{"id":2020188,"date":"2023-09-02T11:10:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-02T15:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-the-child-who-suffers-a-father-battles-the-court-system-to-save-his-daughter-from-gender-ideology\/"},"modified":"2023-09-02T11:13:44","modified_gmt":"2023-09-02T15:13:44","slug":"its-the-child-who-suffers-a-father-battles-the-court-system-to-save-his-daughter-from-gender-ideology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-the-child-who-suffers-a-father-battles-the-court-system-to-save-his-daughter-from-gender-ideology\/","title":{"rendered":"Father fights court system to protect daughter from gender ideology."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fits-the-child-who-suffers-a-father-battles-the-court-system-to-save-his-daughter-from-gender-ideology%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2020188&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div data-post-content=\"true\" class=\"post_content\" id=\"post_content\">\n<p>\u201cYour daughter is trans, and you\u2019re a homophobic racist if you don\u2019t accept her,\u201d the court-appointed guardian told Mark. Stunned, Mark realized the gravity of what his daughter, Summer, was experiencing. Determined to\u2063 intervene, he reached out to resources he hoped would offer an alternative perspective, one that could steer her away from a decision he feared might haunt her for life.<\/p>\n<p>Summer was only 12 years old when she expressed a desire to transition to male. According to Mark, the decision followed a traumatic three-month period during which she was emotionally vulnerable\u2062 and lacked proper guidance. Rather than receiving the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/he-was-accused-of-rape-but-acquitted-then-he-committed-suicide-fearing-rapist-label-would-stick\/\" title=\"He Was Accused Of Rape But Acquitted. Then He Committed Suicide, Fearing \u2018Rapist\u2019 Label Would Stick\">mental health support<\/a> she\u200c needed, Summer was drawn \u2063into discussions of transgender identity.<\/p>\n<p>Mark shared his story in an exclusive interview with The Epoch Times. He hopes it can\u200c empower other parents to \u2064critically \u200dengage with the gender theories increasingly plaguing\u200d the children of this generation.<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode\">\n<div class=\"border-comp-divider mb-4 mr-4 w-full max-w-[500px] border px-5 py-4 text-[16px] leading-[20px] text-[#262626] md:float-left\">\n<div class=\"mb-3 font-sans text-[16px] font-semibold uppercase leading-[19px] text-[#2F2F2F]\">Related Stories<\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/chinese-american-mom-gender-confused-children-are-victims-of-an-enormous-lie-5467622\">Chinese-American Mom: Gender-Confused Children Are Victims of an Enormous Lie<\/a>\n          <\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">8\/19\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[120px]\">\n          <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/chinese-american-mom-gender-confused-children-are-victims-of-an-enormous-lie-5467622\"><\/a>\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/back-from-the-brink-a-mother-steers-her-son-away-from-transition-5397283\">Back From the Brink: A Mother Steers Her Son Away from Transition<\/a>\n          <\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">7\/29\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[120px]\">\n          <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/back-from-the-brink-a-mother-steers-her-son-away-from-transition-5397283\"><\/a>\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>His story is also\u2064 a cautionary tale\u2064 about how <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/its-the-child-who-suffers-a-father-battles-the-court-system-to-save-his-daughter-from-gender-ideology\/\" title=\"Father fights court system to protect daughter from gender ideology.\">gender politics overshadows life-threatening disorders<\/a> like anorexia and keeps kids from getting the help\u200c they need.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Father-Daughter Bond <\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>\u201cIt was always the \u2062two of us, like two peas in a pod,\u201d reminisces Mark, describing the times he and Summer spent at Comic-Cons, motorcycle shows, and concerts. &#8220;My daughter and I did everything\u2064 together.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My daughter was always a sweet little girl,&#8221; Mark said. &#8220;I \u2064never\u2063 had any hint\u200d that she wanted to be a boy. I\u2063 sat on the floor and played Barbies with this\u200d kid her whole life. I had to paint her\u2062 room purple because she wanted a \u200bpurple bedroom and she wanted to be\u2062 a princess.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A brush with cancer \u2064made it especially important to record\u200c his daughter&#8217;s childhood: &#8220;We&#8217;ve got video after video of my daughter just being a little girl, from the day she was born.