The Real Victims of Transgender Ideology (Part 2)

Welcome to Family Policy Matters, an engaging and informative weekly radio show and podcast produced by the North Carolina Family Policy Council. Hi, this is John Rustin, President of NC Family, and we're grateful to have you with us for this week's program.

It's our prayer that you will be informed, encouraged, and inspired by what you hear on Family Policy Matters, and that you will feel better equipped to be a voice of persuasion for family values in your community, state, and nation. Today we bring you part two of a two-part series featuring a North Carolina mother who has a transgender-identifying daughter. Christy's daughter experienced rapid onset gender dysphoria back in 2017, and Christy and her family have struggled for years to preserve their family, to love their daughter, and to honor God in the face of a struggle that has brought tremendous pain and difficulty upon their family.

Christy joins us on Family Policy Matters to bravely share her story and to provide insight and encouragement to other parents who may be facing similar struggles. Christy, I want to go back to one thing that you talked about, and that is that the therapist and the doctor that you took your daughter to see were quick to affirm her identity as a boy. Do you see this as a widespread practice within the medical community? Do you see this even among Christian counselors?

Absolutely. There are med students who are being taught in medical school that they need to affirm whatever identity a patient comes in identifying as, and they're told that if a person who has gender identity disorder comes in, they need to start medically transitioning this person. They'll even tell parents that if you don't allow your young child to start medically transitioning, they may commit suicide. It's just scare tactics. Therapists are told from the APA that they need to affirm, and that is the new form of treatment. Christian therapists are reluctant to treat anyone that comes in with gender identity disorder because it goes against their beliefs. But with Governor Cooper's executive order prohibiting federal and state funds to be used for any therapist that practices conversion therapy, as they call it, therapists' hands are tied.

They're afraid to even question a patient that comes in. Oh, Christy, it's very concerning to see those within the medical community affirming teens and young adults and even younger children identifying as a gender opposite of their biological sex. In going through transitions physically, emotionally, mentally, and otherwise, what are some of the things that concern you most about not only the affirmation of these things, but the real impact that these transitions, especially the physical transitions, will have on those who choose to go through with them? Well, when children start taking hormones, whether it's puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones, it changes their bodies and the children have irreversible damage to their bodies. They become sterile, their bodies are mutilated, and these doctors that perform these surgeries are trying to fix a psychological problem by making changes to the bodies of these children. It just really does not make sense to me because gender dysphoria is a mental illness, as stated in the DSM-5. So why would a doctor want to treat a mental illness by changing the physical body of one of these vulnerable children and young adults? It blows my mind that this is being done and when the children do start taking hormones, they're on these hormones for the rest of their lives. So they become a lifelong medical experiment and doctors are experimenting on them because they really don't know what the long-term effects will be.

Clearly, the surgical transitions that are made are irreversible and these hormonal differences have just tremendous impacts on these individuals and that's just a great, great concern. So Kristi, with the experiences that you and Kevin and your family have had, what resources have you found to be particularly helpful through this incredibly difficult time? Well, there are some really good websites out there.

Fourth Wave Now is a really good one. The Gender Resource Guide is excellent. Transgender Trend is another good website. Inspired Teen Therapy is a wonderful website.

YouTube videos done by Benjamin Boyce is bringing awareness to this epidemic and there's also YouTube videos out there by the Heritage Foundation. Parents of ROGD Kids is a national organization that will connect people with their local support network, so it is very important for parents that are suffering with a child that is trans identifying to find support. And that's an organization that I'm involved in and I can tell you that it's very difficult for any parent that's going through this and no one really quite understands the living grief that we're suffering through, except for those parents who are going through it themselves. You're listening to Family Policy Matters, a weekly radio show and podcast of the North Carolina Family Policy Council. This is just one of the many ways NC Family works to educate and inform citizens across North Carolina about policy issues that impact North Carolina families. Our vision is to create a state and nation where God is honored, religious freedom flourishes, families thrive and life is cherished. For more information about NC Family and how you can help us to achieve this incredible vision for our state and nation, visit our website at ncfamily.org. Again, that's ncfamily.org and be sure to sign up to receive our email updates, action alerts and of course, our flagship publication, Family North Carolina Magazine.

