‘Complete betrayal’: Fox News sees heated backlash over segment promoting child’s gender transition

Fox News has triggered a revolt among its mostly conservative base for running a one-sided segment about a family that began transitioning their daughter to a transgender boy when she was only five years old.

Aired on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom” this Friday as part of the network’s “America Together: LGBTQ+ Pride Month” series, the segment essentially promoted transgender boy Ryland Whittington’s transition like it was a good thing.

In fact, at the end of the segment, reporter Bryan Llenas praised the transgender boy, Ryland Whittington, for having the “courage” to transition and then praised Whittington’s parents and sister for being fully supportive of the transition.

“What extraordinary courage displayed by Ryland, his sister Brinley, father Jeff, and mom Hillary. I want to thank the Whittington family for speaking to us. It’s not easy, particularly at a time when when transgender issues have been politicized. People are afraid of what they do not understand. This family hopes their story will lead to more understanding, more acceptance, and ultimately more love,” Llenas said.

He later promoted the segment on Twitter:

Many members of Fox News’ mostly conservative base are now gunning for the jobs of both Llenas and producer Melissa Chrise for running such a one-sided segment devoid of any pushback and criticism.

For instance, Matt Walsh, the star of the recent documentary “What is a Woman?“, questioned the idea peddled by Llenas that Whittington “came out” as transgender at the mere age of five.

“The reporter says that the child announced a new gender as a toddler. Does Fox want us to believe that BABIES can choose their gender? This is the most extreme, radical, dangerous form of gender ideology. And it’s being promoted on Fox News,” Walsh wrote in a viral Twitter thread.

“The poor kid is 14 now with a permanently altered body, condemned to live forever with an identity imposed as a small child. It is horrifying, evil, and sick. And it is what Fox chose to promote.”

View the whole thread below:

To be fair, Whittington stills stands by the decision to transition. The problem is that Fox News chose to not offer any coverage of the numerous transgender people — boys, girls, men and women — who now regret having transitioned.

But to be fair again to Fox News, it’s not just a Fox News phenomenon. Big Think magazine notes that “missing in the research literature on gender dysphoria and transition is comprehensive data on a particular subpopulation: detransitioners.”

Why? Critics say it’s because detransitioners buck the left’s preferred narrative. And indeed, far-left activists often argue against the media covering detransitioners because such coverage “risk[s] fueling transphobia, delegitimizing the transgender experience, and discouraging young people with gender dysphoria from pursuing transitioning.”

Those who do cover this topic usually face certain consequences:

Detransitioning is nevertheless a vital topic of discussion because “[t]he vast majority of children who display signs of gender dysphoria desist over time,” according to conservative commentator and radio show host Ben Shapiro.

In his own series of tweets, he drew attention to another shocking tidbit from the Fox News segment — an observation by Llenas that “before Rylan could even speak, he managed to tell his parents that he is a boy” via his behavior.

“I could just see it wasn’t him trying to be a brat. It was, like, painful — it was truly painful for him to have to wear feminine clothing and for us constantly telling him that you’re a girl,” Ryland’s mother explained at one point in the segment.

Shapiro was deeply troubled by this.

“Every element of this video is propagandistic, dangerous garbage. The report states that this biologically female child was choosing her gender BEFORE SHE COULD SPEAK. This is madness,” he tweeted.

View his full Twitter thread below:

Walsh and Shapiro are by no means the only Fox News viewers lashing out. Twitter is brimming with users vowing to cancel their Fox Nation subscription and/or stop watching Fox News because of this unexpected segment.

The general consensus is that if Fox News wanted to cover the story of this family, they should have at least offered pushback instead of airing a pure “propaganda” piece more befitting an establishment outlet like CNN or MSNBC.

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51 thoughts on “‘Complete betrayal’: Fox News sees heated backlash over segment promoting child’s gender transition

  1. Gender dysphoria is a mental disorder and should not be celebrated. If someone is afflicted with schizophrenia, I would wish for them to recover and not wish that there more. Why are the leftists so heartless towards those who suffer from gender dysphoria?

