transgender

Missouri Voters Can Protect Life, Stop ‘Transgender’ Procedures for Minors

Missouri voters will decide whether to repeal a constitutional amendment approved in 2024 that created a “right” to abortion, restore protections for preborn babies and protect kids from “transgender” procedures.

A “Yes” vote on Amendment 3 would repeal the 2024 abortion amendment, restrict most abortions and prohibit “transgender” procedures for minors. A “No” vote would leave the 2024 abortion amendment in place.

In November 2024, Missouri voters narrowly approved a constitutional “right” to abortion by a vote of 51.6% to 48.4%.

Prior to that election, Missouri law protected preborn babies from the moment of fertilization, with limited exceptions.

Now, just two years later, voters have an opportunity to reverse that decision. It is the first statewide ballot measure attempting to repeal a voter-approved constitutional amendment to enshrine abortion into the state constitution.

Proponents are touting two aspects of the ballot measure: 1) it will protect preborn babies and 2)it will protect minors from “transgender” procedures. 

If approved, Amendment 3 would repeal the constitutional “right” to abortion and allow the state to once again protect preborn human life.

The amendment would permit abortions in cases of medical emergencies, fetal anomalies and pregnancies resulting from rape or incest during the first 12 weeks.

It also protects access to medical care for miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies and medical emergencies.

“Her Health, Her Future,” the campaign supporting Amendment 3, explains that the measure would:

• Ban “transgender” procedures for minors.

• Guarantee women have access to safe healthcare.

• Require parental consent before minors have an abortion.

• Ensure clinics have qualified medical professionals and proper health standards.

State law prohibits most “transgender” medical procedures for minors. Amendment 3 would put those protections into the state constitution, making them more difficult to repeal.

The abortion lobby is spending millions to defeat the measure.

According to Ballotpedia, abortion activists opposing Amendment 3 have raised approximately $20.4 million, compared to $3.7 million raised by pro-life advocates.

Missouri Independent reports, the opposition campaign has collected donations from Planned Parenthood, the ACLU of Missouri and other abortion advocacy organizations.

The Fairness Project, a progressive Washington, D.C.-based organization, has contributed more than $12 million to the campaign against Amendment 3.

Interestingly, recent polling suggests a very close election. An August Saint Louis University/YouGov August poll found 43% of likely voters supported Amendment 3, 44% opposed it and 13% were undecided.

The numbers appear to be moving in favor of abortion. Polling in February had support for the amendment at 47%, opposition at 40% and undecided at 12%. It appears as though the fate of this amendment will be determined by those who are currently undecided.

Amendment 3 requires a simple majority to become law.

You can learn more about Amendment 3 and the campaign to protect life at “Her Health, Her Future.” 

Focus on the Family urges all our friends to vote this election cycle. Voting is our civic duty. As Bible-believing Christians, it is imperative that we vote our values.

Missouri’s no-excuse early voting begins October 20. Election Day is November 3.

HHS Issues Final Demand Letters to Medical Organizations on Sex-Rejecting Procedures

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued final demand letters Wednesday to leading medical organizations, inquiring whether they continue to support damaging and experimental sex-rejecting procedures on children.

The letters request clarification on whether the organizations have adjusted their recommendations considering the evidence-base and HHS reports showing how “transgender” medical interventions harm minors.

“When medical organizations set standards that shape the care of children, they have a responsibility to explain the evidence behind those standards,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a statement.

He added,

HHS has asked these organizations for clear answers about their current positions, the evidence supporting their guidance, and whether they intend to change it. Parents and clinicians deserve transparency, and we expect these organizations to provide it.

The letters were sent to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the Endocrine Society and others.

The final letters follow up on initial letters sent to most of those organizations on December 30, 2025, which requested clarification on their positions regarding sex-rejecting procedures for children. HHS received no responses.

“The silence is telling – and deeply disappointing,” the new letters state.

The six organizations are the foremost promoters of “gender-affirming care,” by which physicians have harmed thousands of minors by attempting to “transition” them to the opposite sex – which is biologically impossible – with drugs, hormones and surgeries.

WPATH regularly publishes Standards of Care for “transsexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming people” which purports to provide clinical guidance on how to treat gender dysphoria.

