Dr. Phil on "Extreme Gay Marriages" and "De-Confusing" Gender Variant Kids

So called "doctor"Dr. Phil continues to give bad advice to millions of families across the nation when it comes to the subject of sexual orientation and gender identity. His current advice column suggests how to "fix" a gender variant child and another part of his website paints LGBT marriage as "extreme".

Whether it's giving a platform to transphobia, bi-phobia or anti-gay voices there seems to be a fairly consistent message that paints our community in a damaging and inaccurate way.

Dr. Phil has been most inaccurate and down right offensive when it comes to the transgender and gender variant community. His current online advice column called "My 5 year old son prefers girls clothes and toys" encourages a mother to modify her child's behavior.

"Direct your son in an unconfusing way. Don't buy him Barbie dolls or girl's clothes. You don't want to do things that seem to support the confusion at this stage of the game ... Take the girl things away, and buy him boy toys. Support him in what he's doing, but not in the girl things." (Dr. Phil)

Dr. Phil operates under the premise that gender variance is abnormal and that the child must be confused when it is really the adults in this situation who are confused because they are faced head on with their own internal misconceptions of gender identity/expression.

Dr. Phil also has a section of his website called "Extreme Marriages" where he talks about marriages involving LGBT individuals. Scary right? If he wants to convey unusual or challenging circumstances there are different words that can be used to express that.

There have been changes in recent months that indicate that perhaps he is softening his heart and standing with the LGBT community. He has spoken out against gay bullying and admits that being gay is not a choice. We must continue to pressure him to accept our transgender brethren and eliminate all forms of queerphobia.

Send your comments to Dr. Phil demanding he stop his anti-LGBT commentary. Demand he pull these and other offensive columns and segments.

Dr. Phil show
5482 Wilshire Boulevard #1902
Los Angeles, CA 90036

TransAction Day 2009

TransAction is a national day to encourage dialogue about gender, gender roles and the full range of gender identities, and to advocate for inclusive, safe schools for all students.

The 2007 National School Climate Survey, a national study of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) found:

85.1% of transgender students reported being verbally harassed based on their sexual orientation and gender/gender expression

96.1% of students heard negative comments related to students’ gender expression

38.4% of students reported feeling unsafe at school because of their gender expression.

Transgender students reported experiencing higher levels of harassment and assault related to various personal characteristics than other students.

GLSEN is encouraging people to celebrate, educate, and advocate on behalf of transgender people.

To sign up or to see the resources available, please check out TransAction Day!