In this Open Lines Hour segment, a conservative Catholic mother (Speaker A) calls Dennis Prager to discuss a heated argument with her high‑school daughter who wants to invite a transgender friend into their home. The caller expresses fear and anger, describing how she told her daughter that transgender identity is a "mental issue" and refused to allow the friend in. She reports family tension: her husband disagrees with her punitive stance, and her sister suggests moving the daughter to a Catholic school, away from the liberal arts high school (LaGuardia High School) she currently attends. Prager advises the caller to ask her daughter a specific question—whether she believes it is fair for biological men to compete in women’s athletics—as a way to gauge whether the daughter has been "indoctrinated" on transgender issues. The conversation highlights parental anxiety, intra‑family conflict, and the use of a sports‑participation question as a litmus test for perceived ideological influence.
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I had an argument with my daughter a couple of nights ago. I am, uh, conservative, I'm religious, I'm Catholic, and she, uh, is a freshman in high school, and she said to me, if I become friends with somebody who's transgender, um, and we become close or whatever, and I want to invite them in the house, you're gonna let them in the house? And she did this right before bedtime, and she caught me off guard, and I reacted very angrily, and I said, no, they're not allowed in my house. I said, I, I said, I'm sorry, I think it's a mental issue. I think it's wrong what they're doing. I think it's wrong to encourage it. I said, I'm not going to call anybody they and them in my house. And I, I just went insane. She's— and then she started yelling back at me, you're mean, you mean, I can't believe this, blah blah, they can't help it, this and that. And then she left the room, and, and that was the end of it. And after talking to my sister, who has 4 kids She thinks that I should, I should just switch schools and put her in Catholic school where we live, because right now she goes to LaGuardia High School, and which is an art school in Manhattan. And, um, I, I'm upset. I'm so upset. And when I talk to my husband about it, he fights with me because he doesn't agree with my approach. He doesn't think she should change schools. He thinks that she's not indoctrinated. And I'm, I'm scared. I am really scared.
Well, you'll know. No, I'll tell you when— there's a question you should ask her, and then I'll on your call, but there is a question you should ask her to determine if she's indoctrinated. Does she think that it is fair for biological men to compete in athletics against biological women?
Okay, I mean, I could ask her that, but she's, she's going to poo-poo that because she's going to say that's not what I'm asking.
No, no, no, no, no, no, you're right, that isn't what she's asking. I'm merely responding to how I'm trying to help you. You're certainly free to reject it, but I'm trying to help you determine whether she is indoctrinated or just being nice to a fellow student. They're not the same thing. She's indoctrinated if she says that it is fair for a biological man who identifies as a female to compete in athletics against biological women. Now then you know she's indoctrinated. But if she says, no, of course that's not fair. All I'm asking is if, so I presume if it's in high school in America today, it is probably a female who identifies as a male. So I don't know how often she brings male friends to the house to begin with. That's obviously your decision. But I would not say automatically no. I would talk to the person though. I would find that most interesting.
