Today, the Idaho Senate passed House Bill 71, which outlaws the practice of using hormones, drugs, or surgery to attempt to alter the sexual characteristics of a minor to conform to their perceived gender identity. Many legislators worked very hard to bring this bill to fruition, and we at the Idaho Freedom Foundation are proud to have played a pivotal role.

Thank you for your support of our mission and for the testimony, letters, and emails you provided to help our Legislature make the right decision on this important bill.

It is absurd that such a law is even necessary. Mutilating children by removing healthy body parts to satisfy a dysphoric body image was considered barbaric throughout most of human history. But leftist ideology is a devouring monster that leaves nothing untouched, not even the innocence of childhood.

Idaho has thus far been behind the curve on this issue. At least eight other states have passed laws against child genital mutilation. In Idaho, the opposition to doing the same has run the gamut from “it isn’t happening” to “it’s a good thing.”

Recognizing that our lawmakers needed to hear first-hand testimony, the Idaho Freedom Foundation invited detransitioned teen Chloe Cole to Idaho in February. After becoming engaged with social media as a child, Chloe decided that she was really a boy. She wore boy’s clothes. She took a boy’s name. She visited a doctor who prescribed puberty blockers and hormones. Finally, while still legally a child, Chloe had a double mastectomy. A doctor removed her breasts.

Chloe has told her story dozens of times now to Tucker Carlson, Jordan Peterson, Glenn Beck, and legislatures across the country. During her visit to Idaho, she shared her testimony with lawmakers and then spoke to a packed Lincoln Auditorium for Capitol Clarity.

Chloe’s testimony moved many in our Legislature who might have been tempted to view this issue from a dispassionate perspective. Here was a real flesh-and-blood young woman who was a victim of a system that is taking advantage of depression and mental illness in young people. Her voice spoke louder than the activists and Big Pharma lobbyists who have vested interests in keeping this barbaric system operating.

The mission of the IFF is about more than taxes and appropriations. We look at the way the government and society corrode the family and the individual. We ask, “How can we reverse this trend?” Bringing Chloe to Idaho to speak to our legislators was an easy decision.

As we wait for the governor to fulfill his mandate to protect Idaho’s children by signing House Bill 71, we will continue the fight to protect children and families from the long arms of government and special interests alike. We won a major battle with H 71, but the war continues. Just last Thursday, the House passed Senate Bill 1176 which appropriates nearly $700 million to our public colleges and universities. Neither chamber found the courage to stop this appropriation despite nearly $5 million set aside for diversity/equity/inclusion programs that are designed to divide and demoralize Idaho college students, not to mention the overall philosophy of wokeness that our tax dollars support.

The forces of wokeism and socialism that aim to shatter your families and make you ever more dependent upon the government are powerful. IFF relies on your support to help us stand up to these special interests. Thank you so much for helping make this possible!