The following program
discusses sensitive issues
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related to sexuality.
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Parents are cautioned
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this
presentation may be too candid
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for younger audiences.
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Welcome to Intimate Clarity.
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I'm Jason Bradley,
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and I'm here with
Jennifer Jill Schwirzer,
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and she is a licensed
professional counselor.
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And today, we're
going to be discussing
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a very sensitive topic
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but it's a
conversation we need to have.
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Jen, what is transgenderism
and how is it developed?
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Good question.
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And I'm really,
really feeling sensitive
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about answering it
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because I know that
there are people out there
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that are struggling
with transgenderism,
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and I know that there are people
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that love people
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that are struggling
with transgenderism,
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and I know there are
a wide variety of views
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on this issue,
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and I'm going to
try to explain it
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in the most
tactful and loving and yet,
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biblically
grounded way that I can
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and scientifically
rounded way that I can.
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So transgenderism is essentially
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when an individual
identifies themselves
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as the opposite sex.
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So I as a woman
would be transgender
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if I thought I was a man
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or if I intensely
wanted to be a man
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and then also
identified as a man.
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Okay.
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Or you would be transgender
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if you identified
yourself as a woman.
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So let me give a little
history about the diagnosis.
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The previous revision
of the diagnostic manual
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of the American
Psychiatric Association
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called it gender
identity disorder.
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Now the transgender
people didn't really like that
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because they felt that
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it pathologized their condition.
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The diagnosis of homosexuality
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had been taken out of the
diagnostic manual in 1973.
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And the transgender people said,
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"Well, we don't want
to be in there either,
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we don't want our
condition to be pathologized."
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They say, "We're
just one more variant
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on a rainbow of choices"
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and homosexuals
will say the same thing.
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See, that's interesting
to me because like before
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it was identified as a disorder,
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now it's being
taught to kids in school.
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That's right.
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It's being totally
normalized, and I would even say
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a little glorified in some cases
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as something very interesting.
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So now recently
the diagnostic manual
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was revised in 2015.
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And now it's
called gender dysphoria.
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See, the problem with taking it
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completely out of
the diagnostic manual
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is that then transgender people
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would not be able to
get insurance coverage,
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and their
condition in their thinking
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requires them to
have hormone, medication,
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and also to sometimes
have surgery to transition
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and they need insurance coverage
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to be able do that.
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So in order to get
insurance coverage,
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you need a diagnosis.
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So they left it in
the diagnostic manual,
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but it is now
called gender dysphoria.
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So the thing
that is pathological
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is not the fact
that I'm a woman,
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I want to be a
man or you're a man,
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you want to be a woman,
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it's the distress that you
feel that accompanies that,
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that leads to the diagnosis,
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so that enabled them
to stay in the manual,
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get their insurance coverage
and still not be pathologized
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in their thinking.
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So it's weird though that
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every other
type of misperception
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of one's physical self
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is still
considered pathological.
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So some examples of
that would be anorexia,
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and I've been through anorexia.
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And I know when
you are anorexic,
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you think you're fat,
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even though
you're very, very thin,
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even though you're underweight,
you think you're overweight.
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That's pathological.
I've been through that.
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It's a cognitive
distortion, and it's a disorder
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to think that way.
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Another example
is body dysmorphia.
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Body dysmorphia is when a person
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feels extremely self-conscious
about the way they look,
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but who it typically afflicts
is very attractive people
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that think
they're atrociously ugly
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or often it can
afflict those people.
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That's considered pathological
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because your
perception of yourself
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is very far away
from the physical reality.
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Is that kind of along the lines
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of that body
shaming kind of thing?
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Yeah. Okay.
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It kind of
comes along with that.
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There is another
condition that has never made it
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into the diagnostic
manual but it may someday,
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and it's called body
identity integrity disorder.
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And what it is, is individuals
who identify themselves
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as not having
for instance a limb,
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maybe they see themselves
as being without a leg,
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and it will
actually drive that person
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to seek an amputation.
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Now I think...
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Yeah, I know.
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Wait a minute, wait a
minute, wait a minute.
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It's a rare thing,
but it's a real thing.
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So somebody who will think that
they don't have an extremity,
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whether it's an arm
or leg or whatever...
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Right.
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And it'll drive them to
want to get it amputated
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their functioning leg?
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To get their identity,
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their self-perception to line up
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with the physical
reality of who they are.
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Wow.
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And I think possibly the reason
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it's never made it
into the diagnostic manuals
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because the
implications are very clear.
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They're taking off
perfectly healthy appendages
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in the same way people
who transition are taking off
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perfectly healthy organs.
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And so I think that
there's a little bit
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too much
crossover there possibly.
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Yes.
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But let's get some rest
from this distressing stuff
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and let's look at the Bible
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and what it says
about human nature.
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1 Thessalonians 5:23 says,
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"May your spirit, soul, and body
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be preserved complete."
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So you see this wholism,
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it's what I
called biblical wholism.
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Okay.
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The soul does not
exist separate from the body.
