LGBTQ+ news: Mass. AG and NH youth push back on Trump anti-trans policies

Hmm.

Well, moving on to a specific case in Massachusetts, this was a local story that became national, promoted by Fox News, and it got a lot of attention because it's a fight about the school's gender identity policies.

It got more attention from the Trump administration, which is now, uh, bringing a federal investigation to the school district itself.

So the bottom line is that the Cutzos' daughter identifies, allegedly, as a gay person, went to school, sought comfort from teachers, and then asked for, and felt s- uh, told the teachers she felt unsafe.

This came after the parents have been accused, each of them, in action and behavior that was dangerous to the child, a situation that, that was, uh, neglectful.

That was the original accusation from DCF, so the child was removed from the home.

And now the parents are saying, "No, it didn't have anything to do with that.

It had something to do with the fact that their, uh, religious beliefs say that they don't believe in the child having a different gender identity than what they were born into." DCF now was at the point of giving testosterone to the child to help in a transition, and that's been blocked.

So first, let's take a listen from this BZ News interview with Bernadette Broyles.

This is the attorney hired by the parents, Joseph and Arlene Cutzo, whose child was removed from the home by the Department of Children and Families.

After 20 months of enduring the torture of not seeing their beloved daughter, and then hearing they're gonna give her testosterone, which has physical implications and spiritual implications.

All right, now, so this is Governor Maura Healey.

She's on Channel 5, WCVB, explaining why DCF removed the child from the home of Joseph and Arlene Cutzo.

This child was not removed because of a gender-affirming care issue.

This child was removed by DCF following the presentation of criminal charges against the parents.

So here we are.

Polly, I'm gonna let you lead with this.

Whatever the initial issues were with DCF with the removal of the child, it's now turned into a gender identity policy case.

Well, as someone who has represented young people in the child welfare system and worked on these policies, I see this case really as these parents politicizing a system and sadly kind of using their own situation and their child for an ideological gain.

I mean, truth be told, my understanding, and again, you know, the child welfare system, the center of that system is supposed to be children, and these cases are closed, right? So one of the, the ways that this has become in the public narrative is because these parents have been speaking out, but the other parties in the case are not able to do so.

Mm-hmm.

DCF does not remove children.

They have said that, and they would never remove a child without significant reason, and never because a child is transgender and has a disagreement about their gender identity with their parents.

There were serious allegations of violence and neglect which caused the removal, as I understand it, and I think that the system is trying to do what it can to make sure that child has what they need and are safe in their living situation, and that, to me, should really be the focus.

I think this has really, you know, spun out of control and feeds into kind of a broader narrative that some are trying to push, that state systems are trying to, quote-unquote, you know, "make youth transgender," which is just simply not true.

Hmm.

Well, moving on to a specific case in Massachusetts, this was a local story that became national, promoted by Fox News, and it got a lot of attention because it's a fight about the school's gender identity policies.

It got more attention from the Trump administration, which is now, uh, bringing a federal investigation to the school district itself.

So the bottom line is that the Cutzos' daughter identifies, allegedly, as a gay person, went to school, sought comfort from teachers, and then asked for, and felt s- uh, told the teachers she felt unsafe.

This came after the parents have been accused, each of them, in action and behavior that was dangerous to the child, a situation that, that was, uh, neglectful.

That was the original accusation from DCF, so the child was removed from the home.

And now the parents are saying, "No, it didn't have anything to do with that.

It had something to do with the fact that their, uh, religious beliefs say that they don't believe in the child having a different gender identity than what they were born into." DCF now was at the point of giving testosterone to the child to help in a transition, and that's been blocked.

So first, let's take a listen from this BZ News interview with Bernadette Broyles.

This is the attorney hired by the parents, Joseph and Arlene Cutzo, whose child was removed from the home by the Department of Children and Families.

After 20 months of enduring the torture of not seeing their beloved daughter, and then hearing they're gonna give her testosterone, which has physical implications and spiritual implications.

All right, now, so this is Governor Maura Healey.

She's on Channel 5, WCVB, explaining why DCF removed the child from the home of Joseph and Arlene Cutzo.

This child was not removed because of a gender-affirming care issue.

This child was removed by DCF following the presentation of criminal charges against the parents.

So here we are.

Polly, I'm gonna let you lead with this.

Whatever the initial issues were with DCF with the removal of the child, it's now turned into a gender identity policy case.

Well, as someone who has represented young people in the child welfare system and worked on these policies, I see this case really as these parents politicizing a system and sadly kind of using their own situation and their child for an ideological gain.

I mean, truth be told, my understanding, and again, you know, the child welfare system, the center of that system is supposed to be children, and these cases are closed, right? So one of the, the ways that this has become in the public narrative is because these parents have been speaking out, but the other parties in the case are not able to do so.

Mm-hmm.

DCF does not remove children.

They have said that, and they would never remove a child without significant reason, and never because a child is transgender and has a disagreement about their gender identity with their parents.

There were serious allegations of violence and neglect which caused the removal, as I understand it, and I think that the system is trying to do what it can to make sure that child has what they need and are safe in their living situation, and that, to me, should really be the focus.

I think this has really, you know, spun out of control and feeds into kind of a broader narrative that some are trying to push, that state systems are trying to, quote-unquote, you know, "make youth transgender," which is just simply not true.