transgender

Christian Parents Allegedly Caused ‘Mental Injury’ by Rejecting ‘Transgender’ Identity

The ongoing war on reality has claimed many victims in recent years, including a family who recently moved from Oregon, where state officials removed a sexually confused minor from the home because the mother and father refused to affirm a lie.

David and Nicole Calaway relayed the tragic story to our friends at the Daily Signal. Back in July 2024, Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS) claimed the Calaways were causing “mental injury” to their then-15-year-old daughter, K.A.

How so?

It seems that David and Nicole, who are Christians, did what responsible mothers and fathers do when a child, who is developing their own worldview, expresses thoughts or convictions that are clearly in theological error.

Part of the Calaways’ “conversation” with K.A. included them showing her a video that explained the “trans” delusion. While activists would disagree, there is no such thing as a “transgender” person. There are two sexes – male and female. That’s a biological fact.

Nicole Calaway has told reporters the videos included testimonials of “detransitioners” – the heartbreaking, real-life examples of once sexually confused individuals who are now attempting to reverse the surgeries and procedures, which often leave their bodies mutilated and marred. Nicole said she shared the stories “because I wanted her to make an informed decision. I did not want her to ruin her body. I still do not want her to ruin her body.”

The Calaways have an older daughter who is also sexually confused and had moved out of the family home prior to K.A.’s removal.

Apparently, ODHS officials were just as confused and misled as K.A. when a counselor informed them that the mother and father had been sharing this biological truth with their daughter, prompting the agency to step in.

In a letter to the parents, ODHS caseworker Rachel Woods wrote: “Your adverse reactions to [K.A.] expressing their gender identity have caused serious harm to [K.A.’s] psychological functioning.”

The phrase “psychological functioning” is an umbrella term that refers to how a person thinks, feels and behaves. Ironically, Mr. and Mrs. Calaway’s commitment to sharing God’s truth is the very best way to ensure their daughter grows up to think clearly, reason critically and discern truth. Contrast their commonsense approach with ODHS’ insistence on enabling delusional thinking and it’s especially galling and outrageous.

David Calaway has asked the million-dollar question: “When did the truth become mental injury?”

“I was so distraught, it felt like I was gutted,” Nicole Calaway reflected. “Both my daughters were gone. I took myself to the hospital and admitted myself for a week because I couldn’t handle it.”

The Calaways have filed a lawsuit claiming their free speech and religious freedom under the First Amendment have been violated. In addition to seeking financial damages, they are asking to be removed from child abuse and sex offender registries. Their case is expected to be heard by a judge in September. 

Now living in Florida, it’s been two years since David and Nicole Calaway have seen K.A. While working to right the wrong done to them, the heartbroken couple is speaking out in the hope of helping others. “We just want to bring awareness out there to parents everywhere that this is happening,” they recently stated.

The “trans” delusion is real and devastating, impacting more and more people thanks to bureaucratic bullies and radical activists whom it appears have been given up “to a debased mind” (Romans 1:28). Please join us in praying for justice for those impacted and for truth to prevail.

Court Rules Against Social Worker for Promoting ‘Binary View of Gender’

A court ruled against a social worker who was fired for displaying “transphobic” children’s books that depict a “binary view of gender” in his school offices.

Alliance Defending Freedom filed suit on behalf of Education Specialist Rod Theis in May 2025, alleging that InterMountain Education Service District (IMESD) violated his First Amendment right to freedom of speech by firing him for displaying the books She is She, He is He and Johnny the Walrus in his office. 

A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled against Theis’ contention that his free speech was violated by IMESD, a local government agency which provides special education, technology support and administrative services to 17 school districts in Eastern Oregon.

She is She and He is He, by the Radiance Foundation’s Bethany and Ryan Bomberger, explore the goodness of being a girl or a boy. The books also explain what the Bible says about being loved by God and created in His image, and they teach scientific facts about male-female differences and our unchangeable, biological sex. 

