Marsha Blackburn/PHOTO: Gage Skidmore (CC)
Last week Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee introduced the Chloe Cole Act (Chloe is pictured above), which would ban the chemical and surgical mutilation of children and provide those who have already been physically damaged a legal recourse to help restore their bodies, or to “detransition.” From a press release issued by Blackburn:
The legislation is named after Chloe Cole, who underwent a double mastectomy at 15 years old after being influenced by social media and leftist ideology. Chloe went on to detransition, and she has dedicated her life to protecting children from harmful sex-change procedures.
“No child should be pushed into irreversible chemical and surgical mutilation under the guise of so-called ‘gender-affirming care,’” said Senator Blackburn.“The Chloe Cole Act would put a stop to this barbaric abuse of children and give those who have suffered the consequences of these harmful procedures the chance to fight back.”
The bill codifies President Trump‘s executive order that ends government support for “transitioning” children, and was proposed following a recommendation from the Department of Justice in the form of a legislative proposal.
“The Department of Justice has heard from far too many families who have been devastated by mutilative medical procedures that fly in the face of basic biology,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi. “While we continue our ongoing legal battle to protect children, we appreciate our colleagues in Congress who are working diligently alongside us to end these abusive procedures once and for all.”
In support of a shareholder proposal sponsored by NLPC, which called for equal treatment for detransitioners in employee health insurance coverage plans, Chloe Cole spoke at the 2024 annual meeting of The Walt Disney Company. In her remarks, she warned CEO Robert Iger:
Disney, in its arrogance, has responded to our proposal by stating that I am only trying to “generate attention” for a “limited agenda.”
Mr. Iger, Disney, under your watch is pushing the “limited agenda” of gender ideology.
Disney has become the Ursula that is stealing the voices of thousands of little Ariel’s across the world, by telling us we can be something that we can never become.
The lawsuits are coming, sir.
It’s only a matter of time before current or past employees, whose bodies and lives have been irreversibly harmed, will show up at your door looking for justice and restitution.
Over the last couple of years NLPC also sponsored shareholder proposals at PepsiCo, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft and Visa, that criticized the companies’ inclusion of such “gender transition” coverage in health plans for their employees’ children.
In other news that addressed policy related to transgenderism, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law requirements for people to use public restrooms and changing facilities based upon their biological sex. The Epoch Times reported earlier this week:
“I’m about to sign a law that says no men in women’s restrooms,” the governor said in a video shared on X. “This is just common sense.”
Senate Bill 8 (SB 8) applies to government-owned, -controlled, or -operated buildings such as schools.
The restrictions apply to what are termed as a “multiple-occupancy private space”—facilities designed for use by more than one person at a time—and in which one person may be in a state of undress around another, regardless of whether there are partitions or partial walls. The law states that this includes bathrooms, changing rooms, shower facilities, and locker rooms.
Entities that fail to abide by the law face a $25,000 fine for the first violation, then $125,000 for the second and subsequent violations.
Where is the outrage from Corporate America, as there was when the State of North Carolina passed a similar bill in 2016? Remember “HB2,” also known as the “Bathroom Bill,” when the weight of the major business world rained condemnation on the Tar Heel State, while the NBA removed its All-Star Game from Charlotte and other influential organizations and leagues called for boycotts?
The bullying of the state was led by the Chairman/CEO of Salesforce, Marc Benioff, who helped enlist dozens of other ignorant major corporations to sign on to a letter to then-Gov. Pat McCrory by the pro-LGBT Human Rights Campaign, which condemned state lawmakers over their passage of HB2. The HRC lied back then as it lies now about transgenderism, demanding of McCrory:
This is not a direction in which states move when they are seeking to provide successful, thriving hubs for business and economic development. We believe that HB2 will make it far more challenging for businesses across the state to recruit and retain the nation’s best and brightest workers and attract the most talented students from across the country. It will also diminish the state’s draw as a destination for tourism, new businesses, and economic activity.
During the height of the bathroom bill controversy throughout 2016 and immediately following its enactment going into 2017, North Carolina remained among the top states for inbound migration from other states — as it has been for more than two decades.
As for tourism, in 2016 North Carolina enjoyed a record-high (at that time) $22.9 billion in visitor spending dollars. Even state affiliates for NPR had to admit that the boycott bonanza didn’t not put a dent in tourism: “HB2 Didn’t Stop Tourists In 2016.”
Leaders of major corporations fall for the lying narratives of the leftist outrage machine again and again, harming their companies’ (and their own) reputations repeatedly — and often shareholder interests. Then it’s not long before they discover they were wrong, but mea culpas are never forthcoming. These executives and boards of directors are supposed to be our country’s best and brightest in business, but really what we have is a crisis of incompetence and wokefoolery at the top.
