Chasten Buttigieg told “The View” on Thursday that it is “a dangerous time” as Republican governors ban pornographic books from school libraries and transgender procedures for minors.
Buttigieg, the husband of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, was referring to the bans on drag shows, pornographic books from school libraries and Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill that prohibits classroom discussion about sexuality and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade classrooms.
“I think it’s an extremely dangerous time and it’s a really upsetting time because nothing could be more important than showing up and protecting our families, but the way in which they say they’re showing up for our families, this conversation about giving parents more choice, protecting children, what they’ve really done, and they’ve done a good job, it’s been a very well-coordinated, well-funded effort to attack the LGBGTQ community,” he said. “Specifically with the book bans, when you look at what many of these have in common, they’re extremely vulnerable children and so you have groups of politicians who are making calculated choices.”
“It’s hard enough being in school as it is, but to be a transgender kid in school and you have this coordinated effort by people who are going after them because they don’t know what else to talk about,” he continued. “They need an enemy and right now, they’ve decided to make children their enemy and it’s very, very nerve-racking.” (RELATED: ‘Bullies In The Statehouse’: Pete Buttigieg Believe Florida Bill ‘Will Kill’ LGBTQ Kids)
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg claimed Republicans are targeting women by passing pro-life legislation because they do not take care of children after they are born. She said black people, immigrants and the LGBTQ community are also targets in the U.S.
Buttigieg said all families should be included in “family values,” claiming families with same-sex parents or transgender kids are being excluded.
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently read excerpts of explicit books available in public school libraries. One book called “Gender Queer” included a girl masturbating and performing oral sex on another girl and equated the removal of a woman’s breasts to getting a tattoo. Another book, “Flamer,” is the story of a gay boy that experiences several sexual interactions.
Drag show events intended for or allowing children have become prominent in public schools, libraries and public areas throughout the U.S., some of which are sexually explicit. Drag Queen Story Hour, an event for children, “captures the imagination and play of the gender fluidity of childhood and gives kids glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models,” its website says.
Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed legislation into law Friday banning all drag shows for children. DeSantis sued a Miami bar called R House for hosting a drag show in front of minors. Republican Texas state Rep. Bryan Slaton and Florida state Rep. Anthony Sabatini have proposed bans in their respective states.
Many states, including South Dakota, have banned child sex changes, puberty blockers and cross-sex hormone procedures for minors and have granted patients negatively harmed by the procedures to seek civil damages. Studies show that 94% of children identifying as transgender “grow out” of their identity, which advocates claim are flawed, according to KHN.
Many detransitioners—those who are no longer transgender—have accused medical professionals of approving their irreversible procedures without long-term or proper consultations.