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Republicans Debate The Way Democrats Want Them To

Should we use a scalpel to turn boys into girls? That’s not a value judgment or a debate, because it’s just a clinical decision to be made by trained experts.

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Earlier this week, I wrote about a joint legislative hearing in which California pretended to conduct fact-finding on a proposal to fund $26 million worth of transgender medical services for children. Beyond what we learned about the topic, though, the hearing was also a revealing look at the way Democrats manage debate, and at the weak and helpless way Republicans too often react. Democrats steer, and Republicans ride the bus. This clear dynamic becomes especially obvious in a state where a Democratic supermajority can and does steamroll its opposition, not feeling the need to be subtle. They have the confidence to reveal who they are.

Legislators arrived at the meeting with a package of written background material that was supposed to prepare them for the discussion. When the Republican Assemblyman Joe Patterson questioned a witness, a well-known doctor who runs a transgender clinic, Democratic Assemblywoman Dawn Addis intervened:

“It sounds to me, assemblymember, like you’re starting to question the doctor about her personal perspective, and things that you’ve read outside of the hearing, outside of our preparatory materials.” She caught him thinking for himself, and put her foot down: He asked questions that departed from the premises and evidence contained in the joint subcommittee’s pre-meeting report.

You can read those acceptable preparatory materials yourself, since the legislature posted them with the agenda. They establish the facts that frame the debate, making it irresponsible for a legislator to do research outside those materials:

“The United States is home to 2.1 million adults and 724,000 youth who identify as transgender,” while California is home to “84,600 youth identifying as........

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