Dear Friends,
Before I begin the subject of this letter, I want to take a moment to focus on the amazing gift of motherhood, which we will celebrate this May. I can only imagine what my life would have been like without the profound loving care and godly wisdom that my mother poured into me. I want to uplift and thank every woman out there who is doing the job of a mom—whether your sons and daughters were birthed or adopted, you are undertaking one of the greatest and noblest pursuits in life. Your sacrificial love is shaping the hearts and minds of a generation of children.
Now, let me turn our attention to a topic that is as utterly preposterous as it is egregious—it is this idea of transgenderism. As Christians, we can and should show compassion for anyone wrestling with the condition of gender dysphoria. However, if we truly care for someone, we will speak truth into their lives. This is what makes this issue so morally confounding—the absolute abandonment of truth for the sake of wokeness.
In one of the most outrageous examples of this absurdity, a biological male, who now calls himself Lia Thomas, was allowed by the NCAA governing body to compete at the 2022 National Championship. Thomas won this year's women's 500-yard freestyle championship final, beating Virginia University's Emma Weyant by 1.75 seconds. Ms. Weyant was a silver medalist winner at the 2020 Olympics and is a three-time U.S. National Champion. Lia Thomas, in every biological sense, is a man, and even his own female teammates know this reality. Sixteen of them penned a letter of complaint to the NCAA authorities. They did so anonymously, due to their fear of retaliation.
"We fully support Lia Thomas in her decision to affirm her gender identity and to transition from a man to a woman. Lia has every right to live her life authentically," the letter read. "However, we also recognize that when it comes to sports competition, that the biology of sex is a separate issue from someone's gender identity. Biologically, Lia holds an unfair advantage over competition in the women's category, as evidenced by her rankings that have bounced from #462 as a male to #1 as a female. If she were to be eligible to compete against us, she could now break Penn, Ivy, and NCAA Women's Swimming records; feats she could never have done as a male athlete."1
While I may not agree with these young women regarding their affirmation of Mr. Thomas' choice to "transition," I do wholeheartedly commend their willingness to confront the biological lie that the NCAA has fully embraced. Unbelievably, they also allowed Lia Thomas, who has not undergone any "transition surgeries," to share the same locker room as the female swimmers. This is pure madness, and as one father of a woman competitor stated, "It is disgusting."2
Let me now address this medically unfounded notion that a man can believe his way into becoming a woman or vice versa. A person's psychological mindset cannot change his or her biological make-up. As Dr. Paul McHugh, professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine has stated, "Transgendered men do not become women, nor do transgendered women become men. All (including Bruce Jenner) become feminized men or masculinized women, counterfeits or impersonators of the sex with which they 'identify.' In that lies their problematic future."3
I couldn't agree more. I've spent much of my early career in medicine studying the veracity of this truth and have written several books that touch upon the physiological differences between males and females. While modern medicine may be used to alter the physical appearance and even manipulate the hormone production in a person's body, it can never reassign one's sex determined at conception and obvious at birth. This is an undeniable scientific fact.
However, we are tragically seeing woke-driven physicians attempting to "re-fashion" children from one sex to the other, and the results are devastating and nothing less than child abuse. Through a concoction of "puberty blockers" and "cross-sex hormones," along with surgeries, some medical professionals are experimenting on young children in the name of "gender-affirming healthcare." However, there is no evidence that supports this treatment is safe for our children. Rather, it is just the opposite.
- · There is not a single long-term study that demonstrates the safety or efficacy of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries for transgender-believing youth.
- · Temporary use of the puberty blocker Lupron has also been associated with and may be the cause of many serious permanent side effects including osteoporosis, mood disorders, seizures, cognitive impairment and, when combined with cross-sex hormones, sterility. Add to this the fact that physically healthy transgender-believing girls are undergoing double mastectomies at 13 and hysterectomies at 16, while their male counterparts are referred for surgical castration and penectomies at 16 and 17, respectively, and it becomes clear that affirming transition in children is nothing short of mutilating and sterilizing emotionally-troubled youth.
- · Many medical organizations around the world, including the Australian College of Physicians, the Royal College of General Practitioners in the United Kingdom, and the Swedish National Council for Medical Ethics have characterized these interventions in children as experimental and dangerous. World-renowned Swedish psychiatrist Dr. Christopher Gillberg has called for "an immediate moratorium on the use of puberty blocker drugs because of their unknown long-term effects."4
Unfortunately, this non-scientific and anti-biblical transgender craze is being pushed onto our children across all sectors of life. This past month, Disney CEO Bob Chapek spoke out against Florida's legislature for passing the Protect Parental Rights Bill, legislation that would ensure parental rights over their children's education as well as prohibit teachers from instructing kindergartners through third-graders about sex and gender identity.5 How can a corporation that caters to families argue with a policy that protects kids? As if that weren't enough, Disney executives are now promising to promote even more transgenderism and queerness in their entertainment for children.6 My good friend, Gary Bauer, rightfully denounced Disney and posed the question, "How much longer before Micky Mouse breaks up with Minnie and announces he is 'transitioning' to a female rodent?"7
Decades ago, Gary and I wrote a book entitled Children At Risk. We saw the coming culture war that was aimed directly at our youngest. Sadly, much of what we predicted has happened, and the moral foundation that once supported the developing character of our children has almost completely crumbled—and it is only getting worse.
