Several years ago, Family Policy Alliance® was on the forefront of creating policy solutions to tackle harms that the transgender ideology was having on our children. Leftist activists had been working double-time – but under the radar – to make our children question the definition of male and female.

Whether an individual is born a boy or girl is one of the most basic facts about humanity. Yet the Left’s rapidly growing transgender ideology has shaken the foundations of our children’s core identities, resulting in a growing social crisis. The solution proposed by these activists – to the social crisis they invented – is to tell parents they need to allow their children to “change” their sex.

To that end, activists advocate the experimental use of drugs to stop puberty in gender-confused children. Activists claim “cross-sex” hormones have nothing but positive benefits, allowing a child to begin to develop the body of the opposite sex with no risk. They even tout “sex-change operations” as the ultimate cure for gender confusion and dysphoria.

But because of your early support, Family Policy Alliance was able to raise the alarm and start working diligently on solutions to protect our children before it was too late – and to share those solutions freely with our allies and partners:

Thankfully, legislators in several states are now introducing various versions of these solutions.

These solutions are based on the biblical truth that God has created us male and female for a reason. Our sex isn’t a burden; it’s a gift.

The seeds from our early work are starting to bear fruit as the urgency over these issues grows. In part, that’s because studies and results are coming in, and science supports what we’ve known all along: The best thing for our children is to teach them to love the bodies they have, not enable them to make drastic medical decisions that will permanently change their bodies, cause sterilization, and result in a lifetime of high-dose prescription drugs and medical complications.

Puberty isn’t a disease that needs to be treated, but a necessary part of growing up. The studies show puberty blockers are experimental and do cause harm [1]. Once an individual has had a “sex-change operation,” they are at an exponentially higher risk for suicide and other serious mental health struggles for the rest of their life.  And 85-90 percent of children and adolescents will outgrow their gender confusion by the time they reach adulthood, without radical and harmful medical intervention [2].

As state legislatures convene across the nation, know that Family Policy Alliance will continue to generate, distribute and advocate for policy that supports teaching children to embrace their biological sex.

The gender ideology fight is truly a fight for our children’s lives. As compassionate Christians, we must oppose medical practices and interventions that undermine the long-term health of our children and do them irreparable harm. The most loving thing Family Policy Alliance and our allies can continue to do is stand together against this extremist agenda.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Curry, Esq.
Policy Manager

 

[1] Jim Strickland et al., AJC, (Oct. 29, 2018) https://www.ajc.com/lifestyles/health/body-fire-woman-blames-drug-for-pain-sues-maker/SXiOzDSFL694I7LcT4Ra0O/ (last accessed Jan. 7, 2019).

[2] Thomas D. Steensma, et al., Desisting and Persisting Gender Dysphoria After Childhood: A Qualitative Follow-Up Study, 16 Clinical Child Psych. and Psychiatry  (2010) 499-516; Annelou L. C. de Vries and Peggy T. Cohen-Kettenis, “Clinical Management of Gender Dysphoria in Children and Adolescents: The Dutch Approach” in Treating Transgender Children and Adolescents: An Interdisciplinary Discussion 11-12, Jack Drescher and William Byne, ed’s., (2014).; See World Prof’l Ass’n for Trans. Health, Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People, v. 7 at 11, available at https://s3.amazonaws.com/amo_hub_content/Association140/files/Standards%20of%20Care%20V7%20-%202011%20WPATH%20(2)(1).pdf.

As is becoming the norm, prime-time television continues to glamorize the serious and grave consequences of those struggling with gender dysphoria. Recently, the NBC drama, New Amsterdam, told the story of a teen girl requesting a sex-change operation from a doctor and against her parents’ advice. The doctor turned her down, and the teen responded with a hateful social media campaign.  Sadly, this fictitious drama is more like a reality TV show.

Hulu features the show Transparent, which is centered around a middle-aged man who slowly transitions to a woman before the eyes of his broken family. And most of us have probably heard of I am Jazz, the popular TLC Drama that has been highlighting the transition of Jazz Jennings since he was 14. Jazz’s parents have allowed the cameras to follow Jazz for years, even as he had a sex-change operation at the age of 17!

Yet, Hollywood has no problem leaving out some of the more horrific aspects of these operations and how harmful medical transitioning can be to the individual struggling with gender dysphoria.