The Standards of Care are then used by the American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics to promote harmful transgender medical interventions.

The letters are just the latest in a series of substantive actions the Trump administration’s HHS has taken to expose the danger of gender ideology and protect children from damaging puberty blocking drugs, opposite-sex hormones and surgeries.

In May 2025, HHS released an important, comprehensive evaluation of how best to treat children and adolescents with gender dysphoria, titled, “Treatment for Pediatric Gender Dysphoria: Review of Evidence and Best Practices.”

Not surprisingly, the review found “serious problems” with treating minors with “gender-affirming care.” HHS finalized the report in November 2025.

In December 2025, HHS announced actions to protect children, including efforts to block hospitals from performing sex-rejecting, mutilating procedures on them. Days later, a coalition of 18 states sued to block the Trump administration’s actions.

The agency has also defended parental rights, warning states not to remove children from their parents’ custody for failing to “affirm” their child’s “gender identity.” And it has cut off Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funding for pediatric sex-rejecting prescriptions and surgeries.

Additionally, the department released a recent report, “Wolves in White Coats: How Doctors and Hospitals Pushed and Profited from the Fraud of ‘Gender Medicine’,” which exposed how hospitals and health care workers used fraudulent insurance tactics to obtain puberty blocking drugs for minors.

Because of HHS’ actions, in coordination with the Department of Justice, multiple hospitals have ceased harming minors with “gender-affirming care.”

Now, HHS is targeting gender ideology at its source. In its letters, the agency has requested the following from all six medical organizations:

  • A clear, current statement of the organization’s position on sex‑rejecting procedures for minors.
  • Identification of updates, revisions, or corrections to the organization’s position, guidance, or educational content.
  • A concrete timeline for any forthcoming changes.

The Department demanded a written response within 10 business days.

The letter to WPATH concludes, “Continued silence will speak for itself as a choice to place commitments to radical ideology ahead of evidence-based medicine and the children WPATH claims to protect.”

These organizations’ full-throated promotion of gender ideology has left thousands of vulnerable young people with irreparably damaged bodies. It remains to be seen what actions HHS may take against them for their complicity in promoting one of the greatest medical scandals in human history.

Related articles and resources:

Counseling Consultation & Referrals

Transgender Resources

Understanding “Transgenderism”

Teenager Identifies as Transgender

Responding to a Transgender-Identified Family Member

Support for Parent Whose Adult Child Identifies as Transgender

God’s Amazing Grace in a Transgendered Person’s Life

Chloe Cole: Gender Reassignment Surgery Regret

21 States Sue HHS to Continue Harming ‘Transgender’-Identified Minors

Photo from Getty Images.

Washington School System Harasses Parents Protecting Daughters From Boy in Girls Cross-Country Meet

At least 12 high school girls chose to forfeit a cross-country race in Washington on Tuesday rather than compete against their teammate — a boy.

About half of the Camas High School girls’ cross-country team walked off the course Tuesday instead of racing against an 11th grade boy who, until September 5, competed with the boys.

In his last race with the junior varsity boys, the male athlete placed 76th. On September 15, in his first race with Camas High’s varsity girls, he placed seventh.

On Tuesday, he placed second.

This latest injustice in Washington interscholastic sports illustrates the continued cowardice of teachers, administrators and coaches, none of whom have come out in support of these defenseless girls.

At best, they fear for their jobs. At worst, they, too, believe hundreds of female athletes should sacrifice their athletic success and comfort so a boy can feel good about himself.

The girls, the children, do the hard thing, instead. They willingly sacrifice their opportunities. They face down the idealogues and bullies, because adults won’t do it for them.

When their parents try to protect and support them, Camas School District and the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) play hardball.

Skyview High School students Sierra and Charlie, both just 16 years old, chose not to race against the male athlete on September 15. The duo walked off the course at the sound of the starting gun, their arms and legs painted with, “Keep women in women’s sports,” their cheeks painted with “XX” and “XY.”

Sierra’s parents stood in support at the starting line, holding signs that read, “It will never be ok for an XY to steal an opportunity from an XX,” and, “Please only XX competing with XX [and] XY competing with XY — keep it fair.”