  2. Filthy pedophile liberals grooming kids to become filthy pedophile liberals.

    For the record, if I catch ANY adult talking to my kids about this perverted BS, I’m going to punish them beyond anything they could ever imagine. Teacher. Doctor. Therapist. Family member. I don’t give af.

    It’s a mistake you’ll regret the rest of your miserable life.

  3. At that age she was just the usual Tomboy and would have grown out of it if allowed to. Now her parents have screwed her up to such an extent she will not know who or what she is and have problems for the rest of her life.

  4. I am disgusted by this. FOX will not be on in my house, including Tucker, Hannity, et al.
    FOX has been leaning further left for awhile now and, with this recent propaganda piece, has finally tipped over to the dark side.
    I was a Tom boy because, thankfully, I had a mother and father who didn’t forbid me from climbing trees, playing ball, camping out in the backyard or doing anything the boys did or who made me dress in typical girls clothing or boys clothing, to partake in all the fun I had as a kid…just a kid growing up in a once very *normal US.
    And if you want one good example of how this mental gender idiocy is working out, look at a story/show called I Am Jazz. A little boy whose parents let him become a girl…and now he’s grown up a little, is overweight, can’t handle what he’s become and is still facing all the issues he did as a little boy. No, I haven’t watched even one episode, but I do know several money making seasons later and commercials on all the woke stations, his situation isn’t getting better. He’s even been contemplating suicide at times.
    Is this the healthiest ideology he can have? No. Has he blamed his parents, at times for allowing him to go thru the surgeries and hormonal treatments he’s had to? Yes.
    Today, he just seems like a soul who’s lost in a body and a mind he doesn’t understand at all.
    The whole pride thing, on full display everywhere you turn, now including FOX, is heart-rending and disgusting. Personally, if you want to live your life in a fantasy world where anything goes, including disfiguring kids for attention, you’re just asking for serious mental issues down the line.
    It’s sad to see such stupid parenting going on.

  5. I will continue to check out Fox News online along with others to try to determine what is real, however it they don’t apologize for this docudrama and present the possible issues with children’s fantasies and whims being acted on by supposed adults, then I will never watch Fox News TV again. Even CNN is trying to add balance as Fox News is losing it.

  6. Why is anybody surprised by this? Fox News is just as far left as CNN or MSNBC. They do something every once in a while to try to keep their more naive viewers – like refusing to air the J6 fairy-tale hour. But, we’re not fooled.

    1. CNN is actually trying to move toward the middle, even if they have to fire someone to make it happen. Fox News on the other hand is moving left at a fast clip…

  7. I quit watching all news channels when I saw that I had pulled out all of my hair and was hoarse from screaming…”What is wrong with you people?” at the television screen.

  8. They promote same sex marriage, drug use, and other leftist crap. Why is this a surprise to anyone? I haven’t watched FOX for years and they keep proving to me that I made the right decision!

  9. As Bill Maher recently said ““If kids knew what they wanted to be by age eight, the world would be filled with cowboys and princesses. I wanted to be a pirate. Thank God nobody took me seriously and scheduled me for eye removal and peg leg surgery. Never forget children are impressionable and very, very stupid.”

    1. I would choose the correct word, “ignorant”! Your use of stupid is a bad reflection on you vocabulary or definitions of words.

  10. “Extrodinary courage…” to take your beautiful, non-verbal daughter and make believe that she’s telling you she wants to be a boy? Won’t wear “girl’s clothes”? Then, actually allow a doctor (who should LOOSE his liscense!) to cut her up and turn her into a “boy”? Just the physical of this – no grandchildren, “plumbing” that doesn’t do what it’s supposed to do, etc., then to throw in the psychological and spiritual, this kid is going to be a mess when this all hits the proverbial fan.
    These parenta and medical staffs involved need to be investigated & tried for child abuse.
    And, now, for FOX to pick this up as a “positive story”? Very disturbing & disheartening. I know that FOX has had struggles, but this is pushing too far. I’m too old and definitely not “woke” enough for this.

