Rantz: King County Court mandates defense for youth gender surgeries

King County Superior Court mandates that community volunteers be willing to defend minors who demand gender surgeries or other gender-related medical treatment.

The Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Program, which is an official program for King County Superior Court, recruits and trains community volunteer advocates to represent the best interest of children (aged 0-11) who are involved in Dependency proceedings. They must represent what’s in the best interest of the children. But when one longtime volunteer said she wouldn’t be comfortable arguing for a minor to receive gender surgeries or other medical interventions like hormone therapy, she was summarily dismissed.

The volunteer, who asked for anonymity for fear of retribution, worked with CASA for a total of seven years. After taking some time off, she recently rejoined CASA and was subjected to updated training. That’s when she was discharged from her volunteer work.

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Court mandates a support for gender surgeries on minors

During Week Four of the five-week training in March 2023, the volunteer was advised that she must be willing to advocate on behalf of children who are seeking gender-related surgeries and other related medical care. But she expressed her objections. She said she finds it inappropriate to advocate for a child to receive medical interventions, especially those who haven’t even hit puberty yet.

After her objections and a follow-up conversation arguing it’s an injustice to advocate gender surgeries and other related medical treatment on children, two CASA managers set up a phone call with her. She said they wouldn’t explain what they wanted to discuss. On that call, in late March, she said she was informed that her position was incompatible with the group’s mission. 

“I cared about the children I advocated for and put a lot of thought and time into the decisions I made on their behalf,” she explained to The Jason Rantz Show on KTTH.

The volunteer said she had a good history with CASA and had expertise specifically in education. It allowed her to advocate for CASA children in the school environment where she said she often attended school meetings on their behalf. 

“I am very disappointed that CASA, whom I have supported for many years, has succumbed to the extreme liberalism that is rampant today,” the volunteer told The Jason Rantz Show on KTTH. “I am appalled that an organization that is supposed to protect our most vulnerable, children between the ages of 0-11, would require that its volunteers be willing to advocate for medical intervention that would alter the natural gender of children.”

Respecting ‘human diversity’

A spokesperson for King County Superior Court did not dispute the requirement. She said it’s intended to show respect for “human diversity.”

“Among the commitments made by CASA volunteers in their oath is to maintain objectivity, treat all persons with respect, fairness, and courtesy regardless of their human diversity,” the spokesperson explained to The Jason Rantz Show on KTTH. “CASAs also commit to maintain an active commitment to the child for the life of the case if possible and because each child’s case is dynamic, CASAs can select a specific case but may not refuse to serve a category of children.”

The volunteer, however, said she never refused to serve transgender-identified minors. She merely stated she was not comfortable defending their “right” to gender-related surgeries or other related treatments. She also said she doesn’t have an expertise in these kinds of cases, so she wouldn’t be as qualified as other CASA advocates.

The volunteer said she used to be able to pick and choose the cases she would volunteer to take on. In some cases, a CASA volunteer would have more experience or expertise than she would, and visa versa, depending on the case. She didn’t think her reasonable objections would disqualify her from the volunteer position. 

Would this ever even come up? Yes

Would any CASA volunteers find themselves in positions to advocate on behalf of a minor seeking gender-related surgeries? In Washington, Democrat lawmakers made it considerably more likely.

In the last few legislative sessions, Washington Democrats passed a series of laws allowing minors to receive gender-affirming care, including surgical interventions, without parental consent.

Now, thanks to legislation championed by far-left State Sen. Marko Liias, minors can run away from home to receive gender surgeries and a youth shelter is prohibited from telling the minor’s parents where they’re being housed. It’s not hard to imagine a case that conflicts with the volunteer’s reasonable position. But because she doesn’t conform to a political agenda around gender identity, children will be without a well-regarded and committed advocate to fight for them.

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