Misgendering Is Not Violence – Podcast

The Good Creation Podcast – Misgendering Is Not Violence

Podcast Script

All of us must be horrified at the outbreak of real violence over the weekend against a Gay and Lesbian Club in Colorado Springs. Apparently a 22 year old man who had previous run-ins with the Law and by some accounts had previously demonstrated mental illness, yet nonetheless, that young man acquired a gun and killed 5 night club members.

18 others were wounded as well. Send your prayers out to them. And pray for Justice.


But what we should not do, because of kookoo birds like that loon, is attempt to silence honest discussion about the current debate raging in the Western world.

If you believe you are born in the wrong body or that your biological sex is not part of who you really are, then you have a dissociative disorder. You have a mental illness that must be squarely faced and lovingly treated. The discomfort is real. I know. And you need help.

There are those who disagree.

On Nov. 12, Jennifer Lima a Rhode Island school district committee member shared a post from an activist group which said the following:  “Purposefully misgendering students is an act of violence. Respond accordingly.”

Adding to this statement, Lima included the definition from the World Health Organization. She said, “any act of violence in our schools which creates an unsafe environment (physically or emotionally by or for any member of the school community) needs to be dealt with accordingly.”

Source:  Fox News (I'd really like to include other U.S. legacy news sources on this issue, but they by and large do not run stories critical of Gender Ideology.  Though, I've noticed recently that is starting to change.  More about that at another time.)
Jennifer Lima

For those who don’t know. Misgendering can occur if you use the wrong preferred pronoun. Or if you refuse to admit in any way that a man can become a woman or vice versa. If you do that, according to this Gender Activist and many others like her, you have committed “an act of violence.”


As a Christian, I’m all in favor of using inoffensive language. But the use of language that denies reality is more than slightly problematic. Therefore, I won’t use someone’s preferred pronoun if that pronoun doesn’t correspond with physical reality.

I don’t have a problem using someone’s preferred name since names are merely conventional. But pronouns like she/he & her/him reflect the reality of God’s bi-natured creation and cannot reasonably be changed anymore than you can change your sex. Soul and Body were meant by God to be integrated parts of a single whole person.

I can’t lie about that.

I use sex-based pronouns for people.  I do so out of deeply held beliefs.  Rational Beliefs derived from Science, Natural Law and Religious Authority.  So I’m going to insist that you please respect my beliefs as well.

Of course, it is true, sometimes we can’t tell someone’s biological sex. But when we do know…..we must speak truthfully. For those who wish to point out the existence of “Intersex” people, that is to say, those with a Disorder of Sexual Development (DSD), as a reason for adopting a more flexible stance on sex, gender and pronouns, I’m going to address DSD’s in a future podcast.  So stay tuned.

Language matters, my friends.

If I’m in the presence of someone who wishes to deny biological reality, I will respectfully avoid the use of pronouns. It won’t be easy. But that’s where I draw the language line.

+++

Below is a table of both gendered and gender-neutral pronouns, along with their pronunciations. It is important to note, though, that some people do not subscribe to any pronoun and may like to be referred to by name only. [My Policy]. I’m simply not going to use a preferred pronoun if it denies biological reality, the reality of God’s good creation.  I won’t do it.  

The table below is not an exhaustive list. 

SubjectObjectPossessivePronunciation
SheHerHersshee, hur, hurs
HeHimHishee, him, hiz
They*Them*Theirs*thei, them, thehrz
XeXemXyrszee, zem, zeres
ZeHirHirszee, here, heres
ZeZirZirszee, zere, zeres
EEmEirsay, em, airs

* Though they / them / theirs are traditionally plural, these pronouns can be used as singular in a particular context. Example: Janice scored well on their final paper; they received an A

Another real world example may be found in a previous post “For Women Scotland.” If you follow the Twitter link there you will be able to read the news story about the convicted sex criminal, Laura Miller, who identifies as gender-neutral . Laura is a biological male. Here’s how the news story about Miller’s crime begins:

A pervert who filmed themselves sexually assaulting a sleeping woman has been jailed for almost two years.   

For the uninitiated “themselves” does not refer to more than one pervert but to a single person who identifies as gender-neutral and whose preferred pronouns are “they/them/theirs“. The journalist Jenni Gee would be guilty of “misgendering” if she had used different pronouns in reference to Miller. In fact, in some jurisdictions in the Western world, you may be brought up on charges for misgendering someone. 