  11. This is child abuse on roids. Ask everyone you know how many memories of being 5 or 6 they have??? I can’t believe the parents aren’t serving life in jail.

  12. So we have pride month and black history month! When are we going to get Straight White History Month?

  13. Child abuse….plain and simple. If a parent can be arrested under statutes relating to “child abuse” for refusing to subject their child to an experimental drug with ZERO efficacy trials (ie. the jab being referred to as a vaccine); how is someone who subjects their child to hormone therapy, puberty blockers, etc. in a vain effort to change their gender NOT viewed as child abuse? When TF did the inmates take control over the asylum??

  14. I think the parents just wanted a boy first, so they created one via Dr. Frankenstein.

  15. The parents should be put in jail! Who thinks a 5 year old knows what they want.
    This poor girl will have to live with this the rest of her life. Fox should not be promoting this outrageous story. The host should be fired for running it!!

  16. This is sick and evil and the parents who are so called christians allow this evil to flourish in their lives. No such thing as transgender.

  17. Obviously they have been giving this under age child puberty blockers since she is not developing breast! These are drugs she will have to take the rest of her life! My brother at the age of nine expressed he wished he was a girl after we gave him a petticoat to wear after we got caught in the rain and all of our stuff wasn’t moved into our new house yet! He liked the softness of the fabric. He never mentioned it again nor did he every stop being a rough and tumble little boy. It was just a cute innocent comment by a little kid that would be taken totally out of content today! What a shame that kids aren’t allowed to say funny things without somebody taking control of their bodies before they’ve had a chance to go up! My youngest brother thought he was a dog when he was 5 it was very funny… but by the time he was 6 he grew out! Today we would be expected to neuter and put him on a leash!

  18. And this is why I rarely watch Fox. God made her a girl. She is XX and will always be XX not XY. A five- year- old does not yet have a developed sense of who they are but sure can be influenced by others.

  19. It’s no secret that FOX news is owned by dimocrats, so it’s no real surprise that they’re ‘testing the waters’ here.

    [It’s almost like they-dimocrats-have openly declared war on our children. If they can’t eliminate these unanticipated little inconveniences (on a whim).. after ‘choosing’ to engage in the activity specifically designed to accomplish this (ie:to sustain our species).. they have created an dangerous obstacle course, which they want all their little ‘accidents’.. along w/every other every child born.. to have to weather. They have also now stocked our education system up with teachers.. who are in reality community organizers.. that pollute and confuse our fragile and innocent kiddos (with their pure garbage ideas). This has created 2 horrible outcomes (we are now having to address) and this centers around 2 diff kinds of mental illness-one is clearly associated with sociopathic violence (school mass shootings) and the other is related to the gender/gay lifestyle/promiscuous sex quagmires collectively being promoted by the alphabet soup groups (they have eagerly volunteered to implement and promote as early as kindergarten). These are the folks who have made it crystal clear they don’t care about our future or these kiddos… Apparently, misery really does love company.]

    LGB

  20. Sounds like a piece the extreme leftist, Sarah Murdoch (Lachlan’s wife & ultra Trump hater) would push.

  21. Fox has slowly been changing their political perspective since the boys took over. Very sad. But it is great that there are now alternatives. Fox will pay the price.

  22. Well, Bryan is gay, so there’s that. But yeah, I did a double take when the story came on. Thought the cat changed the channel. Look, adults can do what they want, but a toddler who squirms when you put a dress on her is more like saying the dress is uncomfortable, not, “I’m a boy.”

    1. Oh, and I’m 100 percent female and haven’t worn a dress in 20 years. Slips, nylons and high heels are torture.

    2. I think most toddlers squirm when you try to dress them. If this little girl couldnt speak when she was a toddler, I think there was something else very wrong with this child and she needed help. Sadly she had two whack jobs for parents.

  23. Although I applaud Fox’s Right Wing flank for finally speaking out, I’m surprised that they seem so “surprised” at this balance-challenged feature. Perhaps had Walsh, Shapiro, Baier and Cavuto shown similar outrage over election fraud in 2020, Fox’s B-team may not have felt so emboldened to celebrate child abuse today.

