(LifeSiteNews) — During a rally in favor of a ballot measure that holds the potential to stop a radical proposed constitutional amendment in Ohio, a former “transgender”-identifying teenager urged voters to join her in the fight to protect children from gender ideology. 

Chloe Cole, who has testified in favor of numerous pieces of legislation designed to protect children from irreversible chemical and surgical intervention for gender confusion, spoke again in Ohio to encourage citizens to vote in favor of Issue 1, for which a special election will be held on Tuesday. If passed, the measure would increase the percentage of votes required to approve a constitutional amendment. 

In November, voters will be faced with a radical proposal to enshrine a “right” to abortion in the state constitution, a ballot measure that pro-family advocates have said would also put an end to parental consent for so-called “gender transitions” for minors.  

“Many of you parents and families here today know just how impressionable and subject to change children and teenagers are,” Cole began after being greeted with cheers of support from the crowd. “Sometimes, children say things that they don’t mean or fully understand, perhaps because they’re following their peers or taking influence from them and their environments, or because they simply are learning to communicate their feelings and be part of the world around them.” 

“Yet, there are adults out there who want to take it all away from children,” the 18-year-old continued after emphasizing the important role of parents. “They want to strip them of their innocence and put them in charge of themselves. Some make the claim that children are hardly any different from adults; that they, too, are sexual beings.” 

Cole explained that those who advocate for gender ideology “believe that a child’s narrow, developing view of the world should take precedence over the judgment of those who know them best: their parents, their caretakers and their families.” 

“There is a movement of immature, power-hungry adults who want to rid the world of all good and all structure, threatening to rip children from their loving families and place them into the clutches of a tyrannical government and those who blindly abide to it.” 

Cole then explained how she grew up as a tomboy and began puberty around 9 years old, which left her uncomfortable and insecure with her physical appearance and the potential for pregnancy and motherhood in the future.  

Although she didn’t fully understand the reality at the time, she said that “none of these feelings were really out of the ordinary for a girl my age” and admitted that “with time and care, I likely would have come to accept and embrace womanhood. … But we’ll never know for sure, because I wasn’t given that chance.” 

Upon voicing her desire to present herself as a boy, Cole’s parents were “rightfully cautious” as they wrestled with how to support her “trying to establish my identity and role in the world” and wondering from where the gender confusion had appeared.  

“My psychologists and physicians, however, they never questioned this identity that I took on or why I so badly wanted to reject my birth sex. Not that they could.” 

Cole explained that, in California, where she grew up, medical professionals are required to “strictly adhere to the ‘affirmative care model,’ meaning that [if] they don’t mindlessly affirm my perceived identity as a boy, they could lose their license[s].” 

After pursuing puberty blockers, testosterone injections, and a double mastectomy by age 15, Cole shared that she came to understand that she could not “transition” to the opposite sex “and that no boy has to go through this to become a man.” 

“I soon discovered that it was all a lie in an attempt to run away from [the] reality that one day I wanted to be a mother and have children of my own. In order to do that, I would have to live as a woman. I couldn’t bear to live so miserably anymore. I decided that I would never pick up a single vial of testosterone ever again.” 

The young woman also shared that she still wears bandages on her chest every day due to complications from the mastectomy that she received three years earlier, with no assistance from the surgeon who committed the irreversible operation. She also emphasized that the undying love of her parents throughout the tragic journey “gave me hope” that “I was worthy,” even after falling into the trap of “gender transition.” 

“You and I are the only thing standing in between this attack on children,” Cole concluded. “You have a duty to finish this fight with me.”  

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