(See the video I posted below for evidence of the criminalization of wrong pronoun usage!)

The “TQ+” of the ever expanding Gender acronym is rightly regarded as a fiction by the majority of us in the Western world. And virtually all non-westerners. The majority of Western parents don’t want their children taught that it is possible to change your sex or your gender. They don’t want their children taught that their “authentic self” has nothing to do with their bodies. And if they are Christians they know, or at least they ought to know, that our bodies are gifts from God as mediated through our parents and not something chosen by us. But something lovingly given to us.

This majority will rightly oppose any real physical violence against those who self-identify as Queer or Trans or whatever the + means. They will oppose any verbal or physical abuse directed toward all people.

But they can not affirm what they believe is a Big Lie.

They can’t affirm the mutilation of children’s bodies.

They won’t do that. And they will not be silenced.


Watch the video below about the criminalization of pronoun usage & misgendering. I’ve provided minute:second markers to help.

Notable sections in the video

(6:20). “One of the basic rules of safeguarding (our children) and something we saw with the Catholic Church….” Please pay close attention to the “sacred class, a class that cannot be questioned” statement.

(11:46). “People need to start getting angry, because these are fundamental human rights we are letting slip away. Our police appear to be out of control.”

(12:29). “I was piqued, I became an activist after what the NSPCC (U.K. children’s charity) did back in 2019, when an employee of theirs dressed in some sort of rubber fetish gear masturbated at work, filmed it and provided a link to the video on his LinkedIn profile. And various people raised concern that this was happening in the offices of a children’s charity. In defense of their employee the NSPCC tweeted ‘anyone who comes at us with this homophobic nonsense we will report you.'”

(14:35). Comments about misgendering. Which can get you arrested these days in the U.K. and other Western countries.

TERMS

  • Stonewall = LGBTQ+ rights organization in U.K.
  • Self-ID = Simply say you are a preferred gender and you will be treated as such. “A slight of hand that swaps sex for gender.” (see 1:23 of video for details)
  • Misgendering = referring to someone with the wrong preferred pronoun
  • Girlguides = U.K. girl’s organization similar to Girl Scouts in U.S.

+++

Is this the world we want to live in? We better come up with some answers quick. Things are moving swiftly. 

+++

Love Refuses To Affirm Confusion

Biden Admin’s War On “Conversion Therapy”

Important article by Kat Rosenfield on the distinction between yesterday’s Conversion Therapy and today’s definition. Verbal sands are shifting. Entire linguistic territories are being appropriated.

A few grab graphs:

Eight years after Time magazine declared that we are living through a transgender tipping point, there’s a growing sense of unease in the US, that we might have tipped too far, too fast. The momentum of the movement has given way to unanswered questions and nagging doubts: about the long-term side effects of using puberty blockers off-label, about the revelation that patients who begin to transition as children are likely to experience infertility or sexual dysfunction, about the testimony of regretful transitioners who say they were rushed by a gung-ho medical establishment into lives, and bodies, that they didn’t really want.
Unlike in Britain, stories like this, horrifying to the average person, do not appear to have breached the consciousness of the American government. The Biden White House has enthusiastically taken up the cause of not just ensuring access to medical transition for children who identify as trans, but taking other treatment options off the table. Last week, the White House announced that Biden will sign an executive order which takes specific aim at “so-called ‘conversion therapy’ — a discredited and dangerous practice that seeks to suppress or change the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBTQI+ people”.
Critics have already noted the error in lumping in conversion therapy practices in relation to sexual orientation — which were ineffective at best and barbaric at worst — with the type of therapy that aims to help patients find a measure of peace with the bodies they have; such concerns have already led to the exclusion of transgender people from a government ban on conversion therapy in England and Wales. In the US, it is not yet clear whether a doctor with a patient who presented with gender dysphoria and an eating disorder, for instance, would be guilty of practising “conversion therapy” if he tried to address the patient’s mental health issues before opening the door to puberty blockers, hormones, and gender reassignment surgery.

It’s not the job of a doctor to affirm your identity

Full Article Here [Standard link disclaimer1Links from this blog to online resources don’t necessarily mean I support everything found there. But as adults we should embrace viewpoint diversity. And make alliances where we can.].

Relevant previous posts….

I repeat what I said in an earlier post. Who is the Conversion Therapist?

