One brief in particular stands out. It's so powerful, it should not only persuade the Supreme Court but influence people on both sides of the transgender debate, particularly the mainstream media.
There Is No Such Thing as Gender Fluidity
The brief examines the personal testimonies of the following people, all of whom identified as transgender at one point, then reverted to affirming their sex: Walt Heyer, Jamie Shupe, Linda Seiler, Hacsi Horvath, Clifton Francis Burleigh Jr., Laura Perry, Jeffrey Johnston, Jeffrey McCall, and Kathy Grace Duncan. While regular Federalist readers may be familiar with regular contributor Heyer, the other names may be unfamiliar. Yet their stories are just as powerful.
For starters, each of these people now believes, due to counseling, therapy, and personal experiences, that there is no such thing as gender fluidity or transgender. They now believe it is a fantasy many people try to make real.
Take Shupe, American's first person to secure legal recognition of a nonbinary, transgender identity. He is a former hero of the left. His transgenderism "became the driver for over a dozen states to adopt an X marker in addition to male and female on driver licenses." He first identified as a "transgender woman," then as nonbinary.
The brief reads, "Publicly acknowledging that he is male and that his sex changes were a legal fiction has led to Mr. Shupe being shamed by the LGBTQ community for his beliefs that sex is binary and that those who struggle with gender identity issues need therapy and compassion, not to identify as a third gender."
Laura Perry is a former female to male transgender person who underwent hormone treatment and a double mastectomy. "Ms. Perry enjoyed the transition process at first, and she entered into a relationship with another transgender individual," says the brief. "They attended LGBT events together but stopped when the members of the community developed hatred for her partner who was conservative. They viewed her partner as a 'traitor.' Ms. Perry and her partner also claim that 'we thought these people are the most depressed people in the world,' referring to the LGBT community. Soon after, Ms. Perry became aware of the fact that changing sex is not biologically possible, and that sex is binary."
Toward the end of Heyer's story, the brief says, "For more than ten years Mr. Heyer has informally mentored and assisted scores of persons identifying as transgender who regret changing their appearance to that of the opposite sex. He encourages those who contact him who have gender dysphoria to seek psychological and psychiatric assessment for other disorders that are also present, which is the case in a majority of those who desire to identify as persons of the opposite sex."
These claims fly in the face of what many on the left, including the transgender person on the other side of this particular Supreme Court case, say. To make matters worse, the media have also attacked former transgender people and ridiculed their stories as unreal.
Becoming Transgender Hurts More Than It Helps
Almost every single person in the brief said they stopped being transgender with the help of therapy. It didn't just help them heal, but also revealed that deeper emotional traumas were often the cause of their gender dysphoria and the reason they chose transgenderism in the first place. All of the people claim that those who proposed or helped them transition often (unknowingly) created more pain.
Shupe suffered from PTSD after nearly 20 years of service in the military. The brief reads, "Mr. Shupe argues that his gender transitions were the result of his mental confusion and that he should have been treated with therapy rather than fictional identities. 'I should have been treated. Instead, at every step, doctors, judges, and advocacy groups indulged my fiction.'"
The brief describes Heyer's journey as both a former transgender person and one who now counsels so many who struggle. From both perspectives, Heyer believes current transgender medical protocols fail to treat the root causes.
Heyer now informally mentors people who also regret attempting to identify as a person of the opposite sex, such as by adopting a different name and opposite-sex pronouns, wearing clothing and hairstyles typically associated with the opposite sex, using sex-segregated spaces and engaging in sex-segregated activities that correspond to the opposite sex, and changing their appearance to more closely resemble the opposite sex through makeup, clothing, surgery, and hormones.
Heyer has seen firsthand the harm that can come from encouraging people down that path. Every person Heyer has mentored has concluded that he or she was not born transgender. They believe transgenderism is a learned behavior, a social ideology, not an innate condition from birth. Heyer says he has seen too much unhappiness and regret over the years from hormone therapy and surgeries to think otherwise.