An official told them to leave the area within twenty seconds, Sierra’s dad, Joel, told Undivided podcast host Brandi Kruse in an interview.

“I looked at the fellow and asked why I needed to leave,” Joel contisued. “He said it was against the WIAA rules to have any signage other than a school flag.”

WIAA, consistent with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, also requires students play sports and use changing rooms according to their “gender identity,” rather than their biological sex.

Joel avoided being kicked out by putting down his sign. He stayed long enough to watch the girls exit the course. But he wasn’t finished — not by a long shot. He told Kruse:

I decided to make a scene since they wouldn’t let me peacefully protest. I decided to protest loudly on my way to my vehicle. I knew they were going to ask me to leave. So I let myself out by holding up the sign and just chanting, “Keep boys out of girls sports.”
I basically chanted that from the starting line to my car. Then I got in my car and drove past the venue with a friend holding the sign and honking to try and get as much attention as we could.

“Again, that was not our intention,” Joel clarified. “Our intention was just to peacefully hold the sign, but we weren’t allowed to do that. So we decided to get the word out our way.”

Camas School District responded by criminally trespassing the father from district property for the rest of the year.

Joel is a local soccer coach. He is still unsure whether he can coach his team at a Camas facility.

Holly Burns is one of the twelve Camas High students who sacrificed her race Tuesday to protest competing against a boy. Her parents, Sarah and Kevin Burns, came to support the girls with signs. They, too, faced opposition.

“[Security] said that we’re not allowed to hold up signs at this event today,” Kevin told Outkick reporter Jackson Thompson. “I questioned them if that was constitutionally legal, if we could express ourselves by just holding a sign.”

“In the end, it didn’t seem like they really had a grasp on what they could tell us to do or not.”

Eventually, says Kevin, he and Sarah managed to hold their signs — but security dogged their every step, telling them to leave. The couple refused.

These families’ experiences illustrate how much influence the public school system wields, not just over students, but the adults that are supposed to protect them.

How egregious that the only recourse left to these families is for the girls — the children — to show more bravery than the school officials around them.

What a world.

Happily, Washington voters can change girls’ bleak reality at the ballot box this November. Initiative 638, “Protect Fairness in Girls Sports,” would prevent males from competing in girls sports.

A “yes” vote on Initiative 638 would protect girls like Sierra, Charlie and Holly from having to race against — and change next to — a male athlete. A “no” vote would allow boys to continue competing in girls sports categories on a whim.

Initiative 638 could protect the dignity and safety of hundreds of female athletes to come. But change may not come fast enough for cross-country athletes like those at Camas High School.

Initiative 638, if approved, would take effect thirty days after election day on November 3.

The Washington state cross-country championships will take place on November 7.

Additional Articles and Resources

Washington Ballot Measures protect Girls Sports and Parental Rights

Paradox Institute: Sex Screening in Sports: How It Works

Female Wrestler Sues Washington School District, Others for Forcing Her to Face Male Opponent

4 Developments in Case of High School Wrestler Allegedly Assaulted by Male Opponent

Washington School District Buries Female Wrestler’s Sexual Assault Complaint Against Male Opponent

Protecting Children Is On the Ballot in Colorado

Colorado has three propositions on the November ballot where voters can take action to protect children.

Propositions 133, 134 and 135, respectively, protect children from sexual predators, keep girls sports for females and boys sports for males, and ban irreversible “transgender” surgeries for minors.

A “Yes” vote on all three initiatives will make Colorado safer for children.

After the Colorado General Assembly voted against all three measures, Protect Kids Colorado coordinated a remarkable campaign to place the propositions on the ballot. The organization worked with other groups like Colorado Parent Advocacy Network and Catholic Vote to collect signatures.

Working on a shoestring budget, more than 3,300 volunteer petition circulators gathered more than 500,000 signatures for the three measures. Hundreds of churches across the state hosted signature-gathering events.

