transgender

When we think about the phenomenon of transgenderism, we must consider all the permutations this involves. They are endless; literally, as varied as the human imagination. It is certainly not one thing, and it is not all what most people assume.

First, we must appreciate that the American Psychiatric Association holds the term “transgender” is a generalized “umbrella term” for anyone whose “inner sense or gender” is different than their body. That is so elastic it includes almost anything. They also explain it is a “non-medical term” without any scientific specificity.

Transgender as Cosplay

There is gender exploratory behavior that is essentially cosplay, demonstrated in make-believe play-actors like Dylan Mulvaney and ideological groomers like Jeffery Marsh. You can be whatever you want to be, and if you call it “trans” then that’s what you are. And the ideology demands everyone else play along. But no one should feel compelled to change their understanding of reality to make someone feel good about him- or herself.

In that regard, it is a social psychosis.

Trans as Social Contagion

We must also understand the role of social media capture and contagion in youth and young adults, persuading them to make claims they are the sex opposite their biological sex, or simply non-binary, which is not a thing. Abigail Shrier documented this well in her book, Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters.

This is what is driving Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD) with untold numbers of young people, largely young girls, swept up in it. It is not rooted in any objective clinical condition beyond impressionable adolescents and young adults persuaded by peers and online influences. Of course, trans activists claim ROGD is not real because it undercuts their “this is just the way nature made me” sympathy narrative.

Part-Time Transgender

It is important to note that a minority of people who consider themselves “transgender” identify with and present as their alternative gender 100% of the time. Most are merely part-time identifiers in public. Most (62%) “trans” identifying people imprecisely define themselves as “non-binary” or “gender non-confirming.” Only 12% define themselves as the binary “trans man” and 22% identify as “trans woman.” You can see how fluid all this is in a major Washington Post survey.

Genuine Debilitating Gender Dysphoria

What is more, the number of “transgender” people saying they have severe or debilitating distress over a misalignment between their self-perception of their sex and their objective physical body is not large at all, only 0.6% of the U.S. population. Compare this with 5% of young adults in the U.S. who identify as some category of “transgender.”

Very few people who identify as “transgender” suffer from what clinicians refer to as diagnosable gender dysphoria (GD). This condition can be truly excruciating for the patient, and can be understood as a sex-based “body identity integrity disorder” or BIID. This is where the individual does not identify with a perfectly healthy part of their body. They desire deeply to have that body part removed and will go to great and damaging lengths to have it do so. Published scientific research shows notable similarities between GD and BIID, here, here and here.

Autogynephilia

Finally, there is autogynephilia, which is a paraphilia. It is described in the academic literature as “a male’s propensity to be sexually aroused by the thought of himself as a female.” Or as Anne Lawrence, a leading scholar on the topic and autogynephilic individual himself explains, it is a man’s effort to “become what he loves” or desires. In more academic parlance, Lawrence explains,

The academic literature reports that “nearly 3% of men in Western countries may experience autogynephilia” making it a leading reason for “trans” identity and behavior.

Michael Bailey, a professor of psychology at Northwestern University, and one of the world’s longest and leading experts on autogynephilia, strongly supposes that Bruce Jenner is autogynephilic rather than gender dysphoric. Bailey explained on a 2015 podcast,

Of course, this means these are men entering women’s private spaces because of their sexual desire to “become” that which they sexually desire. And we are told we are to fully accept them as actual “women.”

This means many “trans women” (i.e., men presenting as women) that you interact with at work, school or shopping centers are actually men who dress as women because they get a sexual thrill from it. It is a fetish.

This fact should deeply concern all women, girls and the men who seek to protect the women in their lives.

Conclusion

It is important that we understand what people mean when they use the term “trans” to get what they want in society. Few have said it better than liberal feminist Kara Dansky in her book, The Abolition of Sex: How the “Transgender” Agenda Harms Women and Girls,

Be properly discerning as loved ones, forces in your workplace, school, media and cultural elites try to convince you that “transgender” is natural and harmless. It is not.

It is an illusion that turns reality on its head.

Related articles and resources:

If you or someone you know is struggling with transgenderism or other sexuality issues, and you don’t know where to turn, Focus on the Family is here to help.

Focus offers a one-time counseling consultation with a licensed or pastoral counselor free of charge thanks to generous donor support. If you would like to request a consultation with Focus’ Counseling Department, call 1-855-771-HELP (4357) weekdays from 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM (Mountain Time) or complete our Counseling Consultation Request Form.

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Image from Shutterstock.

Among the most significant developments of the past year has been the strong pushback against radical gender ideology and the growing evidence against so-called “gender-affirming care.”

Early in 2024, internal files leaked from the World Professional Association of Transgender Health (WPATH), the self-anointed medical association that has pushed for the chemical and surgical “gender transition” of minors, were made public.

For years, clinical, political, and pop culture activists have cited WPATH in order to claim that the science on “gender-affirming care” is “settled,” and that social, chemical, and surgical “transition” interventions are safe, reversible, and lifesaving.   

The leaked files from WPATH revealed a different, and far more damning story.

Far from being settled science, these “treatments” were known to be experimental and known to lead to painful complications, including life-threatening conditions like cancers. In a leaked video, a leading WPATH doctor admitted that a minor could not fully understand the implications of “treatment,” especially for his or her future fertility. In other words, this pseudoscience was being pushed on minors who were unable to grant consent. 

A few weeks later, the U.K.’s National Health Service released an almost 400-page report on the state of “gender identity services for children and young people.” The Cass Review was a bombshell. Contrary to the standard narrative peddled by activists, this report affirmed that “gender-affirming care” is built on “shaky foundations” and that the evidence supporting the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and sex-change surgeries to “treat” gender dysphoria is “remarkably weak.”  

According to the report, most of the studies cited in support of social, chemical or surgical “transition” lacked the quality required to reliably and safely guide clinicians and families in caring for gender dysphoric young people.  

Much was also learned in 2024 about the comorbidities accompanying gender confusion.

For example, research out of the U.K. exposed that adults who identified as transgender were six to seven times more likely to have ADHD, four times more likely to suffer from depression, five times more likely to have bipolar disorder, more than five times as likely to have obsessive compulsive disorder and, shockingly, over 28 times more likely to have a diagnosis of schizophrenia.  

Another study found that youth who experience gender dysphoria are far more likely to have experienced emotional abuse and physical and emotional neglect. Before the summer heat arrived, a survey of millions of patients over the course of two decades dropped suggesting that those who undergo “gender transition” surgery are 12 times more likely to attempt suicide than the general population.  

That last study exposes the evil of the suicide myth, an enduring lie that has effectively driven the transgender epidemic for years now. Counselors and activists have pressured parents into “affirming” their children’s dysphoria, with the manipulative question, “Would you rather have a live son or a dead daughter?”  

These revelations that continued to emerge throughout 2024 confirm what Christians should already know to be true. Even more, they should inspire us to steward this cultural moment faithfully. To paraphrase G.K. Chesterton, we must be a church not moved by the world, but stubborn in our belief that the world can be moved by a church committed to Christ and to truth. For us, this means having the courage to counter the lies of gender ideology while caring for those victimized by these bad ideas.  

This proper response requires a worldview big enough to make sense of the world. We not only must know what is true, we must have the courage to live by truth. Just a year ago, the trans agenda seemed unstoppable and out-of-control. Today, its lies have been exposed, and more people are speaking out. Praise God.