GOP Rep. Banks introduces bill supporting parents who object to child 'gender transitions'

Indiana Republican Rep. Jim Banks on Tuesday introduced legislation to protect parents who object to child sex-reassignment surgeries and gender ideology.

Under the Guaranteeing Unalienable and Anatomical Rights for Dependents (GUARD) Act, a state would become ineligible for the receipt of federal funding should it in any way discriminate against parents who will not affirm a child's gender identity, according to Breitbart News.

Should a parent or guardian face retaliation from the state for opposing any gender-related medical treatments, cross-dressing, the use of one's preferred pronouns, or any of the other hallmarks of so-called "gender transitioning," that state would not be able to receive Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) funding.

"When I first got to Congress seven years ago, I never would have imagined we would need legislation like this in America," Banks told the outlet. "But I will not sit idly by as children across the country are removed from safe and loving homes because their parents refuse to go along with the left’s radical gender ideology."

Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton introduced companion legislation in the upper chamber earlier this year.

"If you don’t let your kid 'transition' to the opposite sex, certain state governments will help remove them from your custody," he said in July. "It sounds like dystopian science fiction, but it's happening in the United States of America. Our bill would take funding away from states that abuse their power by taking away parents' rights simply for opposing radical gender experiments."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.