More on the 'transgender' threat

This is a follow up to a recent homily, taken from the parish bulletin, slightly edited. 

Let’s talk plainly about so-called “trangenderism.” What is it? And why should you or I care?

For various reasons, some hard to discern, some people experience a “dysphoria” or disconnection from their physical identity as male or female.  It can be temporary or life-long. While some people may think this is all a big joke, the suffering is real.  It can involve depression, addiction and suicide.

In recent decades, it has been possible for people to obtain artificial hormones, and even surgery, in order to remake their bodies to conform to their self-perception. What is not well known is that even these drastic steps are often not satisfactory. In those cases, some will ‘transition” back to their original identity; or else they will spiral down into deeper darkness.

Why is ‘transgenderism’ on the march? Until just recently, we understood as a society that this was abnormal. But now powerful forces are working to force society to embrace these experiences as normal. Even worse: what was always known to be a scientific fact (that male and female are physical realities) has now been transformed into not only a mere “belief,” but an expression of bigotry!

The word for this is madness. 

I mean not so much the people who experience this dysphoria; I don’t want to add anything to their suffering. Rather, I mean the madness of other people, whether in government, in the media, and in so many other places, who go along with this or try to coerce others into accepting it.

Why you should care. Last year a judge in Hamilton County, Ohio, took a child away from her parents, and placed the child in her grandparents’ custody, precisely because the parents would not go along with this fake science; would not go along with hormones or surgeries that would mutilate their child. But the grandparents would. So the government took sides.

Also: in many places, schools are getting intense pressure. Girls will be in a locker room, and a boy—who now claims to be a girl—is undressing in their presence; and the girls must undress in that boy’s presence. This has happened without parents knowing about it or having recourse. In many sports, girls are losing competitions because boys-claiming-to-be-girls have greater physical strength and thus tend to win. Everyone knows it’s wrong but no one dares protest, for fear of being labelled a “bigot.”

If you or someone you care about is in the medical profession, be scared. There are powerful voices demanding that doctors perform procedures and operations, and proscribe hormones, contrary to their own medical judgment and conscience. In many places, it is now illegal for counselors and psychologists to offer therapy that might help a young person reject same-sex desires. Don’t be surprised if the same groups demand that doctors not counsel someone away from becoming “transgender.”

Worse: this ideology is being promoted to young, impressionable children, and surprise! Children are discovering that they are also transgender. In Britain, where this movement is further along, schools are reporting drastic increases in children discovering they aren’t the sex they thought they were. And children are being given drugs and even mutilating operations. If this makes you want to throw up, that is a good response. But it can’t be our only response.

Don’t be discouraged, but don’t be passive. 

If you find all this overwhelming, remember that in 1940, Fascism, Communism and Nazism seemed unstoppable; and they nearly were. Yet they were defeated. Evil will not have the last word. Pray. Be well informed. Be loving but unbending about the truth. It is not compassionate to nod and smile when someone else plans to do him- or herself grave harm. You may not be able to stop it, but we must not give our approval or help. And wait patiently for our God in heaven to act, as he will in his time; and indeed, he almost certainly already is, but in ways we do not comprehend.