When Policy Endangers Children: How Blue States Elevate Gender Ideology Above Safety, Parental Rights, and Public Order
On March 27, 2023, a 28-year-old who identified as transgender entered The Covenant School, a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, armed with two assault-style rifles and a handgun. By the time the attack was over, six people were dead—three of them nine-year-old children. Investigators later confirmed that the killer left behind writings detailing the plan and choice of target. The attack shocked the nation, not only for its brutality but because it underscored a growing problem: when governments and institutions elevate gender ideology above all other considerations, the most vulnerable—especially children—pay the price (1).
Just over a year later, Minnesota faced its own nightmare. In February 2025, a teenager who described himself in a now-deleted online post as “tired of being trans” opened fire at his Catholic high school. Beforehand, the head of the Catholic school network had sent a warning letter to Governor Tim Walz urging greater security protections for schools, describing the need as “urgent and critical.” The warning went unheeded (2, 3).
These cases are not isolated tragedies. They are the product of a policy environment in which blue-state governments increasingly treat gender identity not as one right among many, but as a trump card over parental rights, child safety, women’s privacy, and public order. Instead of balancing competing rights and responsibilities, legislators and administrators in California, Washington, Colorado, Minnesota, New Jersey, and New York have elevated gender ideology into law in ways that destabilize families and expose children to real danger.
Defining Gender Dysphoria
To understand the policy debate, we must begin with clinical reality. Gender dysphoria is a recognized mental-health condition defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) as the “distress that may accompany the incongruence between one’s experienced or expressed gender and one’s assigned gender” (4). The diagnosis is not meant to stigmatize but to provide a framework for care.
Several facts are well-established in the literature:
Prevalence: Gender dysphoria is relatively rare. Estimates vary, but surveys suggest fewer than 1 percent of U.S. adults identify as transgender (5). Among youth, the percentage reporting transgender identity has risen in recent years, though debate continues over how much is attributable to cultural factors.
Comorbidities: Research shows that individuals with gender dysphoria often face high rates of additional mental-health challenges—depression, anxiety, and especially suicidality. Transgender youth report suicidal thoughts at rates far higher than their peers (6).
Treatment debates: Approaches range from talk therapy and psychiatric support to medical interventions such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries. These interventions are politically and ethically contested, particularly for minors.
Mental-health treatment for adolescents with dysphoria often overlaps with more general psychiatric care, including the use of SSRIs. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a black-box warning—the strongest form of drug label caution—stating that SSRIs may increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in children, adolescents, and young adults, particularly in the early stages of treatment (7).
Hormonal treatments raise separate issues. Cross-sex hormone therapy can bring psychological relief to some patients, but evidence is mixed and often limited in quality. The 2024 Cass Review in the United Kingdom, a comprehensive independent investigation into pediatric gender medicine, concluded that the evidence base for prescribing hormones to minors was “remarkably weak” and recommended a far more cautious approach (8). Even among adults, estrogen-based regimens carry increased risks of blood clots, while testosterone can alter mood and anger expression in unpredictable ways (9, 10).
When you combine the elevated mental-health risks of gender dysphoria itself, the possible destabilizing side effects of SSRIs and hormones, and the pressures of social affirmation models now mandated in many schools, the results can be volatile. For the overwhelming majority of people with dysphoria, this volatility manifests inward—in self-harm or suicidal ideation. But for a small number, the risk can also turn outward in tragic, violent ways.
How Blue States Moved the Goalposts
The recent tragedies in Nashville and Minnesota did not occur in a policy vacuum. They emerged against the backdrop of a decade in which blue states have increasingly rewritten law and regulation to give gender ideology priority over virtually every other interest.
California: The Template for Ideological Sanctuary
California set the tone with SB 107 (2022), which declared the state a sanctuary for minors seeking “gender-affirming care.” The law empowers California courts to assume jurisdiction in custody disputes if a child is brought to the state for such treatment—even if the parents in their home state object (11).
Washington: Secrecy Over Parental Authority
Washington followed with SB 5599 (2023), which allows shelters and host homes to withhold parental notification when a runaway minor is seeking gender-related services (12). Even in cases where no abuse or neglect is alleged, the state presumes it knows better than families.
Colorado: A Case Study in Policy Capture
Under Governor Jared Polis, Colorado has codified some of the most aggressive gender-identity policies in the country:
Declared Colorado a “refuge state” for gender-affirming care.
Mandated insurers cover “medically necessary” gender treatments.
Issued education guidance encouraging affirmation in schools, including pronouns, bathrooms, and sports, often with minimal parental involvement.
These policies have coincided with collapsed net domestic migration (from nearly 400,000 between 2010–2020 to fewer than 24,000 since 2020) and growing business pessimism (13).
Minnesota: From Warnings to Tragedy
In 2023, Governor Tim Walz signed legislation making Minnesota a sanctuary state for gender-affirming care, modeled on California’s law. Just two years later, a student at a Catholic school opened fire, having posted online that he was “tired of being trans.” Catholic leaders had warned Walz months earlier of the “urgent and critical” need for school security. The warnings were ignored (2, 3, 14).