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mark is a professional in a midwestern city; he describes himself as a &#8220;white,\u2063 conservative Christian.&#8221; He and Summer&#8217;s mother, Lisa, had never married; when they split a few\u200b years \u2063ago, \u2063they shared custody and child\u2063 support informally. &#8220;It\u00a0was a little hard \u200bon [Summer] but nothing crazy,&#8221; he remembered.<\/p>\n<h2>A Bitter Custody Battle<\/h2>\n<p>However, things changed when Mark decided to remarry. The formerly amicable arrangement turned bitter, and Summer&#8217;s mother refused to allow Mark to see their daughter.<\/p>\n<p>Confused and emotionally adrift, Summer was left searching for\u2062 an anchor in her life, Mark said.<\/p>\n<p>Then, further tragedy struck: Summer\u2019s grandmother and uncle both passed away from cancer.<\/p>\n<p>With her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nbc-news-poll-majority-of-americans-think-social-media-does-more-to-divide-us-than-bring-us-together\/\" title=\"NBC News Poll: Majority Of Americans Think Social Media Does More To Divide Us Than Bring Us Together\">social media usage<\/a> going unsupervised and lacking attentive \u2062parenting, Summer \u200dwas increasingly influenced by an older relative who introduced her to books on pansexuality and transgenderism.<\/p>\n<p>According to Mark, Summer\u2019s \u200bidentification shifted \u200crapidly over \u2064a short period.\u00a0She explored various identities\u200d before \u2063finally settling on transgender,\u200c he said.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>&#8216;A Totally Different \u200bPerson&#8217;<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Desperate to reconnect with his daughter, Mark took Lisa to court for the right to see Summer. When \u200bhe finally did, he\u200c found her wholly changed, appearing afraid and resistant.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;She was a totally different person,&#8221; he recalled. &#8220;From that moment on \u2064I couldn&#8217;t have a conversation with my daughter because I couldn&#8217;t call her by her name.&#8221;\u00a0Any attempt to address her by her birth name triggered explosive accusations of homophobia and accusations of \u201cdeadnaming\u201d from her.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Every time I saw her she was angry, bitter, didn&#8217;t want \u2062to talk to me,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It was a\u2062 horrible experience.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Mark later discovered that Lisa had blocked his \u2064number on the\u2063 cell \u200bphone he had bought for Summer. Worse still, Lisa told Summer that Mark had chosen his new marriage over her, leaving the girl convinced her father had\u2063 abandoned her and stopped calling. \u2064This manipulation, Mark believes, explains the fear and animosity that now color his relationship with his daughter.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Health Concerns Ignored<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Adding to Mark\u2019s concerns, \u200bSummer began showing signs of an eating disorder. She became alarmingly thin, Mark says.<\/p>\n<p>A therapist told Mark that people with eating disorders often feel a lack of control in their lives, with food being the \u2062one thing they can control.<\/p>\n<p>Summer\u2019s refusal to eat seemed linked to her desire to appear more masculine.<\/p>\n<p>As Summer \u200bdelved deeper into gender ideology, her eating \u2064disorder worsened. Frustrated and deeply concerned, Mark found that Lisa, Summer\u2019s mother, was solely focused on affirming her daughter\u2019s newfound identity, even encouraging the use of a chest \u2064binder.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>An Alternate Diagnosis<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Refusing to relinquish \u2062his fatherly duties, Mark sought professional assistance. After an extensive search, he found a therapist willing to approach his daughter\u2019s situation with objectivity.<\/p>\n<p>The therapist\u2019s\u2063 assessment \u2063was revealing: Summer had\u200c assumed an alternate identity as a\u2064 trans boy, largely as\u2064 a coping\u200c mechanism for \u2062the\u2064 ongoing battle between her parents. The therapist told Mark that Summer\u2019s condition wasn&#8217;t necessarily rooted in her \u2063being transgender but was likely a symptom of a deeper mental\u200c health \u200bissue.<\/p>\n<p>A second therapist agreed, telling Mark that Summer&#8217;s confusion was rooted in trauma.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Your daughter is basically trying to create a wall and be a new person,&#8221; Mark explained, &#8220;so that she&#8217;s not hurt by Mom and Dad fighting over this other person.