GOP Presidential Candidate Voices Opposition to Banning Transgender Surgeries For Minors

GOP presidential candidate and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie opposed banning transgender surgeries for minors in a CNN interview Sunday.

“What I believe we should be focused on most importantly [with] these issues is making sure there is parental involvement at every step along the way,” Christie said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“I don’t think that the government should ever be stepping in to the place of the parents in helping to move their children through a process where those children are confused or concerned about their gender,” he added.

“And I just would say that parents are the people best positioned to make these judgements. And what I’d like to make sure each state does is require that parents be involved in these decisions,” he continued.

“The fact is that folks who are under the age of 18 should have parental support, and guidance, and love as they make all the key decisions of their life, and this should not be one that excluded by the government in any way,” he added.

Chris Christie opposes trans surgery ban for minors | Just The News https://t.co/TuJpywwJNx

— John Solomon (@jsolomonReports) June 20, 2023

GOP 2024 presidential candidate and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie this week said that parents, and not the government, should be the ones with say about providing medical care for transgender children. https://t.co/9WCCoBDLkN

— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) June 19, 2023

Chris Christie Sides With Progressives, Argues Against Laws Banning Medical and Surgical Treatments for Transgender Kids https://t.co/BOpK50Hl6G

— RedState (@RedState) June 18, 2023

Watch Christie’s comments at CNN.

Just the News reports:

Christie’s stance comes in contrast to that of most of the Republican base, and much of the general public. Polling data has increasingly shown Americans to be moving against the transgender movement as a whole. 55% of Americans in a June Gallup poll said that changing one’s gender was “morally wrong.”

At least 20 states have either restricted or banned transgender procedures for minors, including most of the solidly conservative, Republican-leaning bastions.

Newsmax added:

Host Jake Tapper pointed out that while Christie was governor in 2017, he had signed legislation in New Jersey protecting transgender individuals, including students.

NBC News reported in July 2017 that the bill was passed by the Democratic controlled legislature to ensure transgender students could have access to the restroom of their choice.

“These guidelines are needed to ensure that transgender students can safely be themselves without fear of being persecuted, and can help promote a culture of understanding and acceptance that will hopefully influence how students treat each other in and outside of school,” NBC reported Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, one of the Democratic sponsors of the measure, as saying at the time.

Christie’s position is at odds with fellow GOP 2024 candidates as well as several states that are passing laws prohibiting medications and medical procedures, as well as allowing transgender women to compete against biological women in sports.