Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Richard Levine said some “LGBTQI+” children need to replace their parents with “one supportive adult” while criticizing a parental rights law as “a gag rule” in a video clip posted on Twitter Tuesday.

“One supportive adult,” Levine, who is transgender, said in the clip posted on Twitter. “I’d love it if that was always the parent, but it’s not always a parent. Frequently it’s a teacher, or a guidance counselor, or some other coach or another school personnel.”

“This law forbids kids essentially from — from talking to — to — to these people. Also it means that — that if you tell a teacher the teacher has to tell the parent,” Levine added. “And so it really is — is a gag rule. It’s a gag law to — to — to prevent kids from accessing supportive adults.”

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation protecting parental rights in Florida in March, which came following a spate of lawsuits across the country centered around clandestine social transitions of children in schools. The law prohibits discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through third grade and required schools to notify parents about services for mental, emotional and physical health.

A 12-year-old Florida girl reportedly attempted suicide twice after administrators carried out a social transition without informing her parents, prompting a lawsuit, Fox News reported.

“Studies show that one supportive adult, one supportive adult for an LGBTQI+ kid can make all the difference in terms of preventing suicide, in terms of — of them, being able to navigate the world into adulthood and leading a — you know, a happy, successful productive life,” Levine said.

Levine previously endorsed a June 2022 executive order by President Joe Biden that expanded access to sex-change procedures for children, and claimed the following month that transgender youth were threatened by political attacks, bullying and mental health issues.

Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey began an investigation into a clinic that provided sex change operations to minors after a whistleblower claimed puberty blockers and other medications were being provided with a minimal amount of psychiatric screening.

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