\u200c The more I deny that my daughter is this boy, the more I&#8217;m getting her angry, because\u200d the more I&#8217;m taking\u2064 away the wall that she&#8217;s protecting herself [with].&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Long-term counseling would be critical. &#8220;It&#8217;s\u200b not going to be an easy overnight switch, you can&#8217;t just turn the switch \u200boff for these kids,&#8221; Mark realized. &#8220;It was a \u200blong\u2063 haul \u2062going in \u2064and it&#8217;s \u2062going to be a\u2062 long haul coming out.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The delicacy of the\u200c situation was further compounded by Summer\u2019s eating disorder. Medical \u2064professionals warned that the condition \u200chad the potential to impair her cognitive development, making it difficult for her to fully grasp the implications of her\u2064 actions.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the therapist\u2019s analysis and medical\u200b concerns, the court remained\u200c skeptical and did \u200bnot\u2062 accept the alternative diagnosis.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Questionable Role\u200c of the Family\u200b Court System<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Mark said he found himself stonewalled\u200c by the\u2063 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/father-considers-lawsuit-against-gender-clinic-for-affirming-9-year-old-autistic-son-as-transgender-lesbian\/\" title=\"Father Considers Lawsuit Against Gender Clinic For Affirming 9-Year-Old Autistic Son As Transgender Lesbian\">family court system<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In a move typical in contentious custody disputes, the family court appointed a &#8220;guardian ad litem&#8221;\u2014a court-appointed guardian to \u200crepresent Summer&#8217;s interests.<\/p>\n<p>The guardian ad litem then picked the court-appointed therapist for Summer. The therapist&#8217;s sole focus seemed to be on affirming Summer&#8217;s transgender identity.<\/p>\n<p>Mark&#8217;s\u200b attempts \u200dto establish a dialogue with both \u200dthe guardian and the therapist \u200bwent unacknowledged.<\/p>\n<p>Desperate, Mark\u2063 spent over $10,000 on an independent psychological\u200d evaluation, which took seven \u2064months to complete. To his dismay, the \u200dreport recommended distancing his daughter from him, citing his refusal to use her preferred pronouns.<\/p>\n<p>Mark later found that the evaluation relied solely \u200bon evidence provided by Lisa, Summer\u2019s mother. \u200c&#8221;Nothing I entered [as evidence] \u200dwas looked\u200c at,&#8221; he recalls. Confirming his suspicion, the evaluating psychiatrist admitted in writing that she had chosen not to look at Mark&#8217;s evidence.<\/p>\n<p>Adding to his frustration, \u2063the \u200ccourt prohibited Mark from taking Summer to church, asserting she had adopted atheism and might \u201cfeel triggered\u201d by religious settings. Mark saw this as a bewildering\u200b affront,\u200c convinced that spirituality could lend emotional stability to his daughter.<\/p>\n<p>For the supposed purpose of \u201creunification,\u201d a separate therapist was appointed. Rather than focusing on rebuilding the shattered father-daughter relationship, the therapist &#8220;pegged me as a monster, affirmed my daughter,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>The therapist\u200c advised \u2063him:\u2063 &#8220;You need to go to an \u2064LGBTQ club&#8221; to learn &#8220;how to use proper pronouns and how to respect the trans community.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The \u200bcourt-appointed therapist gave Mark &#8220;a list of\u200d places to go\u2062 and podcasts to \u2062listen to,&#8221; he said. He listened but went further. After listening to conservative\u2063 commentators like Jordan Peterson and \u2063Matt Walsh, he went on the offensive. &#8220;I went back to them with a lot of quotes&#8221; that countered the prevailing narrative.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cYour daughter is transgender. If you don&#8217;t accept her, you&#8217;re homophobic and racist,\u201d the court-appointed guardian informed Mark. Shocked, Mark grasped the seriousness of Summer&#8217;s situation. Committed to intervening, he sought out resources for a different viewpoint, hoping to guide her towards a different choice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2375,"featured_media":2020189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2020188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2020188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2375"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2020188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2020188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2020189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2020188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2020188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2020188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}