Our families are under spiritual attack. The targets? Youth and young adults. Not only is it more challenging nowadays to find positive role models to foster a healthy self-image for young people today, it is increasingly difficult to decipher between what is truth and falsehood.
How did we get here? Where do you go from here? Is there hope?
Catholic author and speaker Jason Evert provides clarity in his new book Male, Female, Other?, which addresses the current controversy surrounding gender with both insight and charity. The book’s structure is akin to Saint Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae: Evert presents a question, objections to it, responses to the objections, claims for its accuracy, and further proof—scientific, spiritual, psychological—that shines divine light on a topic weighed down by tension, confusion, and untruth.
In Evert’s words, “If you care about someone who identifies as trans and don’t know how to respond, or you experience gender dysphoria and wonder what God’s plan is for you, you’ll find the answers inside.”
Evert recently spoke with CWR about his book, his motivations for writing it, and his counsel for young people and their families who are searching for answers.
CWR: There are a number of existing books and resources for those who identify as transgender. What motivated you to write your book Male, Female, Other?
Jason Evert: In my travels to speak at parishes and schools around the world, I encountered many parents, educators, and clergy who felt blindsided by the number of young people wrestling with this question of gender and who felt that they lacked adequate resources to respond to the topic with charity and clarity.
I also met many young people experiencing gender dysphoria who didn’t feel that there was space for them in the Church to explore their questions about identity. So, I wanted to create a resource that would fill this niche.
CWR: What are the lies that young people who are struggling with transgenderism today innocently, yet erroneously, believe about themselves?
Evert: The main lie they are told is that they might need to hurt their bodies to be their authentic selves.
A second lie is that if they fail to live up to gender stereotypes, they are somehow disqualified from being that particular sex.
A final lie is that transitioning will provide the relief that they so desperately seek.
In reality, the suicide rate of those who undergo sex reassignment surgeries soars to 19 times higher than the general population within ten years of the procedure.
CWR: Conversely, what would you say are three core truths that young people today need to know about themselves?
Evert: One important truth is that their bodies are not meaningless, but meaningful.
A second truth is that the Church loves them, sees them, knows that they did not choose to feel this distress, and will walk with them in love through this difficult experience.
A final truth is that although feeling distress about one’s sexual identity is not uncommon, gender dysphoria in children typically resolves 80-95 percent of the time on its own by the end of puberty.
CWR: If you were to have dinner today with a young person who says they are “transgender”, what words of advice would you give?
Evert: As much as I might be tempted to lead in with advice, I think the most important posture we ought to take is one of listening.
Granted, they deserve the truth, and they need to hear it. But I think it’s equally important for them to know that the Church is listening. They’re not necessarily looking for someone who has all the answers, but for someone who will walk with them in love to find the truth.
So, it’s not primarily about winning a debate by showing them evidence from chromosomes. It’s more about listening to gender dysphoria with reverent curiosity, discovering how these deep aches can often reveal the path toward healing their unmet needs and sometimes trauma.
CWR: For families who are struggling with one or more children who suffer from gender dysphoria, what first step would you advise them to take?
Evert: If your child reveals to you that he or she is struggling with this, thank them for sharing this with you, and explain how you understand that it must have been frightening to reveal that. Then, without interrogating them, ask them thoughtful questions that help you (and them) better understand what they’re feeling.
Don’t get hung up over strange words like “non-binary,” but invite them to explain what they mean by those words. Oftentimes, this new language offers them a vocabulary that resonates with their lived experience. If we simply try to debunk their faulty anthropology, they’ll pull away and assume we don’t understand them.
But, if we can listen well, they will care more about what we have to say. Then, gently guide them toward the truth using the resources at our website.
CWR: Given the current National Eucharistic Revival ongoing in our country, do you see a connection between the power of the Eucharist and its effect on those who suffer from gender dysphoria? How can the Eucharist heal?
Evert: The message of the Eucharist is “This is my body, given up for you.” When a person wrestling with gender dysphoria experiences distress over his or her body, but chooses to trust God and walk with him through the healing journey, they live out these very words of the Mass in a profound way.