Johnny the Walrus, by Daily Wire podcaster, theocratic fascist and best-selling children’s author Matt Walsh, is about a boy with a vivid imagination who pretends to be a walrus. Activists try to help him “become” a walrus, but, (spoiler alert) this is impossible. 

But IMESD believes that displaying the truth about biological reality, is “a hostile expression of animus toward another person relating to their actual or perceived gender identity.” 

The original complaint notes that IMESD staff are allowed to “decorate their offices with personal items conveying a multitude of messages concerning numerous topics.” These include social and political messages, such as posters touting support for gender-neutral pronouns, the black lives matter movement, “activism through art” and President Barack Obama. 

IMESD Assistant Superintendent Aimee VanNice told Theis a school employee had filed a “bias incident complaint” against him for displaying the books. As a result, the education service district would “conduct an investigation of the display of the Books’ covers as ‘a potential bias incident relating to another person’s gender identity.’” 

During that investigation, VanNice “demanded to know how [Johnny the Walrus] could be used to support a transgender student,” even though the book does not directly depict transgenderism. 

She also asked, seemingly in all seriousness, “Why can’t Johnny be a walrus?” 

ADF’s lawsuit pointed out that other educators had many books on display, including somefeaturing “violence, suicide, explicit language, domestic abuse, drug and alcohol use, and sexual content.” The complaint also pointed to the fact that schools serviced by IMESD had English and science classes that also teach “a binary view of gender.” 

But the agency determined Theis’ display of the children’s books violated its Speech Policy and fired him.

Circuit Judges John B. Owens and Jennifer Sung, appointed by President Brack Obama and President Joe Biden, respectively, ruled against him, arguing there is a “robust body of precedent holding educators speak as government employees when they convey messages to students within the four walls of a school.” 

Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke, appointed by President Donald Trump, disagreed, saying: 

Consistent with what everyone already naturally recognizes, the Supreme Court has made clear that the mere presence of students does not automatically transform all personal speech by government employees into government speech, and that school employees thus retain their rights to free, personal expression behind the schoolhouse gate.

VanDyke said that the books in Theis’ office were not disruptive and the administration had discriminated against his scientific and biblical views. He wrote:

And while not all private speech is protected within the school context, school officials’ distaste for a personal viewpoint can never provide an adequate justification for censorship.

Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Mathew Hoffmann told the Daily Citizen:

After the decision, we are evaluating our next steps. The government can’t silence a speaker just because it disapproves of what he says, yet InterMountain fired Rod Theis after a single person objected to his views.

Hoffman added, “We will continue to defend Rod’s First Amendment freedom to express his views like other employees.”

The case is Theis v. InterMountain Education Service District. 

Related articles and resources: 

Austin Fire Chaplain Wins Settlement After Being Fired for Defending Biological Reality

‘Johnny the Walrus’ Loved by Critics – But Makes Some Amazon Employees and Customers Really Sad

YAF Sues University of Minnesota Over Forced ‘Transgender’ Speech Codes

Oregon School District Pays $650,000 for Firing Teachers Opposed to ‘Trans’ Policy

Teacher Wins $650,000 After Being Fired for Refusing to Use ‘Trans’ Pronouns

Teacher Wrongly Fired for Refusing to Use ‘Preferred Pronouns’ Wins $575,000

Transgender Resources

Free Speech Victory for Virginia Teacher Fired Over ‘Transgender’ Pronoun Policy

Christian Physician Assistant Fired for Religious Beliefs Reaches $410K Settlement

After several years in court, University of Michigan Health-West has agreed to pay Christian physician assistant Valerie Kloosterman and her attorneys $410,000, as well as adopt religious freedom protection policies for all employees. 

University of Michigan Health-West fired Kloosterman, who had worked there for 17 years, in 2021 after she refused to refer patients to receive sex-rejecting procedures or use their “preferred pronouns,” opting instead to address patients by their first names. 

According to a July 29 press release, the new settlement also requires University of Michigan Health-West to “create a religious accommodation policy in accordance with the law, notify and train all its employees [and] grant reasonable religious accommodations without retaliation.” 

