FCC chair blasts House Democrats 'extreme position' on gender ideology in kids' programming in fiery letter

FIRST ON FOX — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr on Tuesday issued a fiery response to the opposition from House Democrats over the agency's effort to reform television ratings for children's programming, some of which promotes gender ideology.

In April, the FCC issued a public notice seeking feedback about parents' concern about the content of shows their children watch, suggesting the current ratings system is outdated and deems "shows with transgender and gender non-binary programming as appropriate for children and young children" and that new ratings may be necessary.

That prompted a response in June from Democrats on the Congressional Equality Caucus, who accused the FCC of wanting to "censor the inclusion of transgender characters or topics" from children's programming and said that the current ratings system is "satisfactory and overwhelmingly popular among parents." WASHINGTON FATHER SUES SCHOOL DISTRICT FOR DENYING RELIGIOUS OPT-OUT FOR 5TH GRADER FROM LGBTQ INSTRUCTION "We strongly believe that parents should decide what their children watch on television," the lawmakers wrote .

"Programs should not have higher ratings or content warning simply because of the identity of the programs’ characters.

Applying higher ratings or content warnings because of a character’s gender identity would be harmful to transgender people and transgender acceptance and would harken back to a time when politicians sought to censor television programming because they included minorities." The House Democrats continued, "Any attempt by FCC to censor content because it includes transgender characters or topics would raise both legal and constitutional concerns...

Any attempt to issue rating warnings for depictions and themes related to transgender people would also raise concerns of content-based and viewpoint discrimination in violation of the First Amendment." BLUE STATE SCHOOL DISTRICT ACCUSED OF DEFYING SUPREME COURT, HIDING GENDER TRANSITIONS FROM PARENTS In a letter sent Tuesday to Congressional Equality Caucus Chair Rep.

Mark Takano, D-Calif., Carr expressed regret for the stance the Democratic lawmakers had taken.

"I am deeply concerned by the position that you and over 60 of your Democrat colleagues in the House of Representatives are taking regarding the right of parents to know whether their sons or daughters are being exposed to controversial gender identity ideologies—including the promotion of transgender and gender non-binary programming—in television shows that are rated as appropriate for young children," Carr began the letter obtained by Fox News Digital .

"In your letter, you come out swinging against both transparency and common sense," Carr added.