New York and New Jersey: Institutionalizing Ideology
New York requires schools to adopt gender-affirming policies under threat of discrimination lawsuits, while New Jersey has sued school districts for attempting to notify parents when children request gender transitions. Both states signal that parental authority is subordinate to state ideology.
Case Studies: Minnesota and Covenant School
When abstract policy becomes lived reality, the results are measured in lives lost.
At The Covenant School, three nine-year-old children were executed by a former student identifying as male (1). In Minnesota, classmates were gunned down by a teenager who admitted he was “tired of being trans,” after school leaders begged Governor Walz to improve security (2, 3).
The common theme is not that dysphoria alone drives violence, but that policies ignoring the risks—while weakening parental authority and failing to secure schools—make children collateral damage.
Violence, Media Suppression, and the Identity Question
Mainstream coverage shows a striking asymmetry. When a shooter is white, male, or right-leaning, identity is central to the narrative. When a shooter identifies as transgender or nonbinary, coverage downplays or omits that fact.
STEM School Highlands Ranch, Colorado (2019): One shooter, a biological female identifying as male, killed one student and injured eight. Coverage often blurred or softened the gender identity factor (15).
Aberdeen, Maryland (2018): A biological female presenting as male killed three co-workers at a Rite Aid facility. Gender identity was minimized in national reporting (16).
Covenant School, Nashville (2023): Shooter identified as male; manifesto delayed, identity cautiously referenced (1).
Club Q, Colorado Springs (2022): Initially framed as a hate crime; later revealed shooter identified as nonbinary. Coverage of this revelation was minimal (17).
Minnesota (2025): Shooter admitted being “tired of being trans.” Identity first reported by independent outlets, not mainstream press (2, 3).
This concealment serves a purpose: it protects ideological narratives, even at the expense of transparency. Families, schools, and policymakers deserve full information about risk factors. Selective silence distorts public understanding and leaves children less safe.
What the Evidence Says About Mental Health, SSRIs, and Hormones
Two truths can—and must—coexist.
Truth #1: Suicide and self-harm risk are elevated in gender-dysphoric populations, especially youth.
CDC data show that 25% of transgender high school students attempted suicide in the past year, compared to 5% of peers (18). The Trevor Project reports 45% of trans youth seriously considered suicide in the prior year (19).
Truth #2: The evidence for interventions is mixed and still evolving, particularly for minors.
Systematic reviews show GAHT can reduce distress in adults, but youth studies are small and inconclusive (3, 4, 20). The 2024 Cass Review concluded evidence for minors is “remarkably weak” (5).
On SSRIs: The FDA black-box warning highlights increased risk of suicidal ideation in adolescents, requiring close monitoring (7, 21).
On Hormones:
Estrogen therapy carries 2–5% risk of blood clots (12).
Testosterone alters mood and anger expression in complex ways (14).
Puberty blockers may affect bone density and fertility (22).
In short: risks are real, benefits are possible, but the evidence is unsettled. Yet blue states legislate as if the science were definitive.
The Red State Contrast
While blue states codify ideology, red states act with caution. Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act, Texas’s classification of certain procedures as child abuse, and Tennessee’s post-Covenant restrictions on youth transitions all reflect a different philosophy: protect children first, empower parents, and proceed carefully with irreversible interventions.
These policies, controversial though they may be, align with migration trends. Families are leaving California, New York, and Illinois for Florida, Texas, and Tennessee. The reasons are clear: cost of living, cultural alignment, and above all, safety for children.
Conclusion: Children and Society at Risk
The safety of children and the preservation of public order are inseparable. A society that cannot protect its children cannot preserve freedom. A government that hides facts from parents cannot maintain legitimacy.
Blue states have chosen ideology over reality, and children have paid the price—from Nashville’s nine-year-olds to Minnesota’s Catholic students. Until policymakers rebalance rights—restoring parental primacy, enforcing school security, and confronting medical uncertainties—families in blue states will remain at risk.
Your Freedom. Your Family. Your Future. These are not abstractions. They are the terms of survival and flourishing. Families must decide whether their state still upholds them—or whether it is time to seek refuge in one that does.
Sources
AP / local coverage, Covenant School investigation (2023)
Daily Wire – Minnesota shooter post: “tired of being trans” (2025)
Daily Wire – Catholic leader letter to Gov. Walz on security (2025)
DSM-5 definition of gender dysphoria
Cass Review Final Report (2024)
Endocrine Society Clinical Guidelines (2017)
FDA Black-Box Warning on SSRIs
WPATH SOC v.8 (2022)
Meta-analysis on GAHT mental-health outcomes (2021)
Review of cardiovascular risks in GAHT (2022)
California SB-107 legislative text (2022)
Washington SB-5599 legislative summary (2023)
U.S. Census migration data (2020–2023)
Peer-reviewed studies on testosterone and mood
Denver Post coverage, STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting (2019)
National news coverage, Aberdeen, MD shooting (2018)
Colorado Springs Club Q case filings (2022–2023)
CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey (2021)
Trevor Project National Survey (2023)
Systematic review, GAHT mental-health outcomes (Nature Human Behaviour, 2021)
Meta-analysis on SSRI suicidality risk (2016)
Research on puberty blockers, bone density/fertility risks (2020)
