The following comes from a May 11 Federalist article by Denise Shick:

Last month, America watched athletic hero Bruce Jenner come out transgender. Most Americans have no concept of what transgender means. Others who watched Jenner’s Diane Sawyer interview were family members whose lives have been affected by a transgender loved one. As I heard Jenner’s story, I felt saddened, and remember the grief I went through when my father came out to me as transgender. After all, this is undoubtedly emotional for all involved.
when my father came out to me, I no longer felt free to embrace my identity as girl in our home. I felt rejected by my father. I was too embarrassed of my father and his impact on our family to talk about it with anyone—even to my best friend. Even so, I loved my dad and desperately wanted him to serve in the capacity of being a father.

So, this year, when I wrote my amicus brief with the International Children Rights Institute, it was not out of revenge for my lost childhood, but rather out of concern for other children who might endure childhoods like the one I experienced. It should not only be only the adults whose voices are heard. The children who come from untraditional homes should be equally important.

One mother shared with me a time when her husband—who began transitioning to a woman—took their young children to the grocery store. When the four-year-old daughter called out to her daddy in the store, he sharply told her to call him aunty. The child was heartbroken and cried out, “I want my daddy.” The angry parent hustled the crying child and her six-year-old brother out of the store to the car, and rushed home. The six-year-old remained quiet until they arrived. There, he told his mother what had happened, and said he never wanted to see his father again.
Another situation was of a 16-year-old boy who shared the story of his father’s transition into woman: “It feels like my dad put me out the curb with the trash.” A boy needs a dad who is more than a provider and a disciplinarian. He needs a dad who is willing to connect with him on an intimate level, socially, and who teaches him by example. He needs a dad who will build into his life the tools he needs for healthy character development.

Children like me who grew up in painfully untraditional homes are not allowed the freedom to voice their true feelings in a society ruled by political correctness and the LGBT agenda. Most of us don’t even recognize what our circumstances cost us until we are adults, and in some situations not until one or both living parents are no longer with us. At that point we might comprehend it all and finally be able to express what our lost childhoods have done to the remainder of our lives.

If the Supreme Court opens the door to gay marriages nationally, it will force open doors to policies, including those that promote transgenderism. None of these policies are based on the well-being of children.

Please, America, children’s needs must take priority over a special-interest group.