transgender

A young New Zealander, Issy, recently went public to tell her story of growing up with sexual identity confusion and being irreparably damaged by “transgender” ideology and medical procedures.

Only when she turned to God, learning that He loved and accepted her, and embraced her true identity as a woman, did she find peace and healing.

Issy recounted her story in a video from Family First New Zealand, “The Untold Stories of Kiwi ‘Detransitioners’ – Meet Issy.”

It’s a powerful story of a troubled girl’s journey toward grace and redemption.

Family First NZ, led by Bob McCoskrie, is a fierce advocate for families, marriage, life and freedom. The Christian organization proclaims the truth that there are only two sexes, male and female, and transgender ideology and medical procedures have brought terrible harms to many young people.

Issy is one of the first young women in New Zealand to publicly share her journey into the darkness of transgenderism – and out again, through faith in God.

In the video, Issy described what it was like growing up and thinking of herself as a boy.

“I always had friends that were boys, and I did all the boy things. It wasn’t until I was age 11, when I started going through puberty, that I realized that I wasn’t, and I faced the reality of what my gender was, and I played the part and just became as feminine as possible,” she said.

In high school, Issy became a satanist. She struggled with anxiety, self-hatred and clinical depression.

Then, in college, she joined an LGBT club, meeting “people who were living as transgender.”

She attempted to make herself look more masculine. After one visit to a doctor, another visit to an endocrinologist and a third visit to a psychologist, Issy was prescribed testosterone.

Not one doctor told her that hating her femininity and longing to be male were not normal or healthy.

“I grew a beard; I got a deep voice. My period stopped. There was more sweat. I could make muscle easily. All the stuff I wanted,” Issy told McCoskrie.

But this didn’t help the underlying issues – her depression remained.

Issy explained that in New Zealand, the process of receiving damaging transgender medical interventions happened very quickly.

“I transitioned at 19, going on 20, and then I had top surgery when I was 21 and a hysterectomy when I was 22.”

Doctors removed perfectly healthy organs from her body.

Her decision to try to live as a man led to conflict with her family and LGBT activists encouraged her to cut off her family if they wouldn’t accept and celebrate her “transition.”

But, as she explained to McCoskrie, that’s not the whole story.

I failed to be understanding about how they would have been feeling. I was just told by the queer community I was part of, that they don’t accept me, so you must cut them off. They can’t be in your life anymore.

But looking back, … I believe that was a failure on my part. I should have been understanding with my family. They were grieving the loss of a daughter. I just should have been more understanding in how they would have been feeling in that, which I didn’t.

She realized the injurious chemical and surgical interventions didn’t bring peace or help her build lasting, healthy relationships.

A turning point came when Issy found faith and recognized, “I will never be a male. I will always be female.”

“And there was power in acknowledging it and accepting that. And I came to this realization with  peace and love. It was then when I decided that I should detransition. It’s like my mind and my feelings finally agreed with my biology,” she added.

At one point, she doubted whether God would accept her. But she asked Him to “send someone to me.”

God intervened in a powerful, miraculous way at a Christian rally.

“I saw this butch looking woman … in the prayer and worship area, and I just found it curious, and I wondered if she was Christian or whatever. … I was literally leaving and then she was standing right in front of me.”

She handed Issy a book and said, “It’s my testimony. I want you to read it.”

The woman asked if she could tell Issy something, and then whispered in her ear, “Come as you are.”

All my fears, worries, concerns dropped to the ground in that moment. And I just started crying because that’s exactly what I needed, exactly what I was like looking for.

And I told her as I was crying, “I’m a transgender. I’ve been like thinking about this, worrying about this.”

And she points to her book and says, “Look, gender confusion.”

And literally on the title of her book, it said Gender Confusion.

“It’s been a healing journey. My life has been a healing journey. And I feel like I’ve finally reached the point of fully loving myself, my true self, loving the way I am, for me,” Issy described the road she traveled.

Issy found that the Gospel offers what we long for: God loves and accepts us as just as we are.

