In a viral interview, Ne-Yo, the Grammy-winning singer and father of seven, questioned why kids can decide their sex before they can drive a car. This triggered a backlash.
I just personally come from an era where a man was a man and a woman was a woman. And there was two genders, and that’s just how I rocked. You could identify as a goldfish if you feel like, I don’t care. That ain’t my business. It becomes my business when you try to make me play the game with you. I’m not gonna call you a goldfish. But if you wanna be a goldfish, you go be a goldfish. We live in a weird time, man. We do. . . .
I feel like parents have almost forgotten what the role of a parent is. If your little boy comes to you and says, “Daddy, I want to be a girl.” And you just let him rock with that? He’s 5 . . . If you let this 5-year-old boy decide to eat candy all day, he’s gonna do that. When did it become a good idea to let a 5-year-old, let a 6-year-old, let a 12-year-old make a life-changing decision for themself? When did that happen? I don’t understand.
Ne-Yo blasts parents who let their children believe that they can pick whatever gender they want to be: “I feel like the parents have almost forgotten what the role of a parent is. If your little boy comes up to you and says, ‘Daddy I wanna be a girl,’ you just let him rock with… pic.twitter.com/JRdn7VGZDI
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) August 6, 2023
The singer’s take is common sense, not controversial. He nonetheless apologized yesterday for his comments: “Gender identity is nuanced and I can honestly admit that I plan to better educate myself on the topic, so I can approach future conversations with empathy. . . . I lead with love and support everyone’s freedom of expression and pursuit of happiness.”
Parents shouldn’t take what their children say at face value. There’s a reason, Ne-Yo points out, why kids don’t vote, or drive, or even cook for themselves. If parents encouraged their children’s beliefs or inclinations, imagination would rule — which is why kids have 18-year-grace periods before they acquire adult responsibility. Parents can guide children’s fantasies without always indulging them.
Media outlets, including Complex and Billboard, “reported” that Ne-Yo’s view of so-called gender-affirming surgery was misguided and ill-conceived: “The American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association, all agree that gender-affirming care is not dangerous for trans youth, and in most cases, it’s highly beneficial and life-saving,” the Billboard article said. Those, of course, are lies. Medical institutions barely question twelve-year-olds who express gender dysphoria, and are quick to prescribe puberty blockers, hormones, or mutilating surgeries. Detransitioners face lifetimes of pain because of adults who endorsed childhood confusion. Parents should research the effects of modern treatment for gender dysphoria before allowing their children to take irreversible steps that are likely to worsen, not alleviate, their mental distress.
Once kids transition, there’s no going back. More parents must question the narrative — without apology.