Deplorable: Masterson’s latest political stunt endangers trans children | Opinion
I got a press release last night from Ty Masterson saying “Parents, not bureaucrats, raise their children.”
The first thing I thought is that same rule should apply to career politicians, like Ty Masterson.
Masterson’s craving for power has him sticking his nose where it has no business being, and he is potentially endangering Kansas children with his unending quest to strip transgender individuals of their dignity, rights and safety.
Currently president of the Kansas Senate and campaigning furiously for governor, Masterson is demanding a “full investigation” of the Kansas City, Kan., school district.
He alleges that district officials are “scheming to hide student gender transitions from parents,” based on leaked video of a Zoom meeting where they discuss how to handle a legal framework that potentially puts their students at risk.
Educators who resist betraying students who confide in them “will be gone as soon as I’m Governor,” Masterson said.
Masterson is working hand-in-hand on this with our fabulous attorney general, Kris Kobach.
And neither seems to care that their anti-trans obsession can have devastating, even deadly, consequences in the real world outside the friendly confines of the Capitol dome or GOP campaign rallies.
Forcing teachers to out their gender noncomforming students to parents can have a variety of outcomes, many of which are not good.
I have several friends with trans children. Fortunately, they approached it with understanding and unconditional parental love. Their children are better off for it.
But that’s not always the way things go. Confronted with a child who is “different,” there are plenty of parents in this state who would resort to physical and/or mental abuse to try to force them act “normal.”
There’s a large body of research showing that trans adolescents are far more prone than their peers to run away, to become homeless, to be sexually victimized by unscrupulous adults and to attempt or commit suicide. The No. 1 reason is shaming and lack of acceptance by family and at school.
That’s the nitroglycerine that Masterson is playing around with.
I say this knowing full well that this will make Masterson more popular in some quarters.
Intolerance of LGBTQ persons, especially trans persons, runs deep in Kansas, no matter how much we might want to believe better of our communities and fellow citizens.
Remember, this is the state where voters in 2005 enshrined a ban on same-sex marriage in the state Constitution, with more than 70% support. It’s still there, although it’s been dormant since 2015, when the Supreme Court ruled such laws are unconstitutional.
Politicians like Masterson feed the hate and feed off it — they create unjustified fear to get elected, then pass prejudiced laws to show they’re addressing whatever threat they made up.
And it’s not just the LGBTQ community. It’s the same play they run on immigration and voting rights.
With regard to schools, no sane person would support forcing teachers to out a student to a parent when they have reason to believe it would put the child in danger.
That’s what the KCK school officials were discussing in the Zoom meeting video — not some nefarious plot to turn boys into girls and vice versa.
Educators are trained to spot warning signs of potential child abuse — indeed, they can be prosecuted for ignoring them. Thanks to Ty Masterson, they now also can be prosecuted for not ignoring them.
Masterson says he’s protecting children. He’s not. He’s potentially endangering the most vulnerable of them.
He’s not trained in treatment of childhood gender dysphoria. He doesn’t understand public education, and he never listens to anyone who does. Instead, he just calls teachers “woke” every chance he gets.
But it’s Masterson who needs to wake up. If he doesn’t, mark my words, this is eventually going to end tragically.
Not that Masterson would care. Caring is woke.
This story was originally published June 25, 2026 at 8:55 AM.
