How to stop judges from kidnapping when parents refuse to gender-affirm their children

It’s been two years since Joe and Arlene Kutzko spoke to their daughter Sophie.In 2024, the now-17-year-old was struggling with gender identity issues, which the counselor at her high school hid from her parents.School officials encouraged her to “transition.” But when her Catholic parents refused to go along, the school reported them to the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.A judge removed Sophie from her parents and is considering DCF’s request to give her testosterone; her family has been barred from contacting her.The Kutzkos are not alone.In Oregon, California and Colorado, child-protection agencies have removed children from their parents based solely on the parents’ refusal to “affirm” their child’s desire to transition.But while the agencies have generally been the focus of attention in these cases, this sort of intervention — placing a child in a state’s care and ordering life-altering medical treatment — requires a judicial finding that the child is in imminent danger of harm.Legislatures have created a high bar for meeting that standard: Negligence, parental drug abuse, homelessness and even domestic violence often do not.So why do the Kutzkos find themselves separated from their child for refusing to go along with medical treatment that has been banned in many states and that a majority of the public oppose?Where are judges getting the idea that failing to support transitions places children in danger?The answer, in short, is pro-transition advocacy groups.They’ve pushed on judges the false idea that transgender identity among children is immutable, and that a child who so identifies will suffer serious harm if not treated as the opposite sex and allowed to receive transitional medical treatment.The two main culprits: the Williams Institute and the Trevor Project.Based at the UCLA School of Law, Williams provides training to judges, law clerks and state judicial educators with a singular message: Children who suf...