The policy specifies that hospital employees will not be required to perform or refer patients to receive “transgender” surgical procedures, opposite-sex hormones or puberty blocking drugs if doing so would conflict with the healthcare provider’s religious beliefs or conscience. 

Kloosterman commented, 

All I wanted to do was provide the best care possible to my patients without being forced to violate my Christian beliefs. This new policy ensures that providers of faith and employees at UMHW will receive religious accommodations so that they can provide excellent care consistent with their medical judgment, because all patients are created in the image of God.

Kayla Toney, counsel at First Liberty who represented Kloosterman, further said, 

Title VII prohibits employers from discriminating against and punishing employees for their faith. Valerie is an exceptional physician assistant who cares for each of her patients. Employers cannot drive out people like Valerie just because of their sincere religious beliefs. We are grateful to have resolved this matter with University of Michigan Health-West.

The dispute began in 2021 when Kloosterman requested religious accommodation after a mandatory diversity and inclusion training, during which Kloosterman was prompted to affirm statements about gender that violated her Christian beliefs and Hippocratic oath to “do no harm.” Her original legal complaint documents Kloosterman’s reservations, reading:

Ms. Kloosterman’s independent medical judgment is that “puberty blockers,” “hormone therapy,” and “gender reassignment surgery” are experimental, lack validation in methodologically rigorous long-term studies, and often lead to negative clinical outcomes such as bone density loss, infection, nerve damage, chronic pain, loss of sexual and urinary functions, psychological trauma, and other serious complications.
Ms. Kloosterman’s medical judgment also counsels against entering in documentation pronouns that obscure or misrepresent a person’s biological sex, as doing so can cause patients to miss potentially life-saving screenings and procedures like pregnancy tests, mammograms, and testicular exams.

Despite Kloosterman’s excellent standing at the hospital and outstanding performance reviews in which she was called “very ethical,” a Michigan Health diversity representative referred to her as “evil,” blamed her for gender dysphoria-related suicides and prohibited her from bringing her Bible or religious beliefs to work. 

University of Michigan Health-West fired Kloosterman less than a month later for her conscientious and religious objection to its diversity policies – all while it was actively providing secular accommodations for other healthcare employees.  

After her termination from the hospital, Kloosterman filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Her attorneys at First Liberty then requested University of Michigan Health-West reinstate her, but the hospital refused. 

First Liberty filed Kloosterman’s lawsuit in October 2022. A judge allowed her free exercise, equal protection, and Title VII claims to proceed in 2023. 

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals heard Kloosterman’s case in early 2025, and ultimately ruled in her favor later that. 

Yesterday’s final settlement of $410,000 and the hospital’s new religious freedom policy represents a monumental win for Valerie Kloosterman and Christian healthcare providers across the nation. 

Related articles and resources:

Religious Liberty Commission Hears Testimony From Healthcare Workers

House Advances ‘Chloe Cole Act’ Banning ‘Transgender’ Procedures For Minors

Addressing Gender Identity With Honesty and Compassion

American College of Pediatricians: No Benefits From ‘Gender-Affirming’ Interventions

Medicalizing Gender Confusion Makes Things Worse, New Research Confirms

DOJ Releases Guidance Strengthening Religious Liberty Protections

Religious Freedom is Not a Problem to Be Managed

House Advances ‘Chloe Cole Act’ Banning ‘Transgender’ Procedures For Minors

Advocates for children’s well-being celebrated the House Judiciary Committee’s vote in favor of the Chloe Cole Act. The bill, HR 7651, bans irreversible, body-mutilating ‘transgender’ procedures for minors. 

The legislation also allows children damaged by these interventions to bring a civil suit against health professionals, hospitals or clinics up to 25 years after their 18th birthday. Parents or guardians may also file lawsuits. 

The Act, sponsored by Missouri Rep. Bob Onder, has 86 sponsors and passed out of the committee on a strict party-line vote of 15-8 on June 15. 