Last week, we covered The Wounds No One Wants to Talk About—a very raw look at real physical and emotional wounds “transitioning” can cause. This week, we highlight how allowing individuals to medically transition can be harmful to others. Here are three things Hollywood won’t tell you:

  1. Medical Resources intended for Women are being used by Men—For example, in Colorado a state medical program provides free or low-cost healthcare for low-income women who need breast and cervical cancer screenings. The program has been opened up to men, who say they’re women. For every appointment a man makes, he is taking resources away from a woman in need and perpetuating misinformation as to what sexes are truly at risk for certain health conditions.
  2. Fake medical care is being offered to men– Several cancer research institutes are specifically educating transgender-identifying men on their need to get their “cervix” checked—by an Ob-Gyn. Men do not have cervixes and are incapable of getting cervix cancer, even after a sex-change operation. Ob-Gyn’s provide services to women and specialize in women’s health. No matter what a man does to his body, he cannot get female-specific cancers, and he should not be seeing female doctors. Doctors should certainly not be offering pretend “pap-smears” and “cervical exams” for men to support their delusion of becoming women. This shift in medical care ultimately harms transgender individuals because they are not getting appropriate services for cancer screenings they truly need.
  3. Medical care for transitioning individuals is still wildly experimental – As we’ve discussed in the past, medical treatment for gender confusion is still experimental. The medical community still requires a psychological diagnosis for these individuals to medically transition, begging the question as to why we would not provide more psychological treatment and support. Studies have also shown medical treatment can make the psychological depression of a transgender-identifying individual much worse, indicating we are not treating the true problem.

Hollywood may not be the most reliable source for giving the complete picture on the gender debate, but Family Policy Alliance will strive to bring light to every aspect of this issue as we seek out compassionate and honest ways to help individuals struggling with gender dysphoria. As we approach another round of state legislative sessions beginning in January, we hope you will partner with us in speaking truth in love—and holding our elected leaders accountable to do the same.

 

For Truth,

Stephanie Curry, Esq.
Policy Manager

 

 

 

The Wounds No One Wants to Talk About

 

“Health first” helped me survive

“The health of my patient will be my first consideration.”

Physician’s Oath

This simple line in the Physician’s Oath is what we expect from our doctors—that they will put our health first. As someone who survived a life-threating illness earlier this year, this pledge presented some challenges for me.

It meant that my desire to go home would not be adhered to. It meant that my requests for more pain medication, after multiple surgeries, would not always be fulfilled. It also meant that as much as I loathe needles, I would need to endure multiple IVs, shots, and blood tests so that my doctors could help me heal.

I endured all of this because my health–not my desires, whims or wants—was the primary concern of the doctor.

Yet, the radical left disagrees.

“Surgery won’t cure my self-loathing, but I want it anyway”

Recently, the New York Times published the article, “My New Vagina Won’t Make Me Happy”.

A man, “Andrea” (who identifies as a woman), declared he is entitled to a sex-reassignment surgery. He forcefully argued that his “grief, self-loathing, shame [and] regret” were a “human right” and genital-mutilating “surgery’s only prerequisite should be a simple demonstration of want.” “Andrea” believes doctors should be forced to make his body undergo a horrific process, by removing a functional, working body part and replacing it with a faux-part that will never work, and which will certainly not make him a woman. His body will treat this faux-part as a wound for the rest of his life because the body understands biology better than the Leftist agenda. This faux-part will need constant daily-care, and will be prone to rejection, a high risk of complications, and various infections (harboring harmful bacteria, fungi, mold and more).

But “Andrea” doesn’t want to be cured of his grief and depression, he wants a vagina, and at all costs.

There is a path to hope

What’s even more intolerable, is the Left demands children have access to these permanently sterilizing, genital-mutilating surgeries. These procedures do not alleviate pain—they cause it. They do not make it easier for the body to heal—they make it impossible.

“Andrea” has accepted all transgender people must live with hating themselves for life, even after surgery—piling deep emotional wounds on top of the physical ones.

Family Policy Alliance wants more for “Andrea” and others struggling with gender-identity, especially for children. We know they can find a path to complete healing. Studies show 80-95% of children struggling with gender dysphoria do not maintain these identities as adults. There is hope!

As compassionate Christians, we must oppose medical practices that undermine the health of patients and do irreparable harm to children. The most loving thing Family Policy Alliance can do is support policies that provide mental healthcare and emotional support, not open the door for a drastic and irreversible surgery that will compound the challenges they face throughout their life.

My friends, this topic is unpleasant. It’s not one that many would choose to think about or discuss around the dinner table. But, if we look the other way, we are rejecting the biblical mandate to love our neighbor.

Let’s lift those who are struggling up in prayer while working to establish policies that will provide truly compassionate and beneficial solutions.

Because we care,

Cole Muzio
President & Executive Director
Family Policy Alliance of Georgia


Stephanie Curry, Esq.
Policy Manager
Family Policy Alliance