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That idea came into Christianity
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through what we
call the great compromise
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about three
centuries after Christ.
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When the church
wanted to include more people
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from paganism and so
it lowered the standards
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in various areas doctrinally
and lifestyle standards
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to get more people
to join the church,
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it's not something
we're totally foreign to.
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And one of the
things that came in,
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one of the heresies that
came in is this creek idea
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that the body and the mind
were separate or dichotomized.
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It's called Greek dualism,
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so the thinking was
that the body is evil,
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the soul has the
spark of the divine,
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and the soul
will continue to live
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throughout eternity
apart from the body.
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Once that got
imported into Christianity,
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then we started to
develop a false doctrine,
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such as the idea
that people go immediately
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to heaven or hell upon death
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or the idea that
there's an ever burning hell.
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If the soul is eternal,
it's got to live for eternity,
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and so it has to go somewhere
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and if it's not
in heaven with God,
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it's got to go
somewhere and so this idea
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of ever burning
hell developed over time.
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That's all the result of
seeing the soul is something
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that can live
apart from the body,
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that's all the result of a loss
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of the biblical
concept of wholism.
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So you can see where
this idea of transgenderism
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would be a fruit of that,
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my soul is something
totally different from my body.
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But biblical teaching
says to anchor our identity
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in who we are physically,
who we are in reality.
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So I mean there are
lots of equivalents of this,
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I'm sure being a young
person, you can identify,
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you wish you were,
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you know, a
famous basketball player,
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or a rock star, or something.
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You know, it's interesting
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because when you're
actually walking in,
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your purpose
like, you're so happy
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and content in that
because it's your purpose
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is what God has given you to do.
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So I'm happy being me
because God is blessed.
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So the million
dollar question is,
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has there been any
science that has shown
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that there is such a
thing as a woman's brain
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in a man's body or vice versa.
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And in fact they have found that
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there are some differences
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in a brain of a
transgender person,
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but this is a
quotation from a study
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that was
published in the journal,
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The New Atlantis and it says,
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"In short, the current
studies on associations
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between brain structure
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and transgender
identity are small,
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methodologically
limited, inconclusive,
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and sometimes contradictory."
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So they're not real strong
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this idea of
differences in brain structure.
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But then it goes on to say,
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"Even if they were more
methodologically reliable,
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they would be
insufficient to demonstrate
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that brain structure is a cause,
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rather than an effect,
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of the
gender-identity behavior, "
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because what happens
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when people
behave a certain way...
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If I as a woman
start behaving like a man,
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it would change my brain.
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So it's impossible to
know whether those changes
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which were not measured
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before I started
to transition is there
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is just not
enough research on it.
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Happened, what came
first, the chicken or the egg,
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you know, the
fact that I thought
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I was transgender,
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was that my brain
different, led me to change
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or the behaviors that I engaged
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in actually changed my brain.
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So we really don't know
yet, we have not identified
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female brain in
male body or vice versa.
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Okay.
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So I want to say this
though, it's very important
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that I say that I am
not denying the problem,
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and I'm not belittling
people that struggle with this,
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I've been through it.
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Not transgenderism,
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but I've been
through cognitive distortion
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where I thought it was
something that I wasn't.
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And I would say, I
still honestly struggle
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with body dysmorphia.
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I'm very self-conscious
about the way that I look,
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and sometimes I do
dysfunctional things
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to cope with that.
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So I'm not putting myself
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on a different
plane than people,
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I think people
with transgenderism are,
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they have a bigger
struggle going on than I do.
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I feel for them, I'm
not denying the problem,
00:10:16.18\00:10:19.08
it happens, it
happens in children,
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it happens in teens,
it happens in adults,
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they believe that
they are the other sex.
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That's a very uncomfortable
and distressing experience.
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I'm not denying the problem,
00:10:31.43\00:10:32.96
what I'm denying is the solution
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because I think
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what's being
put across to people
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is just transition
physically as if shazam,
00:10:37.57\00:10:41.14
you take these
hormones, you get the surgery,
00:10:41.17\00:10:43.94
you're going to
be the opposite sex,
00:10:43.97\00:10:45.31
but you're not
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because you
never change your DNA.
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Yeah, and then you're
introducing the issue,
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it's almost like you're
denying your very existence.
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You know, you're
denying who you actually are.
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You know, so it's
like you're denying
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your very existence
and so it's a confusion,
00:10:58.79\00:11:01.46
a very confusing thing.
00:11:01.49\00:11:03.56
It is. It is.
00:11:03.59\00:11:04.93
And working with people
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that have this kind of confusion
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is a delicate process.
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You know, you can see
how certain things could lead
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into transgender tendencies.
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For instance, if
maybe the boy as a child
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was a little more a feminine
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than your average
rough and tumble boy,
00:11:21.81\00:11:24.25
and he was part
of a family system
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that over
stereotyped male behavior
00:11:25.85\00:11:28.58
and he was told, "Oh, you know,
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you're acting like
a girl, you're just...
