Nebraska Republican suggests 'pressure to become trans' causes youth violence and suicide

13 April 2023

Nebraska State Senator R. Brad von Gillern (R-NE) suggested during a speech Thursday that an increase in youth suicides and violence are the result of peer-pressure to be transgender.

The Republican lawmaker was discussing GOP-backed LB 574, also known as the Let Them Grow Act, which would ban gender-affirming care for trans kids.

State Sen. Megan Hunt, a Democrat has ferociously pushed back on the anti-trans legislation, noting her GOP colleagues "have crossed a line" and "gone too far," while Democratic Sen. Michaela Cavanaugh has vowed to continue to filibuster the bill.

Heartland News shared a clip of the senator's address, writing, "In a meandering speech, NE State Sen. R. Brad von Gillern (R) blames teen suicide, school violence and bad test scores on kids being pressured to become trans by social media: 'Their lives have been filled with question marks... about who they are and who they're created to be.'"

The senator said, "As a child there were three things about me that were certain... a God who loved me, my parents loved me, and that I was a boy and would someday grow up to be a man."

He continued, "unfortunately many kids don't have the security of knowing any of those things today," suggesting "nearly all" children "are being told that the one thing they knew about themselves — being a boy or a girl — might be a mistake."

Von Gillern then concluded there is a correlation between high suicide rates, youth violence, and declines in test scores and transgender people.

According to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, teenagers' "thoughts about suicide and suicide attempts are often associated with depression, as well as family history of suicide attempts, exposure to violence, access to firearms and bullying.

Additionally, Boston Children's Hospital reports "there is no single factor that causes suicide or suicidal thoughts."

The National Center for Transgender Equality says the "sex" of a child "is often used in a medical or scientific contexts," noting "Sex is a label — male or female — that you’re assigned by a doctor at birth based on the appearance of the genitals you’re born with. It doesn’t define who you are, or what your gender identity might turn out to be.

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