Op-Ed: Orlando Senator Victor Torres Says He Opposes SB 254 Because of Trans Granddaughter

ORANGE COUNTY, FL – Because my daughter experienced chronic ear infections from the get-go the doctor visits were many. Each time she would scream, cry, and struggle as I held her while the pediatrician peered into her ears. It felt like such a betrayal, but untreated ear infections could have lasting damage. 

When my adolescent daughter wanted her tongue and belly button pierced, I first checked with the pediatrician and thoroughly researched the health concerns. A mammoth toddler tantrum erupted when I denied her demands. “When you turn 18, the choice is yours” – that’s what I told her. 

I gave her personal power over her hair, makeup, clothes, decorating her own room, rescuing stray animals, getting her driver’s license and a part-time job at age 16, among other decisions to build critical thinking skills and confidence. 

However, sometimes parental love has to be tough because the brain of a minor is still developing – hence they can make rash and illogical decisions – often based on pure emotions and peer or societal pressure, and especially social media pressure. 

My heart goes out to Florida Senator Victor Torres, D-Orlando. He called for opposition to the state’s bill (SB 254), which ultimately passed, aimed at protecting children from harmful puberty blockers and mutilation surgeries. 

“I hear this and I wonder, why are we doing this again? Why are we going after children?” Torres, whose granddaughter is trans, urged the Senate Fiscal Policy Committee to oppose the bill, as reported in Orlando Weekly. 

“Does my love change because the child is transgender? Not one bit. It goes more. Why? Because you want to show support. You want to encourage a child, what they dream of, what they want to do,” Torres said. 

Of course, love for your child or grandchild doesn’t change when she/he has been taken hostage by the transgender cult movement. That’s when unconditional love needs to be lavished, but that’s also when tough love needs to be consistent and persistent.  

Adults must question the unscientific gender identity ideology that can lead to permanent damage by drugs and a permanent decision to have healthy breasts, uterus, and genitals removed. The research is very clear – there is no trans gene. And gender dysphoria is a mental health disorder. 

“Every single person was created with extraordinary, incredible value and has a unique purpose, and this has been true about you since before you were born and you can’t change it,”  Bill sponsor Sen. Clay Yarborough, R-Jacksonville, said. 

I’m sure it was emotional for the other elected officials to hear a grandfather suffering along with his granddaughter and family members. 

Doing the right thing for kids often comes with angry responses from opponents that have been bamboozled by the radical LGBTQ crowd.  

Chloe Cole, a detransitioner and activist, reports a chilling statistic when she speaks to audiences, “Over the past decade, there has been as high as a 4000% increase in children being referred to so-called ‘gender clinics’ across the United States. I was one of these children.” 

In a detailed and lengthy penned article for The Free Press, whistleblower Jamie Reed, a former case manager at the Washington University Transgender Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, said she quit in November after four years “because I could no longer participate in what was happening there.” Reed proclaims, “I thought I was saving trans kids.” Click here to read Jamie Reed’s letter to the Missouri AG. 

Parents and guardians would benefit from reading the article titled “TikTok Influencers Are Trying to Turn Your Kids Trans Behind Your Back, as This Must-See Exposé Shows” by Brandon Morse at RedState. Watch the video on YouTube. 

Gender Dysphoria 

Gender dysphoria (GD) of childhood describes a psychological condition in which children experience a marked incongruence between their experienced gender and the gender associated with their biological sex, reports the American College of Pediatricians. 

The best available research indicates that 73-94 percent of children who display gender non-conforming tendencies accept and align with their physical sex if allowed to pass through puberty naturally, without interventions to affirm the delusion that they are a different sex.  

Twin studies verify no one is born “trapped in the body of the wrong sex.” Some brain studies have suggested that some individuals are born with a transgendered brain. But these studies are seriously flawed and “prove no such thing.” There is no basis in science for this assumption. 

Protecting Minors from So-Called “Gender-Affirming” Care 

The Daily Caller News Foundation reports that Dr. Susan Bradley, a Canadian psychiatrist and pioneer in child gender dysphoria treatment, came out against the popular model of affirming children’s transgender identities and putting them on puberty blockers. 