Cole, whose body was irreparably injured by ‘transgender’ medical procedures, applauded the victory on X, saying “Thank you @JudiciaryGOP for standing up for future generations!”

HR 7651 defines specific harmful ‘transgender’ medical interventions that would be banned for minors and would allow for civil suits, including: 

  • Intentionally delaying, halting, or disrupting the natural development of the individual’s body, including the onset or progression of puberty, so that it does not develop or halts developing to correspond to the individual’s sex.
  • Changing the individual’s body, including the individual’s external appearance or biological functions, to no longer correspond to the individual’s sex.
  • Providing puberty blockers or opposite sex hormones.
  • Surgical procedures that attempt to transform an individual’s physical appearance or that attempt to alter or remove an individual’s sexual organs.

On June 3, Cole testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in a hearing titled, “Protecting Our Children: Exposing the Dangers of Irreversible Gender Transition Procedures on Minors.” 

She told the committee: 

As a child, I was diagnosed with gender dysphoria and underwent medical transition as a minor, including puberty suppression, cross-sex hormones, and an irreversible double mastectomy.

Cole was only 15 when she underwent surgery to remove her breasts, explaining that these interventions did nothing to help her sexual identity confusion:

The peace and self-acceptance I was promised did not come. I am now almost 22 years old, and I live every day with the consequences of decisions made when I was a minor.

Cole listed the bodily harms she has suffered from the transgender medical industry: 

I have scars where healthy breasts used to be. I did not complete normal female puberty. I experience pain in my knees and hips that I associate with the treatment I received. I still live with trauma from what was done to my body. There are periods when I feel numb, have flashbacks, or experience nightmares.

She went on to explain that children “lack the maturity” to make decisions “that permanently alter their bodies and may affect their fertility, sexual function, and lifelong health.” She described her regret and the harassment she has received for speaking against harmful procedures. 

Shannon Minter, legal director of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, testified in favor of the bill, saying: 

The harm any such ban would cause to transgender young people and their families is profound and unjustified.

Minter, a female attempting to live as a man, ignored the paucity of evidence in favor transgender interventions. And she completely overlooked recent studies and reviews, from Sweden, Finland, the U.K. and the U.S., showing the deep harms of medicalizing a mental health issue.

Dr. Kurt Miceli, MD, chief medical officer of Do No Harm, detailed the weak evidence for inflicting these medical procedures on children and stated they are “ideologically driven rather than grounded in emerging evidence.”

A companion bill, S 2907, has been sponsored in the Senate by Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn. 

Focus on the Family offers a one-time complimentary consultation with our ministry’s professionally trained counselors. The consultation is free due to generous donor support.

To reach Focus on the Family’s counseling service by phone, call 1-855-771-HELP (4357) weekdays 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Mountain Time). Please be prepared to leave your contact information for a counselor to return a call to you as soon as possible. Alternatively, you can fill out our Counseling Consultation Request Form.

Related articles and resources: 

Addressing Gender Identity with Honesty and Compassion

American College of Pediatricians: No Benefits From ‘Gender-Affirming’ Interventions

FTC Begins Investigating ‘Gender-Affirming’ Medical Community for Deception, False Advertising

HHS Finalizes Report Finding Sex-Rejecting Procedures Harm Minors

HHS Releases Report on Harms of ‘Transgender’ Medical Interventions for Minors

Florida Sues Medical Groups for Promoting ‘Transgender’ Mutilation of Children

New Research Shows ‘Transgender’ Identity Dramatically Driven by Immaturity

Medicalizing Gender Confusion Makes Things Worse, New Research Confirms

Resources for families struggling with wrong-sex identification

Transgenderism and Minors: What Does the Research Really Show?

UK Bans Puberty Blockers for ‘Transgender’ Minors

U.K.’s Review of Child Gender Policy Reveals Profound Failures That U.S. Still Defends

Senators Introduce ‘Stop the Sexualization of Children Act’

Congress is considering legislation to prohibit schools from using federal money for sexually explicit and transgender materials in classrooms.