But at the same time, we are all desperately broken sinners. And the Gospel also offers what we need: God’s grace and power bring forgiveness for our sins, healing to our brokenness, and transformation of our lives.

Focus on the Family exists to help families, and that includes help navigating transgenderism. Focus offers a free, one-time counseling consultation with a licensed or pastoral counselor. To request a counseling consultation, call 1-855-771-HELP (4357) or fill out our Counseling Consultation Request Form.

Related Articles and Resources

Family First: “The Untold Stories of Kiwi ‘Detransitioners’ – Meet Issy”

Chloe Cole: Good News in the Fight Against Transgender Mutilation of Children

Chloe Cole: Gender Reassignment Surgery Regret

Do Not Fall for the ‘Affirm Them or They Will Die’ Lie

Expert in ‘Transitioning’ Children Admits ‘We Were Wrong’ About Puberty Blockers

Important New Journal Article Calls Out Doctors for Harming Youth with Medicalized Gender Ideology

God’s Amazing Grace in a Transgendered Person’s Life

Support for Parent Whose Adult Child Identifies as Transgender

Teenager Identifies as Transgender

Transgender Ideology is Inherently Destructive

Transgenderism and Minors: What Does the Research Really Show?

Transgender Resources

Image credit: Family First NZ

The fight to defend parental rights and the innocence of children is one of the defining cultural battles of our generation. Colorado’s Lee family deserves our deepest gratitude and respect for standing up — not just for their own family — but for parents and children across the nation.

As reported by the Daily Citizen, Erin and Jonathan Lee appealed their case to the U.S. Supreme Court, alleging that Colorado school district policies and practices on “gender identity” intentionally excluded them as parents from critical decisions involving their daughter. They charge such policies violate their constitutional rights as parents to control the upbringing and care of their children.

Recently, the Supreme Court decided not to take up the Lee family’s case. In a short statement, Justice Samuel Alito made it clear that this wasn’t because the issue isn’t important. Instead, the Court felt this particular case wasn’t the right one for them to rule on at this time.

Justice Alito also pointed out that the case raises very serious questions about parental rights.

“The troubling – and tragic – allegations in this case underscore the ‘great and growing national importance’ of the question that these parent petitioners present.”

In other words, this isn’t the end of the fight. In fact, momentum seems to be growing.

The Lee family’s courage and determination have paved the way for future legal battles on this issue. Defending the innocence of our children and our role as parents is always a cause worth defending. Thank you, Lee family.

Two Remaining Parental Rights Cases

The Supreme Court, however, is still considering two similar parental rights cases it might take up this term.

One case that could provide that opportunity is Foote v. Ludlow School Committee. In this matter, parents allege that a Massachusetts school district secretly facilitated a social “gender transition” for their daughter at school, including using a new name and pronouns without their knowledge and holding private counseling sessions behind their backs.

A petition asking the Supreme Court to hear the Foote case was filed on July 18. Since then, 21 states joined in urging the Court to take it up, recognizing its national significance for parental rights. The case is still pending before the Court as it decides whether to grant review.

Another key case is Littlejohn v. School Board of Leon County. Florida parents say their school district created a so-called gender transition plan for their child and excluded them from the process entirely. The parents filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to hear their case on September 3, 2025.On October 6, 21 states announced their support for the Littlejohns’ petition. The case is set to be considered at a Court conference on November 7, 2025.

If the Court agrees to take up Foote or Littlejohn, it could set a landmark precedent affirming parents’ right to be fully informed and involved in major decisions about their children.

These cases — the Lee case, the Foote case, and the Littlejohn case — represent a growing legal and cultural battle over one of the most critical questions of our time: Do parents have the right to be fully informed and involved in major decisions affecting their children?

Let’s remember these cases in our prayers and ask the Lord to defend families, protect children and uphold the rights of parents across this nation.

Related Articles and Resources

Focus on the Family exists to help families, and that includes help navigating the issues of homosexuality and transgenderism. Focus offers a free, one-time counseling consultation with a licensed or pastoral counselor. To request a counseling consultation, call 1-855-771-HELP (4357) or fill out our Counseling Consultation Request Form.

