MSNBC host and a transgender guest both agreed Florida is on track to be like 1930's Germany because of state cracking down on "gender affirming care" for kids claiming to be transgender.
The discussion was around a bill presented in the Florida legislature that could result in children being removed from parents' custody "if they are at risk of or are being subjected to the provision of sex-reassignment prescriptions or procedure." The bill was introduced by state Senator Clay Yarborough (R).
"I think that what we’re seeing across the board right now is a road test for authoritarianism in the United States, how can you sort of separate, demonize, stigmatize an entire group of people in order to build the type of society that religious zealots want. And they’re trying this. And, really, what I get confused by is why people don’t see that that’s what’s happening on, don’t understand that in some ways that we’re — this is a prototype, just like the early 1930s were in Germany," Imara Jones said.
"I’m not saying that this is an equivalent period in terms of what is..." Jones began to say.
"No, but they did — they did road-test everything in 1930s Germany, right? They went after trans and gay people first and they tried that out and society was like, 'Well, I don’t really understand them and it doesn’t really matter to me,'" Velshi interjected.
"That’s exactly right and the same thing is happening here," Jones said in agreement.
"As lawmakers, we have to draw the line when drastic, life-altering gender dysphoria therapies and surgeries are mutilating young children. We also have a responsibility to protect children from viewing lewd conduct that is patently offensive to prevailing standards in our communities. Whether it is a business that knowingly admits children to view performances meant for an adult audience, or schools that allow pornographic instructional materials that promote promiscuity, we must take a strong stand for child safety and against a troubling social agenda that seeks to indoctrinate young children and replace the role of parents," Yarborough said in a press release about the bill.