Those interviewed for this story agreed that the dominance of gender identity in the public square represents a significant barrier to reasoned discussion on the topic, precisely because alternative perspectives are discounted out of hand as violent.
Still, Hasson said there is importance in using language in a way that reflects the truth of human sexuality.
“We should not ‘affirm’ a person’s desired identity when that identity is at odds with the person’s biological sex,” she said, noting that persistence in gender ideology often leads to spiraling depression and anxiety. “Instead, we should affirm the person’s created identity as a son or daughter of the Lord and treat him or her with respect and dignity.”
Hasson, whose organization has developed the “Person and Identity” project to educate and equip Catholics and Catholic institutions in response to gender ideology, underscored “the need to speak the truth, but gently and with love, guided by grace and the Holy Spirit.”
McCarthy doesn’t have much hope that meaningful conversation about sexuality can occur in the public square, citing Canadian philosopher George Grant’s claim that “the good” will only be evident now in an experience of authentic deprivation from it — which she believes is all but inevitable.
“I think we’re going to see, sadly, a generation of people who are going to grow up and say, ‘I really wish I hadn’t done this to myself,’” she said, drawing a comparison to the way in which the harms of divorce were most convincingly demonstrated only after its ill effects on children began to become apparent. McCarthy also underscored the importance of a positive counterwitness — “people who are happy in their skin, getting married, having children” — in this cultural moment.
Based on her own personal experience, Perry said that while people who identify as transgender may be “fragile in a sense,” there is still power in speaking the truth. She suggested that simply asking someone questions about how they came to understand themselves as “trans” can be helpful and perceived as non-threatening.
Perry said, “I wish somebody had really talked to me and sort of had me process what it was like living this life; I think I would’ve recognized earlier that it was not fixing my problems.”
Major Trans-gression: Why Gender Ideology Brooks No Dissent
Ozymandias