“We were wrong,” Bradley said. “They’re not as irreversible as we always thought, and they have longer term effects on kids’ growth and development, including making them sterile and quite a number of things affecting their bone growth.” 

Do No Harm has announced its latest initiative “Protecting Minors from Gender Ideology,” an effort to educate policymakers and the public on the disastrous consequences of the unproven and often harmful practice known as “gender-affirming care.” 

“The American people need to understand how radical the United States has become regarding gender ideology,” Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, board chair of Do No Harm, told The Epoch Times in a previous report. “Our study documents the concerns expressed by many European nations about caring for children with gender dysphoria. We show how the concept of ‘gender-affirming care’ in the United States is harming many children.” 

Exposing Suicide Disinformation  

“The Suicide Myth: A Twisted Scare Tactic Subverting Medical Standards,” an article by detransitioner Cat Cattinson on the Partners for Ethical Care website, exposed this deceptive practice by radical medical and mental health professionals.  She explains the flawed studies used by transition advocates as they try to ‘prove’ suicide statistics. 

• Related: “Would You Rather Have A Dead Daughter Or A Living Son?” – Gender Clinic Fearmongering Fallacy Exposed  

Resources: 

Book: “Desist, Detrans, & Detox: Getting Your Child Out of the Gender Cult,” a book by  

by Partners of Ethical Care, co-founder Maria Keffler tells parents how to rescue their children taken hostage by trans militants. 

Video: The Transgender Revolution in the Classroom: What Parents Need to Know. Features Maria Keffler. Transgender ideology is flooding public school classrooms. What does this mean for our children? And what can parents do? This webinar from the Ethics and Public Policy Center equips parents with the knowledge and insights they need to recognize and resist the promotion of transgender ideology in public schools—and to protect their children from the transgender revolution.  

Book: “Lost in Trans Nation: A Child Psychiatrist’s Guide Out of the Madness,” by Miriam Grossman, MD, child psychiatrist. “Don’t be blindsided like so many parents I know. Be proactive and get educated. Feel prepared and confident to discuss trans, nonbinary, or whatever your child brings to the dinner table. Whether it’s the “trans is as common as red hair” claim, or the “I’m not your son, I’m your daughter” proclamation, or the “do you prefer a live son or a dead daughter’ threat, says Grossman, no family is immune, and every parent must be prepared.” 

Book: “Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters,” by Abigail Shrier. “Why, in the last decade, has the diagnosis “gender dysphoria,” transformed from a vanishingly rare affliction, applying almost exclusively to boys and men, to an epidemic among teenage girls?” The gender ideology cult specializes in the indoctrination of children.  

A Clinical Guide for Therapists Working with Gender-Questioning Youth by Gender Exploratory Therapy Association (GETA) 126-page guide:  “The “transition or die” storyline, in which parents are informed that they must choose between a “live trans daughter or a dead son” or “live trans son or dead daughter,” is not only factually inaccurate but also ethically questionable.”  

Documentary “Dead Name” – Parents Tell Their Child’s Tragic Transgender Stories. 

 “The Detransition Diaries” Saving Our Sister,” explores the stories of three young women who thought transitioning to male would solve their gender dysphoria. View the official Trailer here, or watch the documentary on Vimeo. 

Book: “Transgender to Transformed: A Story of Transition That Will Truly Set You Free,” by Laura Perry.  

Generation Indoctrination podcast “Inside the Transgender Battle.” In this five-part investigative podcast series, the host takes listeners through heartbreaking stories, expert opinions, and bewildered academics’ experiences as these individuals push back on the narratives being perpetuated and targeted at young hearts and minds. 

What can parents and grandparents do? 

• Read the resources provided and have consistent conversations with your child. 
• Find a mental child psychiatrist and therapist that adheres to evidence-based treatment and scientific research concerning gender ideology and gender dysphoria. 
• Seek professional consultation and consider temporary home-schooling or online schooling. 
• Limit and monitor your child’s social media platforms. 
• Offer unconditional love, but tough love.

I feel sorrow for Sen. Torres and his family. Prayers for his granddaughter.