Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene received major backlash after her transphobic comments surrounding a transgender couple.
The couple appeared on Friends actress Courteney Cox's FacebookWatch documentary series 9 Months with Courteney Cox.
The documentary series follows "extraordinary couples having extraordinary births." One of the extraordinary couples featured was Ahanu and Petrona, a couple from Washington, DC.
Ahanu and Petrona are both transgender.
As the documentary follows the couple, the couple's midwife did not arrive on time and Petrona helped deliver her and her partner's child.
We see trans man and father, Ahanu, give birth to the baby. The baby was then given to trans woman and mother, Petrona, for breastfeeding which is medically and biologically possible.
You can watch the video here:
In response, GOP Representative Greene publicly called for the child to be taken away from its parents.
She claimed a transgender woman breastfeeding a baby constituted child abuse.
This comment is just another in a line of transphobic comments from the conservative Georgia Representative and QAnon follower.
Just days ago Greene was called out for making similarly bigoted comments about conservative trans woman and California Republican gubernatorial candidate Caitlyn Jenner. Greene called Jenner "a man in a dress."
Now, Greene is doubling down on her controversial statements by going after Ahanu and Petrona.
Greene claimed:
"This is CHILD ABUSE!!!!!"
"This baby is in danger!"
"Remove this child immediately."
"Caring for and raising children should have nothing, absolutely NOTHING, to do with fulfilling this man's unnatural fantasies."
"Men can NOT give birth or breast feed."
"They are mentally unstable."
This is CHILD ABUSE!!!!!\n\nThis baby is in danger! \n\nRemove this child immediately.\n\nCaring for and raising children should have nothing, absolutely NOTHING, to do with fulfilling this man\u2019s unnatural fantasies.\n\nMen can NOT give birth or breast feed.\n\nThey are mentally unstable.https://twitter.com/lizlemeryjoy/status/1414980703041855499\u00a0\u2026— Marjorie Taylor Greene \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Marjorie Taylor Greene \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1626208834
Although research has shown quite the opposite.
Those who are assigned male at birth can indeed breastfeed, or chestfeed, infants if they have been undergoing hormone therapy. It can be quite a difficult task, as Petrona discusses in the documentary, but lactation can be achieved.
Also, men can give birth as shown in the video when trans man Ahanu gave birth.
But facts, science nor medicine have eever been a strong suit for the GOP Georgia legislator who once claimed Jewish Space lasers caused western wildfires.
It seems that New Scientist disagrees.https://www.newscientist.com/article/2161151-transgender-woman-is-first-to-be-able-to-breastfeed-her-baby/\u00a0\u2026— Josh Black (@Josh Black) 1626209680
Petrona said:
"Being able to even be a part of a process where I'm trying to create milk and my body, it makes me feel very excited. I'm this baby's mother, so by doing this it's helping me feel really connected to the pregnancy,"
"The baby has been able to latch. But I've not been able to produce any milk. That's okay, because I'm going to supplement the feeding with formula so that my baby is still getting the nutrients that they need but I'm still feeling hopeful."
The video received many comments by those who supported the couple:
"That birth! Hats off to Ahanu & Petrona. From the midwife not being there to the baby not crying right away (which was so emotional) & the way they handled themselves – especially Ahanu was amazing. Their support of each other is beautiful."
"I am so in love with Ahanu and Petronas love...their baby is so lucky to have amazing parents who will show them what love should look like!"
Ahanu & Petrona! Omg that was the most emotional birth I've ever watched, I'm a mess!! The way they fed off each other and worked as a team to birth their child BY THEMSELVES was so inspiring and beautiful. I'm so happy I got to see this during pride month. I'm so happy for them
Greene used her Twitter platform to decry the couple, retweeting an already inflammatory comment to add her own controversial takes, including the accusation a couple trying to breastfeed their own child constitutes abuse.
Luckily for the couple, Twitter users are coming to their defense in droves.
Men actually can lactate. The have alveoli. The only thing they would need is a hormone increase in prolactin, which is the hormone from our pituitary glands that promote lactation. I had to take hormone supplements when I was breast feeding because I didn\u2019t produce enough milk.— oops, dropped my tax schemes \ud83e\udd37\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2640\ufe0f (@oops, dropped my tax schemes \ud83e\udd37\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2640\ufe0f) 1626209507
So, if you can not breast feed naturally, the baby should not breastfeed and should be deemed child abuse?— RMF (@RMF) 1626209157
I demand that children be taken (or kept) away from MTG. She's both unnatural and dangerous.https://twitter.com/lgbtqnation/status/1415449991271751684\u00a0\u2026— hxresistance (@hxresistance) 1626304844
Anyone can breastfeed with the proper hormone preparation. Any one. That isn\u2019t abuse, that\u2019s parenting.— Jennifer (@Jennifer) 1626239218
While their relationship is unusual, they do seem to have a lot more love in them than you seem to have.\n\nThere's a lot of hate in the world, MTG. Can't you just celebrate some love in its different forms?\n\nJesus would bless them.\n\nMsg from happy free-universal-health-care Canada— RJS (@RJS) 1626211021
your the problem M. Green.. I see a family of love and kindness.I see someone that says they will ensure the child gets nutrients required. M. Green, your the danger and needs to be removed to protect all of us. Your thoughts are so biased and one way.— Dave (@Dave) 1626279961
They literally said they will use supplements, which is formula or milk. The child was trying to latch and that is a literal connection between parent and child. Leave the family alone.— Jon Melcher (@Jon Melcher) 1626225530
This is not the first time Greene equated LGBTQ+ equality to child abuse.
She also said teaching children about all sexualities and gender identities is tantamount to "child abuse."
While this isn't the first time we've heard Greene spew ill-informed homophobic or transphobic rhetoric, it—unfortunately—probably won't be the last.
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