Here’s what they were able to place on the November ballot:

  • Proposition 133, “Penalties for Human Trafficking of a Minor,” is also known as “The Children Are Not for Sale Act.” This citizen initiative elevates human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude from a second-class to a first-class felony. It would require a life sentence in prison for human trafficking of a minor – without parole.
  • Proposition 134, “Male and Female Participation in School and Collegiate Sports,” defines male and female based on biological sex. It mandates that colleges and K-12 schools designate boys and men’s sports for males and girls and women’s sports for females. This commonsense measure is also known as “The Protect Girls Sports Act.”
  • Proposition 135, “Prohibit Surgery on Minors in Response to Perception of Sex or Gender,” prohibits health care professionals from performing “transgender” surgeries on minors with sexual identity confusion. Also known as “The Protect Kids From Irreversible Sex-Change Surgery Act,” this measure keeps state and federal money from being spent on these destructive surgeries.

Here’s more important information to know.

Proposition 133 also expands the definition of trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude to include “knowingly trading anything of monetary value to buy or sell sexual activity with a minor.”

The pro-abortion group Cobalt Advocates opposes this initiative, as it is afraid this expanded definition could be used by abortion opponents to prosecute anyone who helps a minor travel to Colorado to obtain an abortion.

Erin Lee, executive director of Protect Kids Colorado, told The Colorado Sun this was “patently false,” adding, “There is nothing in Proposition 133 that creates a new crime related to abortion.”

She added:

The legislature had an opportunity to strengthen these protections and failed. Now Colorado voters have the opportunity to decide for themselves whether these crimes deserve stronger consequences.

Some voters think the two recent Supreme Court decisions in Little v. Hecox and State of West Virginia v. BPJ already protect girls and women’s sports.

But those decisions only upheld state laws designating girls and women’s sports for females; they did not overturn laws and education policies in states that still allow – or fight to allow – men in women’s sports.

And while the Trump administration’s Department of Justice and Education Department have acted to protect girls and women’s Title IX education rights, states like Colorado still allow boys in girls sports and private spaces.

Proposition 134 is opposed by a coalition of groups called Families, Not Politics. It includes LGBT activist organizations like One Colorado, Transgender Law Center and Inside Out Youth Services. Joining them are radical education and abortion groups, such as the Colorado PTA, the Colorado Education Association, Cobalt Advocates and Rocky Mountains Planned Parenthood, as well as a couple of Unitarian Universalist groups.

Colorado has been at the forefront of promoting false transgender ideology and the destructive “transitioning” of children.

Among other harmful actions, the state’s General Assembly voted to mandate teaching about “LGBT individuals” in all K-12 social studies classes, restricted any beneficial therapy for children with sexual identity confusion, made the state a sanctuary for transgender medical procedures for minors, and allow children as young as 12 to receive therapy without parental knowledge or consent.

While the Department of Health and Human Services and the Justice Department are working to stop irreversible transgender medical procedures, all this work could be reversed with a new administration that espouses transgenderism.

Colorado begins sending out ballots to all registered voters on October 2. Voters may mail in their ballots, or drop them off in ballot boxes or at Voter Service and Polling Centers, where they can also vote in person. The state also has same day registration.

For more information, go to Colorado Elections and Voting.

Related articles and resources:

‘Art Club’ Documentary — One Family’s Escape from Gender Ideology, and the Bigger Trend Sweeping the Nation

Colorado Committee Kills ‘Children Are Not for Sale Bill’

Meet Three Heroes Working to Protect Colorado Children

Nebraska Citizens to Vote on Constitutional Amendment Protecting Girls Sports

One Mom’s Journey Advocating for Children and Parental Rights

‘Protect Kids Colorado’ Qualifies Three Child Safety Ballot Measures for November

‘Save Girls Sports’ on the November Ballot — Here’s How You Can Help

Supreme Court to Hear Title IX Girls Sports Case

Washington State Citizens Fight for Parents’ Rights, Girls Sports

New CDC Report: Teen Sexual LGB Identity Drops Dramatically

San Diego State University social psychologist Jean Twenge has been tracking how trans ideology is losing its incredible fast-rising grip on teens, reported here and here. She added to her research conclusions recently, looking specifically at sexual identity and behavior and American highschoolers. Her findings are certainly worth digging into.

She explains, in her headline, “Younger teens are now much less likely to say they are lesbian, gay, or bisexual,” and this is also thankfully reflected in much of their sexual behavior.

