Shaw: A courageous boy and a welcome lawsuit

Bravo to 12-year-old Tate Dolney, of Fargo, for his bravery and integrity! Tate is a transgender boy who has publicly put himself out there in a state that’s hostile to people like him. Still,

Tate is taking on the state of North Dakota,

so he and other transgender children can rightfully receive the medical treatment they need.

Tate and two other children have filed suit against the state. They are taking on the bullies. Those bullies include the extremist Republican legislators who passed House Bill 1254 and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who signed the brutal bill. A bill that fixes a problem that doesn’t exist.

That bill bans transgender children in North Dakota from receiving puberty blockers and hormone treatment. These are proven treatments that have worked. Treatments that are strongly recommended for minors by highly respected medical groups, such as the American Medical Association and the American Association of Pediatrics.

“Before the puberty blockers, Tate was depressed and harmed himself,” Devon Dolney, his mother, told me. “Now, he’s a normal kid who can enjoy himself.”

“I started feeling more confident and much happier,” Tate said of receiving this health care. “I started doing better in school and was having more fun with my friends and my brother doing things I love to do. I was finally able to just be who I truly am.” That’s great!

It’s disgraceful that the unqualified Legislature and governor decided to interfere with Tate and others’ health care. Why did they do that? It certainly wasn’t based on medicine, science or what’s best for the patients. It was based on bigotry, hatred and ignorance. They deliberately demonized and marginalized a small vulnerable group. It was also unconstitutional.

Somehow, legislators with no medical qualifications decided to take away treatment from transgender children. The point is, whether it be treatment for heart disease, cancer or gender dysphoria, the Legislature has no business getting involved.

Hypocritical legislators, who claim they are all about the rights of parents, decided they have the final say on medical treatment. Not parents, patients and doctors, the way it should be.

Fortunately, this welcome lawsuit gives hope to transgender families. Similar lawsuits have been filed in other extremist states, with much success. Federal Judge James Moody in Arkansas threw out that state’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, calling it unconstitutional.

“Rather than protecting children or safeguarding medical ethics, the evidence showed that the prohibited medical care improves the mental health and well-being of patients and that by prohibiting it, the State undermined the interests it claims to be advancing,” the judge wrote. He’s spot on!

“Tate knows what it’s like to be bullied,” his mother told me. “He’s been called a fag, told he will go to hell, punched and pushed off a school bus. He comes home crying.”

Tate has demonstrated remarkable courage in pushing for his rights and the rights of others. He has more guts than the Legislature and governor combined. That courage should be rewarded in the courts.

InForum columnist Jim Shaw is a former WDAY TV reporter and former KVRR TV news director.