Is it the one who is trying to help a person align their thoughts and feelings with the body they were given at birth or the professional who disregards the body and proposes irreversible radical surgeries combined with life-long hormone treatments in hopes of aligning the outer body with a patient’s inner desires?

Full post:

What about Christian therapists or counselors? Will they be allowed to continue to practice in the U.S. with a state approved medical license? Will the Christian Worldview and its anthropology be respected by licensing associations?

+++

Drawing by T. Cheesman, May 1816
(CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license
Courtesy of the British Museum

Love Refuses to Affirm Confusion

Yeshiva U. Sued By LGBTQ+ Student Organization

Today I’m on the religious liberty/persecution beat.

The New York County Supreme Court has ruled that Yeshiva University in Manhattan must allow a LGBTQ student club on campus. The court cited the school’s status as “a non-religious organization.”

Yep. Sure did.

However a brief look at their web-site says otherwise.

Yeshiva is a private Modern Orthodox Jewish University. But, according to this court, because Yeshiva is a “place or provider of public accommodation” it has violated the New York City Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations in the city.

It must allow student clubs, organization on campus even if those clubs and organizations have views, beliefs, or practices that are diametrically opposed to Orthodox Jewish teaching.

“Any ruling that Yeshiva is not religious is obviously wrong,” said Hanan Eisenman, a university spokesman, in a statement. “As our name indicates, Yeshiva University was founded to instill Torah values in its students while providing a stellar education, allowing them to live with religious conviction as noble citizens and committed Jews.”

The court’s decision, he said, “violates the religious liberty upon which this country was founded” and “permits courts to interfere in the internal affairs of religious schools, hospitals and other charitable organizations.” (While many non-Orthodox Jewish congregations are supportive of L.G.B.T.Q. rights, Orthodox leaders tend to interpret the Torah as promoting more traditional ideas of gender and sexuality.)

Plaintiffs (Club) seek an order restraining the defendants (School) from continuing their refusal to officially recognize the YU Pride Alliance as a student organization because of the members sexual orientation or gender and/or YU Pride Alliance's status, mission, and/or activities on behalf of LGBTQ students.  Plaintiffs further seek an order granting YU Pride Alliance "the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of Yeshiva University, because of the actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender of the YU Pride Alliance's members, and/or the YU Pride Alliance's status, mission and/or activities on behalf of LGBTQ students."  [emphasis added]

Source

Approximately 80% of its 6400 undergraduates live on campus. This ruling would allow members of YU Pride Alliance to live on campus with a status based on that member’s “perceived…gender.” Pride Alliance Members possessing anatomically ‘male members’ but who identify as female will be allowed to live in female dormitory space. Yeshiva would need to provide full and equal accommodations to any biologically male student who self-identifies as a female or woman.

Why? Judge Lynn Kotler asserted that Yeshiva’s educational purpose took precedence over its religious purpose.

“Yeshiva is a university which provides educational instruction, first and foremost. Yeshiva’s religious character evidenced by required religious studies, observation of Orthodox Jewish law, students’ participation in religious services, etc. are all secondary to Yeshiva’s primary purpose,” Kotler ruled.

Source:  New York County Clerk 06/24/2022

The school’s Religious Liberty constitutional claims were denied. The school is appealing.



A senior at Yeshiva, Natan Ehrenreich, writing in a June 20 National Review piece disputed Judge Kotler’s primary/secondary purpose argument:

It is immediately apparent from the moment one steps foot on campus that YU is a 'religious corporation.'  Pictures of rabbis are plastered on every wall and elevator door.  Study halls are filled with eager men and women who spend many hours each day probing the depths of the Bible and Talmud.  Walk into any YU building at around 8:00am and you'll find at least ten men gathered together to pray, donning their tefillin (ritual phylacteries) as God commanded.  These men are religious.  Their institution is religious.

Similar “place or provider of public accommodation” laws are changing around the country with “perceived gender” or “gender identity” language being added to these statutes.

Religious Liberty claims will be tested.

Religious Schools, Hospitals, Charitable Organizations, Churches. etc., in certain jurisdictions had better get their legal team together. Claims based on religious autonomy, the Free Exercise Clause, the Free Speech Clause and the Assembly Clause of the U.S. Constitution will be adjudicated.

This case probably ends up in the U.S. Supreme Court.

+++