Bans on help for gender-confused kids are an ‘assault on parental rights’: retired judge
(LifeSiteNews) — A retired Canadian judge has blasted legislation in his country that would outlaw parents from seeking to help their son or daughter overcome gender confusion, calling it the most “aggressive assault on parental rights” ever attempted by a federal government.
The critique came from Judge Brian Giesbrecht in a June 8 Epoch Times opinion piece titled “The Problem with Canada’s Proposed Ban on Conversion Therapy.”
In his opinion piece, Giesbrecht wrote about his concerns regarding Bill C8 and S-202, which, if passed, will criminalize so-called “conversion therapy.”
“It is truly frightening that if this legislation is passed, any counselling that is not deemed to be ‘affirming’ will become illegal,” wrote Giesbrecht.
“In other words, a professional who might be able to help a child come to terms with his or her biological sex by means of counselling would become a criminal under this legislation. This is profoundly wrong.”
Giesbrecht wrote that there is a “universal agreement” that parents who have a gender-dysphoric child struggle with “immensely difficult challenges” but added that the government has chosen to go against parental choice by “making it illegal for parents to seek certain types of counselling for their child.”
“But that is exactly what the government has chosen to do. This legislation is probably the most aggressive assault on parental rights that a federal government has ever attempted. If it passes, it risks destroying the bond between parent and child when a parent’s philosophy or religion conflicts with that of the state,” wrote Giesbrecht.
Giesbrecht served as a judge in Manitoba from 1991 until he retired from the bench in 2007. He is now a senior fellow with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, which bills itself as an independent public policy think-tank.
In his critique of Bills C8 and S-202, Giesbrecht said the proposed Canadian legislation is a response to a United Nations “campaign for comprehensive sexuality education for children.”
According to the U.N. website, comprehensive sexuality education “empowers young people to know and demand their rights. The importance of sexuality education has been recognized by numerous international agreements.”
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