  24. It appears as if the Murdoch boys, along with RINO Paul Ryan, have been gradually transforming a formerly staunch conservative TV network into their version of “woke”. If they succeed, I wonder if Fox will prove that “to go woke, is to go broke”?

    1. The more Liberal of the two brothers, James Murdoch quit Fox in 2020 over a “content” dispute. Since then the somewhat more centered brother, Lachlan, appears to have taken a hands-off approach to programming.

      As for “woke” and “broke,” Fox’s “woke” denial of Election Day fraud triggered a serious ratings dip lasting six months. Many viewers left, giving a bump to lower budget operations like OANN and Newsmax. OANN feverishly worked to sustain the rush of curious first time watchers, but few cable providers were even offering this still struggling network. Newsmax fared a little better, that is, until Fox accelerated it’s promotion of Tucker in primetime. Now, it remains to be seen if the Murdoch empire can right the ship– again– in the wake of the network’s disastrous trans-children celebration.

  25. I stopped watching FOX news after their botched coverage on Election Night 2020.

  26. Her first child was a girl and they decided they wanted a boy for child #2. BS

  27. FOX, normalizing and enabling this perversion of children and culture is enough. I only watch Tucker Carlson and Maria Bartiromo. The rest can go away for good.

  28. This child supposedly told her parents she knew she was a different gender before she even knew what “gender” was. My niece thought she was Chewbacca when she was 5. Kids believe fantasy at age 5, that’s how they develop their imaginations. Trusting what they fantasize about as reality is ludicrous. To begin “transitioning” a child before puberty is unconscionable. And if this child was threatening suicide at such a young age, there is a whole lot more mental/emotional abuse going on. On the surface this looks like a money maker for a Mother who loves attention. And the child pays…..

  29. There should be a BOUNTY on FOX!
    I’m done. I won’t put up with this! I don’t want disgusting filth on my TV…in my house!
    Imagine if we don’t even watch Tucker or HANNITY, or Gutfield for a week. Would that move the ratings needle? Maybe Fox needs to be beaten by MSNBC to wake them up!
    FoxNews has some splainin’ to do!
    I doubt it’ll be enough…for me anyway.
    They’ve screwed the pooch…er…pervert.

  30. Cannot vote or smoke until 18, but can legitimize a childs feelings by permanently disfiguring what biologically was born. Start a support group, Fox, but do not promote and push child abuse.

  31. It’s definitely not Christian to inflict permanent damage on somebody without grave reason. And “feeling like you’re really the opposite sex” isn’t grave enough. Which is why the questionable statistics about suicide and transition had to enter into their propaganda machine. That’s why nobody’s allowed to take too close a look at how they crunched the numbers, or the counter evidence from places like Sweden.

    Not that anybody can really know that he feels like the opposite sex. What did Ryland have to compare her subjective experience with in the first place? How could she know, especially at such a young age, that she possesses a boy’s subjectivity? Maybe she always loved action figures and all the Marvel and DC blockbusters, or hated the girly outfits she wore, but so what? A preference for “masculine” things is not the same as a subjective experience of being a male. All the tomboys out there were proof enough, back when we accepted that tomboys are real. But now, it seems we have to erase them, too. Perhaps she didn’t like being called a girl, but the causes could be much different from what her parents assumed. I’m sure we all get these points, even if some of us believe that my subjective experiences don’t have to be grounded in my particular body. Not even genetics can get us past that point all by itself. Perhaps there are genetic markers for gender dysphoria, as one person told me? How does that get us away from the once-obvious truth that we’re dealing with a mental disorder? Or justify the belief that a “male-bodied individual” can have a female subjectivity (or vice versa)? You have to assume more than I’m willing to concede without argument.

  32. This act by the childs parents is pure evil. I suspect the mother wanted to gain bonafides with her local moms by showing just how tolerant, accepting and liberal she is.
    I predict that this girl is going to have significant mental problems by the time she reaches the mid to late twenties…and she’ll have her parents, primarily her mother to blame!

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