We'd also love for you to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Christy, as we conclude our conversation, I want to give you an opportunity to just share any advice that you would provide to other parents who are experiencing something similar to what you and your family have gone through. Well, I would say go with your gut instincts. If you know that this is not right, then stand firm and don't play into your child's fantasy that they can change their sex because their sex is immutable. They cannot change that. They can dress up and try to pretend to be someone else, but we know deep down who our children are and you have to be their reality check. I would be cautious with any therapist that you want to take your child to and any medical professional because they are very quick to start medicalization. And that's very dangerous. I would recommend that they do find a local support network that is critical of this movement and do your research because there are a lot of really good websites out there.

I didn't mention before, but GenderHQ.org is another one. And just stay connected with your child. Continue to love your child no matter what because as parents, we just want what's best for our child. Focus on their health and well-being and pray.

I recommend just continue praying that your child will open up their heart to God and talk about it. That's another important thing. You have to be willing to talk about it.

Do not suffer in silence. You have to have a support network and you may find that there are some people that do not agree with you if you are taking a critical stance. But there are plenty of people out there who will support you.

I know that I've had some wonderful friends that every day send me inspirational messages, text occasionally to check in to see how I'm doing. And things like that are really uplifting when you're going through this. But just remember that biological sex and gender are not the same thing. The biological sex is your reality. Gender is your perception of how your body is being presented. And that's something that can change from one day to the next. And I think that's something that our culture has flipped on its head where gender is what has historically been identity has become reality and that sex has become something that's just malleable or changeable in our culture.

And it's just incredible. Reverend Vaughn Roberts wrote in his book, Transgender, that a friend had once said, pop culture says your psychology is your sexual identity. Let your body be conformed to it. But the Bible says your body is your sexual identity. Let your mind be conformed to it. And I think that's so important because God made us male and female. And we have to honor the integrity of our bodies and and not try to change it. I also believe that with the SOGI laws that are out there, like the Equality Act, they really should not be lumping sexual orientation and gender identity together because they're really two different things. For people who identify as LGB, they're really just trying to love who they want to love. And for kids that and young adults who have gender identity disorder, they hate their bodies.

So there's a huge difference there between love and hate. And I really, I really hope and pray that our senators will vote against the Equality Act because what it will do is just pave the way for more children to proceed down the transgender path and become medicalized. And it will also tie the hands of medical professionals. So any doctor that refuses to treat a patient that presents with gender identity dysphoria, any doctor that doesn't believe in this will be denied the right to say, No, I'm not going to perform this operation on you. And I think that it's going to change our lives forever. The family unit is being changed forever by these laws. And I really just hope that people are going to start speaking up because there are detransitioners out there who will say, I never should have done this to my body.

It did not fix my problems. And so we're hoping that more of those people will come forward. And we're hoping doctors will speak up and say what my colleagues are doing is wrong.

Well, I couldn't agree more with you. Well, Christy, thank you so much for being with us on Family Policy Matters and for sharing your story in such a personal and powerful way. We will, of course, continue to pray for you and for Kevin and your family and especially Danielle.

And we do pray God's blessings on you all and look forward to speaking with you again in the future. Thank you so much. I really appreciate the opportunity to hopefully build awareness that this truly is an epidemic and it's capturing the lives of so many young adolescents and young adults.

Well, thank you. You've been listening to Family Policy Matters. This has been part two of a two part series featuring Christy, the mother of a transgender identifying daughter. To listen to part one of this series, visit the NC Family website at ncfamily.org and click Radio under the Research tab. At ncfamily.org, you can also order a valuable resource that will help you learn more about the dangerous transgender movement in our nation. Just look for the Parent Resource Guide banner in the middle of the page at ncfamily.org to order this valuable resource today. Thanks again for listening to Family Policy Matters and may God bless you and your family.