Erin and Jon have a documentary, Art Club, telling their story. Watch online for free.

To learn more about Erin’s advocacy for children and parents, visit her account on X or her website.

‘Art Club’ Documentary — One Family’s Escape from Gender Ideology, and the Bigger Trend Sweeping the Nation

Exclusive Interview: Colorado Parents Expose ‘Gender Cult’ at Public School in New Documentary

Focus on the Family Urges Congressional Leaders to Respect Parental Rights

Homosexuality Resources

Transgender Resources

Understanding Homosexuality

Image from Shutterstock.

We have all been heavily pressured over the last ten years to fully accept and never question the lie that anyone can be male or female. One need only make the claim and we are all expected to play along. We are deemed unkind if we don’t.

Of course, this is madness.

New research, previously reported by Daily Citizen, has indicated that the “trans” fad is dying. A lie will always reveal itself and that seems to be what is happening with trans ideology.

On October 14, University of Buckingham (UK) social scientist Eric Kaufmann posted new data that went wildly viral. He claimed it showed “trans identification is in free fall among the young.”

He also stated, “Non-conforming sexual identity [queer, questioning] is also in sharp decline” adding, “Gay and lesbian are stable while heterosexuality has rebounded by around 10 points since 2023.” This data is presented in his full report entitled, “The Decline of Trans and Queer Identity among Young Americans” from which his X thread was based upon.

This would indicate that the shine is falling from “trans” and “queer” identity.

But others contested these findings, saying there were methodological problems with Kaufmann’s data and conclusion, doing so here, here, and here. Professor Kaufmann responded to these critics on X and on his Centre for Heterodox Social Science Substack. It all delves into deep research methodology weeds that most of us can easily get lost in. However, two of the critical scholars made concessions from the exchange.

Another notable research scholar, Jean Twenge of San Diego State University, took great interest in Kaufamann’s original claims and the academic challenges brought by these few critics. She wondered if there might be better, nationally representative data sets that answer and bridge the methodological questions being debated. She wrote two very revealing articles on what she found.

Professor Twenge asks in her October 16 article, “So has transgender identification declined among the population of young adults as a whole?” She concludes, “The short answer: Maybe.” She explains that The Household Pulse survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau included a question about identifying as “transgender” is in its nationally representative surveys between 2021 and 2024.

Among 18- to 22-year-olds, identifying as trans increased 58% between 2021 and 2023, “then it bobbled a bit” she explains, going down and then up in 2023 and the first half of 2024 before declining significantly in the second half of 2024 to nearly 2021 levels of 2%. Twenge observes, “It appears identifying as transgender peaked in early 2024 among younger adults even at the population level.” But she also admits, “It’s hard to say if the late 2024 decline is a blip or the start of a longer trend.”

She explained that we need 2025 Census data to confirm this decline. But we don’t have that data from the Census Household Pulse survey that was fielded in February 2025. “Why don’t we have it?” she asks. Her answer: “I assume this occurred because of the Trump administration’s directive to federal agencies that there are only two sexes, male and female, and that gender identity is not to be measured or recognized.”

Twenge concludes this first analysis saying, “That is deeply unfortunate, because without that data, we’re in the dark.” But Twenge didn’t remain in the dark for long.

She soon posted a second article on October 20 entitled, “Trans identification really is in free fall: New data” presenting analysis from an additional nationally representative data set she discovered. This is from the Cooperative Election Study (CES) conducted each fall by YouGov polling and Tufts University. It shows that use of both “transgender” and “nonbinary” identification by 18- to 22-year-olds have both dropped substantially.

From this data, she concludes, “It turns out identifying as transgender really is in free fall among the young in the U.S. So is identifying as nonbinary. In other words, Kaufmann was right (with what some consider the wrong data, but still right).”

She adds, “For now … it looks like the peak of trans identification is in the past.”

This is a very hopeful sign, showing that being “trans” is certainly not something that exists in nature. It is a psychic phenomenon that has captured a generation, and thankfully seems to be losing its deceptive grip.

Image from Shutterstock.