Mom who lost custody of daughter sounds alarm on bill requiring parents to 'affirm' child's gender identity

A mother who lost custody of her adolescent daughter spoke out against a California bill that could hold parents in custody battles liable for child abuse if they refuse to "affirm" their son or daughter's gender identity.

Chicago resident Jeannette Cooper, who lost custody of her then 12-year-old daughter in 2019, pushed back on the legislation during "The Ingraham Angle," noting that discrepancies in beliefs are not a form of "abuse."

"This is a big problem," Cooper told Laura Ingraham Monday. "The biggest thing is that it's a complete insult to children who are actually suffering by being beaten by their parents and suffering because they don't have enough food in their house, or they don't get actual medical attention for physical problems. So it must be some place of privilege that somebody can say that not using a pronoun that some child wants is some form of abuse."

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"A difference in belief is not abuse," she continued. "I think that children who are actually being abused in very material ways should be insulted by this."

Cooper said her daughter, who she shares with her ex-husband, went for a routine visit with her father years ago and never came home. 

She claimed her daughter wanted to identity as a male with a new name, and even after she affirmed her child with the name and correct pronouns, she said that "wasn't enough."

Cooper previously told FOX podcast host Ben Domenech that her daughter alleged she was in an unsafe environment, and she ultimately lost custody of her. She said she hasn't seen her since March 2020. 

"My daughter went to her dad's house for a regular custodial visit. I had her six days a week, and she went for regular two or three-and-a-half-hour visit, and she never came back," Cooper said. "She said that she was a boy, and she had a new name."

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"I used the new name and new pronouns, but that wasn't enough," she continued. "It wasn't enough because I don't believe that anybody's born in the wrong body, and I don't believe in such a thing as gender identity."

The California legislation in question, AB 957, passed in the State Assembly on May 3, and originally proposed that courts deciding custody cases must consider whether each parent was gender-affirming of the child in question.

The amendment has added to the state’s standard of what constitutes parental responsibility for child welfare, requiring that parents must be affirming of a child’s gender identity if they are to be judged fit for providing for "the health, safety, and welfare of the child," in a court of law. 

If the newly-amended bill were to go into law parents who do not affirm this new standard of health and safety for their children may be found liable for child abuse and have their young one removed from their home. 

An author of the bill, California State Rep. Lori Wilson, D., spoke out in favor of the legislation, claiming it would be in the "best interest" of LGBTQ+ kids. 

"Many TGI children are not safe in their own home because of a non-affirming or an abusive caretaker," Wilson said during a state assembly. "Affirming their gender identity is in their best interest. We should be affirming our children in every possible way."

Cooper said she had no idea where her daughter would have gotten the idea she actually identified as a boy, but noted the far-left gender ideology is "everywhere."

"I think it's kind of everywhere, but I think kids and adolescents try to fit in," Cooper said. "They try to do something at school, and when you're 12 years old, you do things. And most of the time, adults kind of allow you a little bit of space, but they give you healthy boundaries, and nobody's giving children that today."

A State Senate hearing on the bill is slated for Tuesday. 

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Fox News' Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.