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That's the thing that girls do,"
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you know,
because he liked colors,
00:11:33.59\00:11:34.92
and he liked art,
and he liked flowers,
00:11:34.96\00:11:36.76
you know, and he was told
that that wasn't right for him.
00:11:36.79\00:11:38.46
You can see
00:11:38.49\00:11:39.83
where he would
start to identify himself
00:11:39.86\00:11:42.36
as a girl
locked in a boy's body.
00:11:42.40\00:11:44.53
And in fact, I've known people
that have been through that.
00:11:44.57\00:11:47.24
Yeah, so there
are certain things
00:11:47.27\00:11:48.90
that can lead up to it.
00:11:48.94\00:11:50.27
If the individual's parent
00:11:50.31\00:11:52.51
wanted a child of the other sex,
00:11:52.54\00:11:55.98
what's going to
happen internally
00:11:56.01\00:11:58.08
to that child?
00:11:58.11\00:11:59.45
He's going to start to
wish potentially anyway
00:11:59.48\00:12:01.78
that he was the other sex.
00:12:01.82\00:12:03.39
I've heard about that happening.
00:12:03.42\00:12:04.85
I've heard about
parents putting dress on the boy
00:12:04.89\00:12:08.19
or boy clothes on the girl
00:12:08.22\00:12:10.13
because they
wanted another child.
00:12:10.16\00:12:12.96
You know, they're introducing
that confusion to the kid.
00:12:12.99\00:12:16.73
There are a lot of
developmental factors
00:12:16.77\00:12:19.67
that can lead
people down this avenue
00:12:19.70\00:12:22.44
and I think there could
be even biological tendencies
00:12:22.47\00:12:24.97
that would set them up for it,
00:12:25.01\00:12:26.34
although we haven't been able
to identify them clearly yet.
00:12:26.37\00:12:29.61
But there are definitely
a confluence of factors
00:12:29.64\00:12:32.55
that come together
to create the struggles
00:12:32.58\00:12:35.05
that people
individually suffer through
00:12:35.08\00:12:37.82
and I don't want to
minimize those struggles,
00:12:37.85\00:12:39.69
and I don't want
to be little anybody,
00:12:39.72\00:12:41.46
no matter what they choose...
00:12:41.49\00:12:42.86
You know, if you've
chosen to transition,
00:12:42.89\00:12:44.43
if you're
choosing to transition,
00:12:44.46\00:12:45.79
God still loves you.
00:12:45.83\00:12:47.16
He will love you no matter
00:12:47.20\00:12:48.53
what you do for
the rest of your life
00:12:48.56\00:12:50.10
because that's just how God is.
00:12:50.13\00:12:51.97
But I don't know
00:12:52.00\00:12:53.34
that transitioning is a
solution to the problem.
00:12:53.37\00:12:56.10
I believe that this
rush toward transitioning
00:12:56.14\00:12:58.97
is giving people an
easy out of a problem
00:12:59.01\00:13:03.45
that is better
addressed in counseling,
00:13:03.48\00:13:06.11
it's better addressed
in doing the hard work
00:13:06.15\00:13:08.68
of sorting out our motives.
00:13:08.72\00:13:10.95
And of course, the Holy Spirit
00:13:10.99\00:13:12.92
and the presence
of Jesus in your life
00:13:12.95\00:13:14.49
and that security
you get from knowing
00:13:14.52\00:13:16.73
that you're accepted no matter
00:13:16.76\00:13:18.09
what can really help
catalyze that process
00:13:18.13\00:13:21.13
and make it
easier to face who we are
00:13:21.16\00:13:23.47
and also to have hope in
who we can become in Him.
00:13:23.50\00:13:26.43
Amen. Yeah, yeah.
00:13:26.47\00:13:27.90
I mean, again, it
goes back to the fact that
00:13:27.94\00:13:31.07
people can gain the
victory by through Christ,
00:13:31.11\00:13:34.48
you know, people
can gain that victory
00:13:34.51\00:13:36.41
so there's just so
much on this subject.
00:13:36.44\00:13:38.91
So much here, yeah.
00:13:38.95\00:13:40.72
And we're going to have
a couple of other programs
00:13:40.75\00:13:42.68
that address
different facets of it
00:13:42.72\00:13:44.62
because it is too big of a topic
00:13:44.65\00:13:46.09
to cover in 15 minutes.
00:13:46.12\00:13:47.46
Yes, yes.
00:13:47.49\00:13:48.82
But it's a
conversation we need to have.
00:13:48.86\00:13:51.26
Absolutely, I mean,
it's a sensitive topic
00:13:51.29\00:13:53.56
but it's definitely
one that we need to have.
00:13:53.60\00:13:56.67
And I'm so glad that we are here
00:13:56.70\00:13:59.43
having this conversation
00:13:59.47\00:14:00.94
or we had this conversation
because we've got to go
00:14:00.97\00:14:03.47
but if people, if
you want more resources,
00:14:03.51\00:14:08.08
then go to IntimateClarity.tv.
00:14:08.11\00:14:10.51
See you next time.
00:14:10.55\00:14:11.88
God bless.
00:14:11.91\00:14:13.25