Outcomes of Seeking Surgery Instead of Therapy
The brief describes a number of possible outcomes if gender-confused people seek plastic surgery and opposite-sex hormones rather than receive help through therapy:
Seeking to align one's mind with reality has always been the preferred method for treating dysphorias, such as anorexia, xenomelia (the feeling that one or more limbs do not belong), or transdisability (believing one has a physical disability that does not actually exist). No one would ever address an anorexic person's needs by providing a low-calorie diet, diet pills and stomach stapling. Moreover, one of the most comprehensive scientific studies tracking individuals who underwent sex-reassignment surgery revealed that (1) the rate of psychiatric hospitalization was approximately three times higher for postoperative individuals than a control group; (2) mortality rates and rates of criminal conviction also increased; (3) suicide attempts were almost five times more likely than before surgery; and (4) the likelihood of suicide following surgery was 19 times higher than the control group, adjusted for prior psychiatric illness.The brief continues:
Hacsi Horvath is a Lecturer in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco ("UCSF") and is an expert in clinical epidemiology. For 13 years, Mr. Horvath identified as a female and now that he has de-transitioned feels angry he was encouraged to embrace that lifestyle. 'I am far angrier that thousands of young people are being irreversibly altered and sterilized as they are inducted into a drug-dependent and medically-maimed lifestyle.'The amicus brief also says, "Affirming the dysphoria in people suffering from gender identity issues as if they really were persons of the opposite sex only serves to lead those that are suffering with such issues away from finding the serenity and wholeness of being at peace with their bodies and identities. Forcing employers to affirm the denial of reality is not required by Title VII and is more likely to cause harm than good."
While this brief will only play a small role in this important case, its personal testimonies and arguments should influence public discourse.
Nicole Russell is a senior contributor to The Federalist. She lives in northern Virginia with her four kids. Follow her on Twitter @russell_nm.
Reader Comments
Who will love Aladdin Sane?
Rub the lamp, then sue the Genie.
Force open the box, then sue Pandora.
Good for them though, really.
Brave.
The whole 'gender bender' era, etc.
But it seems there's more to what Bowie was saying than what I'm aware of.
Input? Explication?
R.C.
Diamond Dogs was next, as I recall, Jesus, he was talented. (I saw him once... on one of his tours where Frampton was playing guitar.)
R.C.
I particularly like the Mike Garson water-y 'stride piano' solo on Aladdin Sane, and esp on the somewhat trashy funked-up 'David Live' version (2.14)....[Link]
I don't really expect much from people's lyrics. I like tunes, chords, harmonies, arpeggios, rhythm constructions, vocal expressions, sound.
Interesting.
(When I'm done with this, it's off to Diamond Dogs....)
P.s., There were beau coup similarities to Alice Cooper's "Love it to death"; but far less musically complex.
P.p.s., "Time, in quaaludes and red wine"... plays on.....etc.
R.C.
Yeah, he was very talented, and it was a very unusual kind of talent, but he also made sure he was always surrounded and aided by a lot of other very talented people. I guess that was a major part of his talent. Gathering a huge microbiome of extremely capable people that he could work with.
I don't think, looking back, very many of them were happy with the wages though. LOL.
R.C.
*It usually merely requires a threatened loss of livelihood.
(Not indicting anyone.)
RC
Also, Bowie got screwed by Tony DeFries, but Bowie wouldn't have got anywhere without Tony De Fries. C'est la vie.
While the subject of Mike Garson piano is still fresh, I might as well roll out Lady Grinning Soul....[Link]
R.C.
P.s., He damn sure loves his flats.
RC
R.C. (I gotta go. a Possum got into the house. It's a florida thing.)
R.C.
R.C.
R.C.
R.C.
In any case, and as isc6822 reminds us below, we are endlessly told there is no 'time' in any serial sense in what I guess we could call The Greater Reality which concept, and by earthbound reasoning processes, leads one to the idea that we 'exist' in one form or another in all Densities 'simultaneously', but from here we have only very limited to no awareness of that.
This is a long discussion so I won't attempt a monologue . . .
You spoke of, " . . our deep fear of death . . . " and while I know people who tell me they have one and think daily about death, I'm not amoung them and never have been.
