monger? What can we do to divide people on cultural issues?'" Cox said. "The conservative party doesn't have an economic message for working class people, so they are weaponizing cultural wars. They're talking about Dr. Seuss and transgender children playing sports when there's still a global pandemic and people have lost their jobs."

Cox added, "[I]nstead of having messaging around that, they're trying to use trans people and cultural wars to gin up sort of this outrage. It's just cynical."