As these factors called attention to the pervasiveness of gender ideology in almost every sphere of public life, parents woke up to the fact that children were simultaneously being indoctrinated at school. Using Dylan Mulvaney to sell sports bras was one thing but teaching impressionable children they may be born in the wrong body was a different kind of sinister.
Around the country, mama bears were roused to action, speaking out at school board meetings in protest of transgender propaganda being foisted upon schoolchildren through curriculums and school library books. The most famous of these indoctrination tools was the genderbread person, a fictitious character invented by trans activists that became a popular resource in public education, used to confuse children into believing gender is a social construct and biological sex is on a spectrum.
In some cases, it was Covid’s stay-at-home mandates that helped make parents aware of what was being taught to their children. Erin Friday shared about how her 11-year-old daughter was exposed to gender ideology as part of a sex education curriculum in her public school in California. Then when her daughter was stuck at home during Covid, Erin heard the teachers online refer to her daughter using a male name and male pronouns.
While some would say this is to be expected from a liberal state like California, January Littlejohn was not expecting what happened to her 13-year-old daughter in a Florida school. Unbeknownst to her, the school had changed her daughter’s name and pronouns and even created a transgender support plan to help her non-binary daughter transition behind her parent’s back.
Both moms were blindsided because their daughters had no history of discomfort with their gender, a condition known as rapid onset gender dysphoria (ROGD), and the schools had no right to transition their children without their knowledge or consent.
Most of us did not cheer when Bruce-turned-Caitlyn Jenner was celebrated, but most also didn’t dissent. Ten years later, dissent is bold. The mama bears have woken up.
Due to public outrage over these and other scenarios involving the transitioning of children as well as the proliferation of detransitioners, lawmakers in half the states have passed bills to restrict or ban medical gender transition for minors. Six states have even passed laws to define biological sex. However, legal challenges brought by groups like the ACLU have prevented the new laws have from going into effect in some states.
In early December, the US Supreme Court heard a challenge to a Tennessee law that prohibits minors from medical transition. Many believe the court’s conservative majority will uphold the ban to set a precedent for other states to allow similar bans to take effect.
A number of detransitioners have also taken to suing their healthcare providers for negligence and medical malpractice. Although these cases have not been settled yet, between the detrans-ers and the Supreme Court decision expected in the summer of 2025, there may be light at the end of the tunnel in the fight to protect children from being butchered.
The other disturbing result of gender ideology has been the degradation of women’s sports and the erosion of women’s rights. In March 2022, transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, a biological male, made global headlines when crowned an NCAA Division 1 women’s national swimming champion. The outrage surrounding the unfairness of a male-bodied athlete competing as a woman led World Aquatics, the governing body for elite swimming competitions, to change the rules regarding eligibility for transgender athletes.
While this was a victory for common sense and fair competition, numerous sports still continue to allow males who say they feel like a female to compete with women and girls. In addition to the fairness issue, the concern about women being forced to share a locker room with men is paramount and, understandably, a safety issue for some. Riley Gaines, who competed against Thomas, testified before Congress about her experience having to share the locker room with Thomas, a fully intact male.
Aside from the awkwardness of opposite sex adults sharing a space where they have to undress before competition, other scenarios involving young girls in the locker room or restroom with grown men have also made headlines, bringing attention to the gender madness facing our culture. Another disturbing twist on the narrative involves incarcerated women sharing prison quarters with biological men. Still more headlines decry the lunacy of a policy that has resulted in some women being raped or impregnated while behind bars.
We started this series looking at the tipping point, when the transgender movement reached a level of cultural acceptance and celebration a decade ago. From there it ascended to the stratosphere as Bruce-turned-Caitlyn Jenner became the poster boy for all things trans.
However, the approval ratings for trans rights started to falter when it became obvious Jenner was just the forerunner for what was to come.
Though not as popular and celebrated, Jazz Jennings was a bigger clue that something was rotten in Denmark. While most of us did not cheer when Jenner was celebrated as woman of the year, we also didn’t express dissent for fear of being labeled a transphobe or canceled. Ten years later we feel emboldened. Standing on the shoulders of the likes of JK Rowling and Elon Musk, any punitive consequences of speaking out are viewed as a badge of honor today.
The first rule in fixing a problem is becoming aware the problem exists. I’d say we have that one nailed. While numerous European countries, including Denmark, have reversed course on transitioning minors, children in the US are still very much at risk because we suffer from institutional capture. This is to be expected in a culture that has lost its moral compass. The apostle Paul warned about the hardness of heart that results when we are alienated from God (Ephesians 4:18).
While at times it may feel like we are David going up against Goliath in the fight to safeguard children, save women’s sports, and protect women’s rights, we must keep in mind the battle belongs to the Lord. Although there is much work yet to be done, we can look back on the past ten years with gratitude for the inroads we’ve made in repudiating gender ideology.
What a difference a decade makes.
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