A 10-year-old transgender girl had a devastating reaction when asked what her biggest fear was amid a fierce public debate over trans rights.
As the Supreme Court examines a case involving the constitutionality of a Tennessee law that prohibits transgender minors from receiving gender-affirming care, a child expressed concerns during an interview with CNN’s Lucy Kafanov.
Kafanov asked what concerns she had about speaking out for her rights.
‘That I’m going to be like, murdered,’ 10-year-old Violet DuMont replied.
‘That one I’m going to be walking down the street and somebody’s going to come up and, like, shoot me or something.’
Kafanov commented how a fear of being murdered is a ‘really scary thing to be worrying about at 10 years old.’
‘Yeah, that should not be a worry,’ DuMont replied.
At that point, Kafanov asked DuMont’s mother what she thought of her daughter’s response and the reaction was emotional.
Violet DuMont, 10, shared that her biggest fear is getting murdered for speaking up for transgender rights
The answer caused her mother, Michelle Callahan-DuMont, to tear up
‘It’s just hard to hear her say that,’ Michelle Callahan-DuMont replied as she wiped away a tear.
She added that Violet asked her several questions following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory last month:
The child voiced worries about the possibility of having to relocate, being separated from their loved ones, and being unable to access necessary medication like puberty blockers and hormone treatments.
‘It’s just, it’s frightening,’ the worried mother said.
Trump had vowed on the campaign trail to revoke policies supporting gender-affirming care, especially for those under the age of 18.
During an event organized by Mom’s for Liberty in August, former President Trump pledged to issue an executive order on the first day to halt the promotion of sex or gender transition by federal agencies at any age, stating that such practices would no longer be allowed.
He has also said public schools will no longer receive federal funding if they promote ideas related to gender transitioning or transgender people and vowed that any hospital or healthcare provider that performs gender-affirming surgery or care to minors would no longer meet federal health and safety standards, and would therefore no longer receive federal funding.
The segment came amid National Correspondent Lucy Kafanov’s coverage on a Supreme Court case over the constitutionality of a Tennessee law denying transgender children gender-affirming care
During the campaign, the Republican party also spent more than $200million on anti-trans ads that often ended with the statement: ‘Kamala is for they/them. President Trump is for you.’
The party’s official platform even stated: ‘We will keep men out of women’s sports, ban taxpayer funding for sex change surgeries and stop taxpayer-funded schools from promoting gender transition, reverse Biden’s radical rewrite of Title IX Education Regulations and restore protections for women and girls,’ according to NPR.
When asked her thoughts on the Republican ads, Violet said they ‘made me feel like, literally dead inside.
‘It’s probably honestly the worst thing I ever felt,’ she claimed.
The 10 year old went on to say: ‘I’ve heard transphobic politicians that say, “No you have the wrong gender. You’re confused, honey.”
‘Now, my self is a fact, not an opinion,’ she argued, ‘and they don’t get to decide that for me. I get to decide that for myself.’
Kefanov later referenced the interview as she went live outside the Supreme Court, where justices are hearing arguments to overturn a Tennessee law that prohibits doctors from prescribing puberty-delaying medication, providing hormone therapy or performing surgery to treat ‘purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between the minor’s sex and asserted identity.’
Trump had vowed on the campaign trail to revoke policies supporting gender-affirming care, especially for those under the age of 18
The law is being challenged by three families and a doctor. They are supported by President Joe Biden’s administration.
Many transgender activists, including DuMont and her mother, traveled to the nation’s capitol to show their support for the law being overturned.
‘We spent time with three families who traveled on their own dime, missing school, missing work to be here in DC all the way from Arizona, to have their voices heard because they feel that there are a lot of politicians, lawyers, talking heads, discussing their rights [and] they’re not being heard from themselves,’ Kafanov said Wednesday, according to NewsBusters.
‘And I want to give you a sense of what one 10-year-old Violent DuMont told me when I asked her what it feels like to be a transgender kid in America today,’ she said before playing the clip in which DuMont shares her fear of being murdered.
Kafanov also noted that ‘all of these families emphasize’ that ‘gender-affirming care, things like hormones, puberty blockers – these are deeply personal, intimate decisions that they are making with their pediatricians, with their psychiatrists, with the children over the course of many, many years.
‘These are not, you know, willy-nilly decisions that they’re making carelessly, and for these children, it’s a chance to be who they truly are.
‘These 10 year olds told me they have no doubts about their gender identity,’ she explained.
‘They are exhausted about having to continuously defend who they are and to argue for their very right to exist.’