God alone knows the suffering each person has experienced, and He is the one who always accepts each of us, even when we don’t accept ourselves.
This unconditional love is awaiting each of us in the Eucharist.
CWR: The Eucharist is the “source and summit of the Christian life”. In your role as a husband, father, author, and Catholic speaker, how has the Eucharist transformed your life?
Evert: I began the devotion of going to daily Mass when I was in high school, and have made this a priority in my life ever since then.
Though this, I learned the truth of what Saint John Paul II declared, when he said, “Help us, Jesus, to understand that in order ‘to do’ in your Church, also in the field of the new evangelization that is so urgently needed, we must first learn ‘to be’, that is, to stay with you, in your sweet company, in adoration.” And [in his encyclical on the Eucharist and the Church]: “Were we to disregard the Eucharist, how could we overcome our own deficiency?”
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Will the good people of CWR and other well-meaning Catholics ever learn to stop playing the word games favored by those who push “transgenderism”? Once again, please seriously note the following and join the crusade for truth in speaking and writing:
In writing, always use quotation marks with “transgender,” “trans,” “trannie,” LGB“T”, etc. to signify that they are faux terms since nobody can change their genders. In conversation, be sure to make it clear that the terms are not accepted and won’t be acknowledged for the same reason. Don’t ever give in on this, even for so-called politeness reasons. Apply the same approach to the despicable, anti-freedom-of-speech insistence that people must deny objective reality and refer to other people by their “chosen pronouns” that do not coincide with their biological/gender realities.
Also, nobody can “transition from one sex to the other sex.” Nobody has ever “transitioned from one sex to the other sex,” nor is anybody in the process of “transitioning from one sex to the other sex.” Such is completely impossible, so all declarations proclaiming that this absurdity is real must also be vigorously resisted by making it crystal clear that the belief is merely an irrational fantasy that also attacks objective reality and God’s creative order. And, because nobody can “transition from one sex to the other sex,” it is also flat out stupid to wrongly praise some people for allegedly “de-transitioning from one sex back to their original sex” as if they had indeed “first transitioned from one sex to the other sex” and have subsequently worked at reducing or eliminating any mutilation and so on from their ill-conceived efforts to change what cannot be changed. These people can be praised and encouraged for recognizing the error of their initial efforts to try to change what cannot be changed, and also their efforts to try to undo any mutilation imposed on their bodies, but in no way should this ever be looked upon rationally as actually “de-transitioning from one sex back to their original sex,” which is, again, simply impossible.
The roots of the term gender come from the Latin genus, which means kind, or kind of thing. As such, one objective and legitimate application of the term ‘gender’ is the classification (kind of thing) of organisms based on their biological sex. This being so, everyone is a particular and non-changeable gender or kind of thing, which is either the biological male gender or the biological female gender.
Moreover, ever since the 12th century, the word ‘gender’ has been properly recognized and used as a synonym for the biological sexes, and this understanding/usage was made even stronger in the 15th century. As such, this rightful understanding of gender must not be surrendered to the “transgender” movement since they and their fellow travelers use their preferred yet still false definition of gender as a social construct and/or feelings a person has that may or may not coincide with their biological sex/gender to further promote their despicable agenda. It is also the case that the word ‘gender’ has been used as a grammatical term or category, BUT it is not limited to this usage, and so this false approach that wrongly separates biological sex from gender must also be avoided. We must always insist that gender and biological sex are synonymous to further demonstrate the folly of the “transgender” movement that proudly proclaims biological sex and gender are different.
Bottom Line: Male sex = Male gender. Female sex = Female Gender.
Many years ago the late, great Reverend William Smith frequently advised that “all social engineering is preceded by verbal engineering.” The more we give in to the use of such malevolent and false terminology used by “transgender” advocates (no matter how many doctors, psychologists, church leaders, and so on believe otherwise), the more we help to normalize the abuse of properly recognizing God’s creative order of male and female.