Drawing her new conclusions from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s 2025 Youth Risk Survey, Twenge says the changes in youth sexual orientation identity “are striking.” Declines are happening most starkly among younger teens, and especially among girls.

She observes “it really does look like a free fall” for high schoolers, especially 9th grade students. Her chart demonstrates the remarkable shift downward.

These lines denote the numbers of U.S. high school students “identifying as lesbian, gay, or bisexual” by grade from 2015-2025. Identifying as any of these dropped from 27% in 2023 to 22% in 2025 among girls. For boys, the decline was from 9% to 7%. She explains the previous increases from 2015 through 2020 were most notably among girls. “The previous increase in identifying as LGB was also larger among girls, with a 128% increase (more than doubling) from 2015 to 2021 among girls and a 99% increase (doubling) from 2015 to 2023 among boys.”

Specifically, the decline among 9th grade girls “dropped from 30% in 2021 to 17% in 2025, nearly cutting the numbers in half.” Declines among 12th grade girls have been much smaller, “from 26% in 2021 to 28% in 2023 and 25% in 2025.”

The most dramatic shift is among those who identified at bisexual, which is easily the largest “LGBT” category. This majority is most pronounced among younger populations and women, indicating more experimentation than anything else. But of this recent change, Twenge explains, “While 26% of 9th grade girls identified as bisexual in 2021, only 13% – half as many – did in 2025.”

That is a truly stunning development, indicating something is at work in the water of social culture. Data strongly supports the social contagion of gender identity shifts, but not as much attention has yet been given to the social contagion driving sexual behavior identity. The CDC data Twenge is now presenting certainly points in that direction.

The CDC Youth Risk Behavior data also tracks self-reports of actual relational behavior. Twenge explains “most high school students are not sexually active” and teen sexual behavior has been declining over the past decades.

But the few American teens who are sexually involved in same-sex behavior is a curious story. It is clearly declining among high school girls, but still growing among young boys as shown here.

Twenge observes, the data clearly “suggest that high school girls, especially younger girls, are no longer as likely to have same-sex partners.”

Professor Twenge also observes that this trend of overall LGBT decline is not being reflected in the data for young adults, ages 18 to 24. She explains that “it appears non-heterosexual identification is not declining (at least not anymore).” Instead, “It has stabilized and is no longer racing upward as it did between 2014 and 2022, when identifying as LGB nearly tripled among U.S. 18- to 24-year-olds.” She adds, “Among 25- to 34-year-olds, identifying as LGB also stabilized after more than doubling from 2014 to 2023.”

So, we are not seeing same-sex sexuality declines among young twenty- and thirty-somethings, but we are seeing a leveling off in the increases that have presented themselves in the past 20 years. Professor Twenge admits this is a curious development, “a generational or cohort effect, with different trends over the years for different age groups.”

She then asks, “What happened during this time that impacted 9th grade girls the most, especially their LGB identification and behavior?”

She humbly and refreshingly admits, “I have to confess: I have no idea.”

Human behavior in the midst of changing social and ideological dynamics is truly interesting. Culture drives so much of this, and it certainly is good news that culturally speaking, the wind appears to be going out of the sails of the sexual and gender revolution. It is now showing itself in the lives of our young people.

Stay tuned folks, the Daily Citizen will keep you updated.

Related Articles and Resources:

Gallup Data Reveals Support for LGBT Ideology is Declining

How ‘Pride’ 2026 Showed That the LGBT Movement Is Imploding

Support for Same-Sex Marriage and Relationships Declines Among Conservatives

Here’s What Happens When Good People Don’t Connect Gay and Trans Ideology

How the Binary in ‘LGBTQ+’ Reveals Its Utter Incoherence

Why Focus on the Family Cares About the Gender Issue?

Yes, Sexuality and Gender Are Undeniable Gospel Issues

Why Christians Can’t Avoid the “Trans” and Gender Redefinition IssueHow the “Trans” and Gender Redefinition Issue Attacks the Family

How the “Trans” and Gender Redefinition Issue Attacks the Family

Why the ‘LGBT Person’ and ‘LGBT Community’ Don’t Really Exist

How to Respond to “Trans” and Gender Ideology? Simple: Live Not by Lies