We are seeing this bombardment of evil intensify everywhere. Here are some headlines just within the last few months.
- · Indiana Activists to Host Sex-Ed 'Kink' Camp for Children Grades 3-5, including Condom Demonstration (Daily Caller)8
- · Nation's Trans Kids Would Be Offered "Place of Refuge" in California With New Bill (KQED News)9
- · A Seattle museum is hosting a summer camp for kids as young as 12-years-old that encourages them to find their "drag personas." (Fox News)10
If this does not raise your dander and drive you to your knees in fervent prayer for the morality of our country and the welfare of our youth, I don't know what will. I have long stated that sins committed against children are the most grievous. That is why I believe our Lord made the following statement: "It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin." (Luke 17:2)
And yet, the worst offender seeking to pervert and harm our kids is not a corporation or a school board. It's our current President and his administration. As I shared in a recent statement, President Biden and his administrative agencies are determined to push America totally off its moral ledge as they take full aim at dismantling the mental, physical, and spiritual welfare of our children.
"…Biden and his administration released two agency documents designed to enable and encourage boys and girls to castrate themselves chemically and surgically while calling it "a form of supportive healthcare." This is the prequel to five "gender-affirming care" regulations forthcoming this month and next. It defies God's natural laws and grossly breaches all ethical boundaries as it pertains to protecting the welfare of our children. Let's call it what it really is—an outrageous and vile attack against our precious kids.
Both documents, one from the Office of Population Affairs entitled "Gender-Affirming Care and Young People," and the other, "Gender-Affirming Care is Trauma-Informed Care," issued by The National Child Traumatic Stress Network use Orwellian language to explain why it is so important for parents and others to support a child's desire to change his or her gender. These officials state that "early gender-affirming care is crucial to (the) overall health and well-being" of a child. Apparently, they did not consult with world-renowned Swedish psychologist, Dr. Christopher Gillberg, who calls pediatric transition "possibly one of the greatest scandals in medical history." Just stop for a moment and consider how breath-takingly scandalous this is—little Johnny, a third-grader struggling with being smaller than his male peers, is now told by his teacher to consider that he may really be a girl trapped in a boy's body. A few years later the "affirming healthcare" agencies inject puberty blockers into this developing boy causing potentially irreversible harm. This is child abuse!"
Perhaps, worst of all, President Biden had the audacity to invoke God's name on behalf of this wickedness. In a video statement, he addressed transgender Americans and stated, "Our entire administration sees you for who you are, made in the image of God, and deserving of dignity, respect, and support."
"Of course, President Biden is correct when he quotes Genesis 1:27 and says those who experience gender dysphoria—along with all human beings—are made in the image of God. Yet, in saying this, it is ironic, in the most sickening sense, that Biden is encouraging these same young people to rebel against God's image imprinted upon their very beings. In his failed attempt to appear holy and pious, President Biden conveniently omits the second half of the verse he quotes which says, "male and female He created them." No one should distort the Lord's very words in this way. President Biden would do well to remember that God will not be mocked.
Children who identify as transgender are a very vulnerable population. Many have experienced serious trauma and endured real pain that deserves our compassion. But encouraging them to reject God's design as reflected in His creation will never be the right or loving thing to do."11
I pray that my burden and heartache for our children has touched your heart in a manner that moves you toward action. Yes, we must contact our President, our legislators, and our school boards and let them know that we will protect our children and grandchildren against this relentless attack on God's design for human sexuality. But even more importantly, as parents and grandparents, we need to prioritize what must come first.
A recent Barna study revealed the greatest concern that Christian parents have for their children is their lack of spiritual development.12 Given what I just shared, I am not surprised at the findings. Our kids are under attack on all fronts of life, and they will go through struggles. However, this is not a time for despair or a time to give the enemy a foothold. God has positioned us as parents and grandparents to make a difference.
As we celebrate our mothers this May and our fathers in June, that brings the message of this letter full circle. Let me finish with a charge to every mom, dad, and grandparent. Your homes and your communities are a battlefront for the hearts and minds of your children and grandchildren. Don't allow a day to go by without intentionally passing on God's amazing gift of grace and truth that He has bestowed upon us through His Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Teach His laws and His precepts to your kids. And as Shirley and I know firsthand, we must saturate these efforts in ardent prayer, remembering that our Lord has overcome this world, and He will hear our petitions. Always.
"Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." Romans 8:37
In His sovereign hands,
This letter may be reproduced without change and in its entirety for non-commercial and non-political purposes without prior permission from Family Talk. Copyright, 2022 Family Talk. All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured. Printed in the U.S. Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk is not affiliated with Focus on the Family.