See https://www.etymonline.com/word/gender#etymonline_v_1349
By the Bye:
People who claim that they are “transgender,” and that they “transitioned” tell the rest of us ad nauseum that gender is not really or ultimately about biological sex, and the fact that gender has been rightly used as basically a synonym or meaning virtually the same thing as biological sex should no longer be done.
But if they really believe that their claims are true, then why do the vast majority of these mentally ill people go out of their ways (includes physically mutilating themselves in one form or another) to appear more like the biological sex that they insist has nothing to do with their declarations to be the opposite gender than what their biological sex actually reveals?
Will the good people of CWR and other well-meaning Catholics ever learn to stop playing the word games favored by those who push “transgenderism”? Once again, please seriously note the following and join the crusade for truth in speaking and writing:
In writing, always use quotation marks with “transgender,” “trans,” “trannie,” LGB“T”, etc. to signify that they are faux terms since nobody can change their genders. In conversation, be sure to make it clear that the terms are not accepted and won’t be acknowledged for the same reason. Don’t ever give in on this, even for so-called politeness reasons. Apply the same approach to the despicable, anti-freedom-of-speech insistence that people must deny objective reality and refer to other people by their “chosen pronouns” that do not coincide with their biological/gender realities.
Also, nobody can “transition from one sex to the other sex.” Nobody has ever “transitioned from one sex to the other sex,” nor is anybody in the process of “transitioning from one sex to the other sex.” Such is completely impossible, so all declarations proclaiming that this absurdity is real must also be vigorously resisted by making it crystal clear that the belief is merely an irrational fantasy that also attacks objective reality and God’s creative order. And, because nobody can “transition from one sex to the other sex,” it is also flat out stupid to wrongly praise some people for allegedly “de-transitioning from one sex back to their original sex” as if they had indeed “first transitioned from one sex to the other sex” and have subsequently worked at reducing or eliminating any mutilation and so on from their ill-conceived efforts to change what cannot be changed. These people can be praised and encouraged for recognizing the error of their initial efforts to try to change what cannot be changed, and also their efforts to try to undo any mutilation imposed on their bodies, but in no way should this ever be looked upon rationally as actually “de-transitioning from one sex back to their original sex,” which is, again, simply impossible.
The roots of the term gender come from the Latin genus, which means kind, or kind of thing. As such, one objective and legitimate application of the term ‘gender’ is the classification (kind of thing) of organisms based on their biological sex. This being so, everyone is a particular and non-changeable gender or kind of thing, which is either the biological male gender or the biological female gender.
Moreover, ever since the 12th century, the word ‘gender’ has been properly recognized and used as a synonym for the biological sexes, and this understanding/usage was made even stronger in the 15th century. As such, this rightful understanding of gender must not be surrendered to the “transgender” movement since they and their fellow travelers use their preferred yet still false definition of gender as a social construct and/or feelings a person has that may or may not coincide with their biological sex/gender to further promote their despicable agenda. It is also the case that the word ‘gender’ has been used as a grammatical term or category, BUT it is not limited to this usage, and so this false approach that wrongly separates biological sex from gender must also be avoided. We must always insist that gender and biological sex are synonymous to further demonstrate the folly of the “transgender” movement that proudly proclaims biological sex and gender are different.
Bottom Line: Male sex = Male gender. Female sex = Female Gender.
Many years ago the late, great Reverend William Smith frequently advised that “all social engineering is preceded by verbal engineering.” The more we give in to the use of such malevolent and false terminology used by “transgender” advocates (no matter how many doctors, psychologists, church leaders, and so on believe otherwise), the more we help to normalize the abuse of properly recognizing God’s creative order of male and female.
See https://www.etymonline.com/word/gender#etymonline_v_1349
By the Bye:
People who claim that they are “transgender,” and that they “transitioned” tell the rest of us ad nauseum that gender is not really or ultimately about biological sex, and the fact that gender has been rightly used as basically a synonym or meaning virtually the same thing as biological sex should no longer be done.
But if they really believe that their claims are true, then why do the vast majority of these mentally ill people go out of their ways (includes physically mutilating themselves in one form or another) to appear more like the biological sex that they insist has nothing to do with their declarations to be the opposite gender than what their biological sex actually reveals?