(LifeSiteNews) — On this week’s episode of The Van Maren Show, Jonathon sits down with Brandon Showalter of the Christian Post to discuss the current state of the transgender movement and whether or not it has reached its peak.
Showalter begins by addressing a case that is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) dealing with the states’ ability to limit restrictions on the “medicalization of gender” and puberty blockers. The case, dealing with Tennessee’s law banning gender treatments for minors, is expected to be decided in autumn. “I think there are some things that may come back to revisit this court as they consider this, particularly some fundamental questions about what it means to be human,” Showalter tells Jonathon.
The justice who may ultimately decide the case, according to Showalter, is Justice Neil Gorsuch, who previously sided with the progressive justices in the Bostock v. Clayton County ruling, in which Gorsuch argued that “transgender status” was protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, dealing with employment. Another issue, meanwhile, regards whether the other justices will vote differently than expected, with the conservatives ruling in favor of Tennessee’s law and the progressives against.
Turning his attention to the United Kingdom, Showalter says the country is “very much a different animal” than the United States. He believes they have been “ahead of us in terms of pushback for years.” Some of the pushback has had a degree of success, he adds, looking to the influence of author J.K. Rowling, pushback from within the British left, and the closure of the Tavistock clinic.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration said in a statement that it opposes gender surgeries for minors, while documents surfaced in which Richard “Rachel” Levine, assistant secretary of the Health and Human Services, argued against limits in emails to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). Considering the Biden administration’s history of pushing gender surgeries for minors, Showalter does not “believe them for a moment,” looking to how they argued it was “medically necessary,” “science-approved,” “the best care,” and “suicide prevention.”
Looking at the issue in terms of a “turning point,” Showalter is not sure about the statement. Indeed, he says there have been “encouraging developments” in the discussion on gender ideology, and the environment surrounding the issue is undoubtedly not what it was a year ago.
Reflecting on Jonathon’s consideration that we are seeing a “high-water mark” for the transgender movement, Showalter opines that there are currently movements afoot that will help root out gender ideology from certain institutions, while others are so “termite-ridden” that they will have to be left on the wayside. Looking to the lawsuits of detransitioners such as Chloe Cole, Showalter believes that they will help, considering that if medical institutions see a potential liability in gender drugs and surgeries, they might help stop such things. The “entrenchment” of gender ideology, however, is “indeed deep.”
“When we have these activist teachers who are inculcating the minds of the rising generation with this nonsense … I think it’s going to take divine intervention to completely expel this abject wickedness from our culture, because it’s pretty terrible,” admits Showalter.
Meanwhile, “normie liberals,” according to a feminist friend of Showalter, live in a “state of psychological hell” over the issue, as what could have been easily opposed a decade ago has been revealed in its horror. But they supported it all the while, and they must now face the “ugly truth” that their political ideas and candidates facilitated not just “medical atrocities,” but also danger to women in prisons, in sports, and everything else affected by gender ideology.
While many people realize the innate destruction caused by gender ideology, for the “normie liberals” to admit it requires courage, says Showalter. He adds that while any change requires time, he believes God can effect much in a day, even if the “aftershocks and the fallout and the suffering” will need years for recovery.
Looking at how the conversation will continue, Showalter says he would not be surprised if transgender activists blame those opposing gender ideology for the pains suffered by detransitioners, rather than admit to being wrong. Looking at the potential reaction of those who facilitated the “transitioning” of their own children, Showalter looks to Helen Joyce’s analogy of Japanese soldiers refusing to stop fighting after the Second World War.
“We’re living through an age of medical atrocities dressed up as progressive inclusivity,” says Showalter. “Everything is a reversal. It’s amazing that any of us are staying sane, that our minds are … still uncaptured by this ubiquitous nonsense, because it’s everywhere.”
For those opposing gender ideology, however, all that must be done is continue to fight it. If the activists attempt to pin blame on those who are against them, we must continue to fight since “nothing could be further from the truth.” What must happen, Showalter opines, is that those promoting gender ideology need their medical licenses pulled, people need to be imprisoned, and they must be “sued into oblivion.” What was done in the United Kingdom, furthermore, needs books, films, and documentaries made about it.
“We must never forget that this has been one of the most atrocious violations of so many people’s parental rights, women’s rights, and is one of the worst medical and child abuse scandals that the world has ever seen,” Showalter tells Jonathon.
EXCLUSIVE: Roger Stone Believes The Deep State May Assassinate Joe Biden