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Responding to the
Transgender Moment
The transgender movement
has hit breakneck speed. In the space of a year, it’s gone from something that
most Americans had never heard of to a cause claiming the mantle of civil
rights. Can a boy truly be “trapped” in a girl’s body? Can modern medicine really
“reassign” sex? What is the loving response to a child experiencing a
gender-identity conflict?
In his new book, When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment, Ryan T. Anderson, PhD offers a balanced approach to the policy issues, a nuanced vision
of human embodiment, and a sober and honest survey of the human costs of
getting human nature wrong. He draws on the best insights from the fields
of biology, psychology and philosophy to explore the many contradictions at the
heart of the transgender movement.
Anderson reveals a grim
contrast between the media’s sunny depiction and the often sad realities of
gender-identity struggles. He introduces readers to people who tried to
“transition” but found themselves no better off. Especially troubling is the
suffering felt by adults who were encouraged to transition as children but
later came to regret it.
In When Harry Became
Sally, you’ll learn:
· the many reasons that many regret making the
transition;
· that the most helpful therapies focus not on
achieving the impossible - changing bodies to conform to thoughts and feelings
- but on helping people accept and even embrace the truth about their bodies
and reality;
· how an ideological school counselor might try to
steer a child - unbeknownst to the parents;
· that the best evidence shows the vast majority
of children naturally grow out of any gender-conflicted phase;
· how new school policies might affect children
indoctrinated to believe that they really are trapped in the “wrong” body; and
· that 41 percent of people who identify as
transgender attempt suicide at some point in their lives, and people who have
had transition surgery are 19 times more likely than average to die by suicide.
Analyzing education and employment
policies, Obama-era bathroom and locker-room mandates, politically correct
speech codes and religious-freedom violations, Anderson shows how the law is
being used to coerce and penalize those who believe the truth about human
nature. And he shows how Americans can begin to push back with principle,
prudence and grace.
When Harry Became Sally is a compassionate, honest and
thought-provoking commentary on the often-misrepresented concept of
transitioning, the impact of the transgender movement on American society as a
whole, and the costs to individuals when we get the realities of human nature
wrong. Anderson believes we should be tolerant and, indeed, loving toward those
who struggle with their gender identity, but we should also be aware of the
harm done to the common good, particularly to children, when transgender
identity is normalized. He warns that activists are not merely asking for
tolerance or kindness; they are demanding affirmation, not just from adults but
from children and adolescents who are already challenged by the normal process
of sexual development.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ryan
T. Anderson, PhD graduated with honors
from Princeton University and the University of Notre Dame. He is the William
E. Simon Senior Research Fellow in American Principles and Public Policy at The
Heritage Foundation. Anderson’s research has been cited by two U.S. Supreme
Court justices in two Supreme Court cases. His writings have appeared in the
New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Harvard
Journal of Law and Public Policy, the Harvard Health Policy Review, the Weekly
Standard, and National Review. Anderson has appeared on ABC, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC,
and the Fox News Channel.
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