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The Whiplash Effect of the Transgender Agenda

When it comes to stopping the transgender madness, each week there seem to be two steps forward and God only knows how many steps backward. Between the latest rulings on the transgender issue last week and the Biden administration’s egregious rewrite of Title IX, the whiplash effect is real.

First the US Supreme Court upheld the ban in Idaho on medical transition for minors in a 6-3 decision. Then a law in West Virginia that prevented biological boys from competing as girls was overturned by the 4th District Court in a decision some say is “bonkers.” Biden finished off the week by announcing the Department of Education’s rewrite of Title IX to include gender identity, which many say will destroy women’s sports altogether.

With each headline that describes a victory restricting the dangerous effects of so-called gender-affirming care on children, I’m lulled into a false sense of hope that finally common sense will prevail. But then another ruling comes along to cause concern as the fight for children’s health and to protect women’s sports rages on with new court battles every week.

Earlier this month Idaho became the fifth state to pass legislation to define what is a woman and then in the same week Kansas Governor Laura Kelly vetoed a bill barring sex-change surgeries for minors.

In Ohio, where Governor DeWine recently vetoed similar legislation but was overridden by lawmakers, the new law will go into effect on April 24 that prevents minors from medical transition—unless a lawsuit from the ACLU succeeds. So far 24 states have passed legislation to protect children from the harms of gender ideology by banning medical interventions for minors.

Another slew of lawsuits yet to be decided involves detransitioners suing their healthcare providers for medical malpractice. In February 2023 Chloe Cole, a 19-year-old detransitioner from California, was the first to file suit against her healthcare provider, Kaiser Permanente, for medical negligence. She was prescribed cross-sex hormones at age 13 and underwent a double mastectomy at 15, before detransitioning at 16.

Last week a California judge ruled that Kaiser’s arbitration agreement can’t be enforced against her, which paves the way for Cole to seek punitive damages. Some say these lawsuits will stem the tide of medical procedures on gender-confused teenagers as now more than a dozen such suits have been filed against healthcare companies and medical professional bodies like the American Academy of Pediatrics.

While I feel hopeful with each new detransitioner lawsuit and when another state outlaws medical transition for minors or steps up to protect girls sports, a part of me is starting to wonder if I’m being too optimistic. That’s the part that feels the whiplash effect with every advancement of “transanity,” which Michael Brown defines as “the denial of biological verities, the idea that reality is whatever you perceive it to be, and the extremist agenda that flows from this mindset.”

Because I grew up a tomboy and would have jumped at the chance to transition, I’m grateful that option wasn’t readily available like it is today. Offering a medical solution to a psychological problem to impressionable youth who are not mature enough to give informed consent is indeed a form of insanity.

Offering a medical solution to a psychological problem to impressionable youth who are not mature enough to give informed consent is indeed a form of insanity.


Having endured a 20-year battle with gender dysphoria myself, I feel compassion for gender-confused children and am all in favor of treatment to support them. However, our first line of defense to help children who experience distress about their gender should be therapy, especially considering that many have underlying mental health issues.

But with both sides lawyering up, it seems the big winners in this debacle are the law firms. The biggest losers will be the children, who are defenseless against an ideology that confuses them into believing they are born in the wrong body. In hindsight, as much as I celebrate each victory to stop the madness, as a Christian, I should have known better than to put my hope in the legal or political system to protect children or save women’s sports.

Although litigation may be a necessary evil, it does not solve the problem. The problem is our sin nature that often manifests in a desire to play God. After all, isn’t that what children are being taught when they are sold a lie that defies God’s created order?

As followers of Christ, our hope must always and only be built on Him. Every manmade institution will eventually fail at some point. Sadly, for the most vulnerable among us, that point is now.

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