Against ‘Detransitioning’

Use of a made-up non-word leads to tacit acceptance of the ideology that spawned it

An 18-year-old woman named Layla Jane was in the news recently with a heartbreaking story. Ms. Jane is suing Kaiser Permanente and another medical institution for performing a double mastectomy on her at the age of 13. (Her story has been covered by several national news organizations.) There was nothing physically wrong with the 13-year-old Layla Jane. Instead, doctors mutilated her in the name of transgenderism. Ms. Jane “identified” as a male at the age of 11. By age 12, doctors were pumping her full of hormones. A year later, doctors removed both of her young breasts. Ms. Jane now deeply regrets what was done to her and is taking her mutilators to court.

Sadly, this is hardly the only such tale in the modern world. In the United States and across the globe, young people are being poisoned in mind and body, and often butchered, by people claiming to offer “compassionate care” (e.g., here). When that “compassionate care” fails to solve the deep-seated psychological and emotional disturbances that drive people to believe themselves born in the wrong body and they reverse course, the media — which spent years accusing those who spoke against transgenderism of “bigotry” and “hate speech” — refers to the walking wounded as detransitioners.

But such terms are wrong. Let us remember that the language of the Left is lies. Consider the use of the non-word homophobia, for example. Homophobia was pushed by homosexual activists as part of a deliberate campaign to “jam” human reason and make homosexuals — sinners — appear instead to be victims of bigotry.

The devil wraps horror in silk so that we will accept our perdition as a gift. It is a tactic as old as the Garden of Eden. And, like our first parents, we very easily fall for it.

By the same token, there are no “detransitioners.” To use this term is tacitly to accept that there is such thing as “transition.” Detransitioner, like the made-up non-word homophobia, legitimizes “transition” even as it highlights the fallout of gender ideology. Detransitioner is a trap. Once one uses the language of lies, there can be no reasoning toward the goodness which God intends for all of His children.

The devil is up to his old tricks, but very few seem to understand what is going on here. Even Breitbart uses the phrase ex-transgender, along with detransitioner, to describe Ms. Jane. The Daily Caller, which has also been outspoken in opposition to what is being done to people in the name of “gender,” also repeats the “detransitioner” trope.

Such instances typify the unfortunate state of journalism in the United States today. Even outlets such as Breitbart and The Daily Caller, which duly report on the psychological and physical mutilations which doctors have visited on the weak and suffering among us, couch their descriptions in the language of roundabout affirmation. It is surely not intentional, but it is, nevertheless, a big problem.

More than the sorry state of journalism, however, such reports typify the destruction of the English language as a medium for uttering truth. If we are to speak to one another, we must do so in charity and honesty. We must not let our minds be addled by loaded terms. The devil runs wild where language is unclear. If we cannot say what truth is, then we cannot counter lies with it. The field is his before the battle is joined.

So, instead of detransitioner, I propose that people such as Ms. Jane, who have been preyed upon by liars for money, be called what they really are: victims of gender terrorism. That is the full truth. Cutting off the penis of a middle schooler or the breasts of a young woman in junior high is not part of any sort of “transition.” It is hate, lucrative hate, pure and simple. It is hate for the handiwork of God and utter contempt for the dignity of the human person.

There is no “detransitioning” because there is no “transitioning” in the first place. There is, in the case of transgender ideology, only lies and violence. And it is done for cash. Under the aegis of “gender” but in the form of terrorism, doctors visit sheer horror upon our brothers and sisters in Christ. And then those doctors stuff their ill-gotten gains in their bank accounts while the people whose lives they have ruined are left to pick up the pieces.

I won’t use or countenance the word detransition any longer. So-called “detransitioners” are victims of gender terrorism. Full stop.

 

Jason Morgan is associate professor at Reitaku University in Kashiwa, Japan.

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