Libs of TikTok shared a story about the Vermont Department of Health. It has issued a fatwa on the proper use of language and adopted a moral obligation to ensure that we do not incidentally hurt each other’s feelings as if that’s their job. This is Vermont. Hurt feelings must be a burgeoning public health crisis.
The list of recommendations and the department’s explanations are as follows: “Use ‘child’ or ‘kid’ instead of ‘daughter’ or ‘son.’ This is gender-neutral and can describe a child who may not be someone’s legal son or daughter. Say ‘family members’ rather than ‘household members.’ Not all families live in the same home – think divorced, or incarcerated parents, stepsiblings, etc. Say ‘family’ rather than ‘extended family.’ Often grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins are important parts of a core family unit.”
The post contains a link to subscribe to the department’s Health Equity newsletter.
It reminds me of remarks I made on my Substack about how public school teachers and staff could reduce the (alleged) risk of gender confusion-based suicide. Stop confusing them. Shut up and teach math and reading. Take all the gender crap out of the classroom, and like magic, kids will stop questioning their gender. Think of all the money we’d save on mental health services, especially since gender mind-f**king other people’s kids can lead to suicidal ideation. You can then feel free, when discussing a student with their parents, to refer to them as a son or daughter (punk kid is gender-neutral, as is the scourge of your loins, bastard offspring, and demon spawn – if you must).
Or tell the Vermont Department of Public Health to go to hell because if you don’t, they will find or arrange the authority to compel you – at least when you find yourself huddled under the ever-increasing umbrella of their influence. Their first foray into socialized medicine was nearly as ham-handed, expensive, and ill-begotten as the Clean Heat Standard, but that’s not likely to prevent future overreach. In other words, socialists will be Marxists, and words matter, and if yo don’t stop them now, you might not get another chance.
To borrow from Nancy Reagan, say no.