Senators Jim Banks, James Lankford and Tommy Tuberville introduced the Stop the Sexualization of Children Act in the Senate. Representative Mary Miller sponsored the bill in the House, where it has already passed the Committee on Education and Workforce by a party-line vote of 18-13.

In a press release, Tuberville said of the proposed legislation, HR 7661:

Exposing children to sexually explicit material in classrooms is completely inappropriate and a gross abuse of taxpayer dollars. I will continue to work with my colleagues to remove this kind of content from our classrooms to protect the innocence of our young people.

Tuberville’s statement explained the need for the bill:

Research has shown that exposure to sexual content at a young age can increase the risk of early sexual activity, unsafe sexual practices, and other risky sexual behaviors. In recent years, concerns have grown among parents regarding sexually explicit materials, activities, and themes being introduced in schools.

HR 7661 is supported by Christian and conservative groups like Family Research Council, Family Policy Alliance, Moms for America and American Principles Project.

The American Library Association (ALA) opposed the legislation to protect children. President Sam Hemick issued a statement expressing disappointment the bill had passed the House committee, saying:

H.R. 7661 is a dangerous bill that steals the power to choose what kids read away from parents, local communities and well-trained educators and librarians, and gives it to politicians in Washington, D.C. Congress is not authorized to make decisions about what kids read in school, and it is not allowed to interfere with the rights of states and communities to control their own schools.

As previously reported by the Daily Citizen, the ALA believes it is “banning books” to keep graphic and disturbing content out of public schools. The organization’s “Library Bill of Rights” states that children should have access to whatever books they want and they deserve “privacy and confidentiality” – including from parents – in those decisions.

Stop Sexualization of Children amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to read:

No funds under this Act may be used to develop, implement, facilitate, host, or promote any program or activity for, or to provide or promote literature or other materials to, children under the age of 18 that includes sexually oriented material, including any program, activity, literature, or material that exposes such children to nude adults, individuals who are stripping, or lewd or lascivious dancing.

It labels “sexually oriented material” as material that:

(i) includes any depiction, description, or simulation of sexually explicit conduct (as defined in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of section 2256(2) of title 18, United States Code).
(ii) involves gender dysphoria or transgenderism.

The federal statute cited, 18 U.S. Code § 2256, defines “sexually explicit conduct” for child exploitation laws. Schools could no longer use federal funds to pay for materials that depict explicit sexual activity and lewd behaviors.

HR 7661 makes allowances for “classic works of art” in the classroom which may contain nudity, citing art listed in the Smarthistory’s guide to Advanced Placement Art History as acceptable.

The legislation makes clear that “classic works of literature,” which may contain mild sexual content, are not included in the restricted books but are available to older students. It lists works found in “Great Books of the Western World,” published by Encyclopaedia Britannica; “Classics Every Middle Schooler Should Read,” by Thomas Purifoy Jr.; and “Classics Every High Schooler Should Read,” by Mary Pierson Purifoy.

There are literally hundreds of good options for teachers; there is no need to expose minors to books that detail graphic sexual activity.

Banks said in a press release, “The American taxpayer should not be funding sexually explicit content for minors, it’s that simple.”

Miller expressed the need to protect children from false and confusing “transgender ideology, saying, “Our taxpayer-funded schools exist to educate children, not expose them to sexually explicit material or promote the false idea that a child can be born in the wrong body.”

Related articles and resources:

American Library Association Chooses Marxist Lesbian as President-Elect

‘Banned Books Week’ – What a Fraud

Equipping Parents for Back-to-School

National Education and Library Groups Co-Sponsor Transgender Reading Day for Elementary School Children

Plugged In Book Reviews

Resources When Your Child Encounters LGBT Ideology at School

Sexualizing Schoolchildren: Classroom and Library Books

Three Ways the Media Supports Sexually Explicit, Inappropriate Books for Children

What Gender-Confusing Books Did You Read in School Today, Johnny?

Photo from Getty Images.