(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Indiana’s Court of Appeals upheld a trial court’s decision to remove a child from their family home because the parents did not acknowledge the child’s transgender identity.
According to the Post Millennial, the court decided the refusal to encourage a minor to transition their gender constituted abuse, resulting in an eating disorder.
The child’s parents filed an appeal against the initial order, claiming that the court’s decision was “erroneous” and in violation of their constitutional rights to custody and care of their child. They also argued that the ruling was a violation of freedoms of religion and speech.
The Indiana court ruled that the appeal was “moot,” and declined to address it altogether.
The decision recalled that in May of 2021 a complaint was filed to the state’s Department of Child Services “alleging that Mother was verbally and emotionally abusing then-sixteen-year-old Child regarding Child’s transgender identity, and as a result, Child had thoughts of self-harm.”
Another report was filed 10 days later, claiming both parents were “being mean” to their child again because of their “transgender identity.”
A case manager investigated the claim, meeting with the parents, child, siblings and a representative from the child’s school.
The report that came out after the investigation revealed that both mother and child had suffered from an eating disorder, and that the parents had taken the child out of school with no intentions to re-enroll in a new one.
The report lead to the removal of the child from the parents, deemed as a move “necessary to safeguard Child’s health.”
The parents were allowed unsupervised visits with their child but were not allowed to discuss gender identity during visitations.
Several court cases across the states have resulted in parents losing their children after refusing to let them transition. In some instances, even raising the question of gender identity was enough for a parent to lose their child.
