Theodore Dalrymple, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, has said one of the ways in which neo-Marxist social justice totalitarians exert control is by humiliating people into admitting or professing that something is true which they know is not true. Forcing them to say things they know are false is the ultimate exertion of power and control.

Dalrymple’s view got me thinking how “trans” language has amassed power and control over so many, including people of faith who carelessly use words they know cannot be true. The “social justice totalitarians” of which Dalrymple speaks have been enforcing the use of language we know is false and not representative of God’s biblical design of men and women.

As a believer who has recovered from the false beliefs of “trans” ideology and now helps others, I’ve learned that my language must be truthful to honor and glorify God. Speaking truth can bring people out of identity confusion into a relationship with Jesus, where they will find what has been missing — true identity, redemption, and restoration.

For starters, consider the word “transgender.” Immutable biological science proves the word “transgender” is false because nobody biologically changes genders. Transitioning from one gender to the other is impossible. That absolute truth gets buried under the cascade of false language that follows: “transition,” “detransition,” “gender assigned at birth.”

Identifying as something does not make it magically happen. People may identify as “transgender,” but their physical core hasn’t changed. A man born male is still a man; a woman born female is still a woman, each determined by their immutable biological composition.

Scripture provides ample motivation for choosing words carefully. The Ten Commandments prohibit false witness, i.e., lying. Matthew 12:36 warns that “on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak,” and Matthew 12:34 says, “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.”

What we say has spiritual impact greater than simply words. Proverbs 18:21 advises that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruits.”

As Christians, should we carelessly employ language that dishonors God and reinforces the false idea that men can become women and women can become men? Should we signal acceptance of the false belief that cross-sex hormones and/or surgery accomplish the impossible? Of course not. Reinforcing the false concept with our language keeps people stuck rather than showing them the way out.

In the final analysis, hormones and surgery are only able to destroy one’s ability to function as God designed.

What causes people to fall for it?

What about the people who get caught up in this false identity? What causes people to attempt something so audacious and risky and contrary to obvious truth? I can shed some light on this, having lived it and having helped others in their distress.

I identified as female, took female hormones for over 10 years, and had all the “gender affirming” surgeries. Here’s how it happened.

On a sunny afternoon in San Francisco in the 1980s, I arrived for my first appointment with world-renowned gender therapist Dr. Paul Walker at his prestigious Union Street office. I was a 40-year-old corporate executive, and I could afford the best. I was dressed in women’s clothes, and I also was slightly intoxicated.

Dr. Walker was no slouch; he was the founding president of the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association that eventually morphed into WPATH, the organization that dictates standards of care for transgender health today. I thought I was in good hands, but I was wrong.

Childhood Trauma Was Misdiagnosed as ‘Gender Dysphoria’

I shared with Dr. Walker the adverse experiences of my childhood.

Stage 1 was crossdressing. My crossdressing started at age 4, assisted and encouraged by my grandmother, a seamstress who crafted a full-length purple chiffon evening dress especially for my little boy body. This hard-drinking, chain-smoking grandmother also told me it was “our little secret” because we hid it at her house for use during babysitting visits.

Stage 2 was physical abuse. After two years of being affirmed in a dress by my grandmother, my dad found out and responded with excessive “discipline” in the form of physical abuse.

Sadly, stage 3 of my childhood trauma was the worst and came at the hands of my uncle, a teenager at the time, who learned about the purple dress and terrorized me first with humiliating public teasing and then by abusing me sexually.

Dr. Walker waved off these traumas as irrelevant and quickly diagnosed me with “gender dysphoria.” He said the only treatment was “gender change.” Today, the organization that he helped found, WPATH, continues to promote “gender change,” now called “gender-affirming care.” Patients are told to present socially as the opposite sex, take dangerous cross-sex hormones, and undergo irreversible surgeries.

I was not born in the wrong body. I did not need female hormones or surgery. I did not need to identify as a female. What I needed was a trauma therapist to help me grapple with my early life trauma, and I needed Jesus.

I was just one of thousands of people who were suckered by the insane idea that gender change is treatment for early childhood trauma.

Sadly, this continues unabated. When I had my surgery, I was in my 40s. Today, young people — children and teens — are told they can change genders and are encouraged to do so. The underlying causes of the distress, such as adverse childhood experiences, addiction, mental illness, or social contagion, are ignored.

One young woman, Chloe Cole, was in her mid-teens when she was encouraged by medical professionals to “transition” which caused physical harm and lifelong repercussions. Now, she shares her story and bravely advocates for legal recourse for victims. In fact, a bill in Congress to prohibit health care professionals, hospitals, or clinics from engaging in “gender change” practices on children is named after her, the Chloe Cole Act. Furthermore, the bill extends the deadline for filing medical liability cases to 25 years after their eighteenth birthday.

You can support the Chloe Cole Act by contacting your members of Congress here. 

Christians, Know and Profess the Truth

“Gender-affirming care” and language require the rest of us to profess something we know is not true and bow to the demands of social justice totalitarians.

Scripture assures us that God made us male or female in the womb. As a believer in Jesus Christ, I must choose words that are truthful and align with God’s word. This is how we as Christians can unleash the awesome power of our Lord Jesus.

To that end, Dr. Jennifer Bauwens and I wrote the FRC resource, “Embracing God’s Design,” to equip believers to compassionately come alongside those questioning their gender identity.

Walt Heyer serves as Senior Fellow in the Center for Family Studies at Family Research Council.