Speaker: ‘Feelings do not determine one’s gender’

STIRLING  In today’s society, we have lost sight of ourselves because we have lost sight of God. In the past few decades, that has become more evident with the explosion in the number of people, especially young people, who identify as something other than their biological gender — male or female. They suffer from gender dysphoria, a disorder that makes them “feel” transgender: like the opposite gender; “non-binary,” either both male and female or neither; or “gender fluid,” something else entirely.

So said Jason Evert, an internationally known Catholic speaker and best-selling author, who came to St. Vincent de Paul Church here on the night of Jan. 26 to tell 250 young people and their families, “A person is made either male or female by God.” The way a person “feels” does not determine his or her gender or body, as many transgender advocates promote today. Instead, it is the body that reveals the person — and his or her gender, said Evert, who delivered a talk on this burning and controversial issue today, “What is the Meaning of Sex, Gender, and the Human Body?” — for the first time anywhere.

“On the internet, there are 71 categories of gender you can identify with. You also can even identify as trans-racial or trans-species. We live in a unique time and are facing many challenges that we have not faced before,” said Evert during the ticketed event, which drew people from St. Vincent’s, as well as from other dioceses. He said he planned to speak at other locations in northern New Jersey, including Catholic schools. “Gender Theory says that gender is divorced from the body — it’s based on your feelings. But we reflect God in our bodies as one flesh in the union of husband and wife. Gender is a gift that we receive from the Father. It’s stamped into our bodies,” he said.

In his talk, laced with lots of truth and humor, Evert called gender dysphoria an actual psychological condition, therefore people who suffer with this disorder need us to share God’s love and compassion with them and to listen to their stories.

However, they also deserve to know the truth: transgenderism, especially changing a person’s body to another gender through hormone therapy and surgery, is the devil’s way of helping thwart God’s plan for us in marriage and family. It leads to many psychological problems, possibly depression and even suicide, said Evert, who writes and talks about the St. John Paul II’s teachings of Theo­logy of the Body, sexuality, chastity, and family, and soon will publish a book about gender identity.

The truth is that up to 90 percent of adolescents, who suffer from gender dysphoria, will eventually identify with their biological gender. That’s important because many affected children are asking their parents to start the gender-change process at increasingly younger ages — 13 or younger. For example, girls, who identify as boys often want to change their pronouns from “she/her” to “he/him” and want to start taking drugs that block their development in puberty. They also want to start the cross-sex hormone of testosterone and get radical surgery to change their outward biological appearance to that of a boy. Many websites scare parents, telling them that they must let their children undergo these changes, Evert said.

However, hormone therapy sterilizes young people and makes them more prone to such diseases as cancer, he said. To maintain their new “gender,” they have to take these hormones twice a month for life. In some states, young people can get treatment and surgery as young as 13 to 15 years old without parental permission. But they are not mature enough to make such a life-altering decision. Years later, many people who underwent surgery regret what they did and grapple with depression, asking themselves, “What have I done to my body?” which sometimes leads to suicide, Evert said.

“Gender Theory denies male and female differences. It looks as gender as a social construct. But our bodies are sexed. Men and women have different reactions to medications, they have different symptoms to diseases, and our prevalence of certain diseases are different. Changing our gender is impossible. We would have to change every cell in our bodies,” Evert said.

Parents with a child, who is suffering from gender dysphoria, should not “freak out” but instead listen to his or her story. Take a softer approach and ask the right questions to build a strong relationship — and maybe share information, so you can learn from each other. Also find a discerning counselor, who is able to dive into your child’s deeper psychological issues. Be careful, he said, because, that counselor could be accused of engaging in “conversion therapy,” attempting to change your child back to their natural gender, which is illegal in many states. If you have a friend with gender dysphoria, listen to them but do not comprise your views on gender identity, Evert said.

“If you love somebody, you can’t lie to them. If you don’t speak out now, your friend might regret it later,” Evert said.

After Evert’s talk, Father Richard Carton, St. Vincent’s pastor, led churchgoers in Eucharistic Adoration, assisted by Sebastian Munoz, a seminarian.

Following the event, Deirdre Nemeth, St. Vincent’s faith formation director, told The Beacon, “Jason shed light on this very relevant and sensitive topic of gender identity, not only from a psychological and biological perspective but also very importantly from a Catholic Christian view.

“It was good that he also stressed the importance that those who identify as transgender are beloved children of God, who deserve our respect and love and that they should be listened to. But he also underscored the need for a loving response rooted in the truth of who we are, made male or female in the image and likeness of God,” Nemeth said.

Eileen Pinsonault, a St. Vincent’s parishioner, who coordinated the event, said, “When we lose the desire to know truth, even if knowing the truth hurts, the fruit of this leads to darkness, anxiety, and despair.

“Jason came to northern New Jersey to deliver a message to more than 1,000 students, parents, and faculty about God’s love and the way he intended it to be,” said Pinsonault, the married mother of four daughters, ages 15 to 22.