Now I don't, of course, want to endure some messy, protracted, anguished mess while I get out the Door but other than wanting to come to feeling that I've done what I came into this STS Shitshow to get done before I go I'm good with going and do not chase my tail about the eventuality.
I've commented on this subject before in other postings, but I'll re-post one particular comment, as 'headingoutside' has brought the subject of incarnation into this discussion.
From someone who KNOWS
For the record, I'm what is known as a 'true hermaphrodite'. I see these people and simply feel sorry for their state of mind. Personally, I view the current hysteria surrounding the issue of 'transgender' as more of a political ploy to further the 'divide and conquer' meme, just as the 'powers' use race, economic, political, national or religious leanings to pit individuals against one-another, and this article only confirms my suspicions. The Bruce/Caitlin Jenner debacle is just such a situation, as was the Caster Semyana Olympian runner issue a number of years back.
I do feel that those who surgically alter their bodies to conform with the 'other' gender, are actually acting out on feelings they have due to the nature of simultaneous incarnation described by Seth, in his 'Seth" series of books regarding the nature of Reality. There is NO Time in the Greater Reality - it is Always the 'Present', and thus All incarnations are happening At The Same Time.
Everyone has had many incarnations as both as males and females because consciousness (Spirit) wishes to experience as much as possible for its Spiritual Enrichment (even the ‘painful’ stuff has its lessons). This is how the Spirit grows and evolves, for that is the nature of Creation – to become More than it was a ‘moment’ ago. These trans-people are just Psychically tuning into other portions of their multiple Realities, and misinterpreting the signals in the 'here and now'. I'm certain that there are other factors at play, such as hormone levels as well as personal and social influences that cause further confusion in the individual who acts out in such a manner.
The fact is, these people will Never be a ‘woman’ or a ‘man’ (dependent upon what gender they are aspiring to be), although they may have the appearance of their choosing. In altering their bodies, these beings are actually Harming the very basis for their being manifested in the First Place, which has serious ramifications to physical body, the aura, as well as the psyche of the individual. This is why so many transsexuals have psychological problems as they (sometimes) come to realize the mistake they made as a result of mutilating their physical body and disrupting it's natural aura. Certainly, not All of them, but it is well known in the psychological profession that the majority have life-long psychological issues that typically result in suicide or addictions.
If only there was greater understanding of these issues surrounding the multiplicity of our Spirit in the general population, I believe we'd see much less 'confusion' and greater acceptance and rejoicing of our current individual physical manifestations, and thus avoid the harmful effects of such mutilations.
Here is Wikipedia on 'Transgender History' [Link] and here's a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_History_(book) to Susan Stryker's, "Transgender History" and a bit of bio' on her:
Susan O'Neal Stryker (born in 1961[3]) is an American professor, author, filmmaker, and theorist whose work focuses on gender and human sexuality. She is Professor of Gender and Women's Studies, former director of the Institute for LGBT Studies, and founder of the
Transgender Studies Initiative at the University of Arizona, and is currently on leave to while holding an appointment as Visiting Professor
of Women's Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Yale University (2019-20). Stryker also serves on the Advisory Council of METI (Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence). She is the author of several books about LGBT history and culture.
From a Cs session seen at this [Link]
Q: (L) We have a guest here tonight who would like to ask some questions. I'd [like] to keep it short since I don't have a lotof energy. So, D*****?
(D) Okay, I'd like to know what to focus on during my transitional period?
A: Find the desire of the heart. Not so easy, though.
Q: D) Any clues?
A: False personality must die for the heart to be revealed .
Q:(D) Okay, so how can I move in that direction?
A: It cannot be done alone. You know the drill quite well, just a bit
shy about commencing.
Q: (D) Okay... I'm not sure what to make of that.
(L) Well, I guess that's it. That's the same thing they would tell me!
(D) It can't be done alone, okay. Can I ask one more? So is there someone specific, or...
A: The process of the mirror is the most reliable way of seeing one's true reflection. You can see your soul that way.
Q: (L) When you say "mirror" do you mean a literal mirror, or do you mean "mirror" as we use it in QFS?
A: Both.
================
The subject of the 'false personality' is worth discussing