The infamous William “Will” Thomas, who now pretends to be a woman and goes by the name “Lia,” has had a long-time goal of swimming in the Olympics—a goal thwarted by the fact that he is not fast enough. A little thing like insufficient speed, however, is no obstacle for a man who thinks he can become a woman by wishing really hard. Superstitions die hard, especially in a science-denying culture that worships the self and believes fentanyl use is “empowerment.” So, Thomas soldiers on wearing womanface and a woman’s speedo covering his man parts, hoping to make Olympic trials in 2024.

In an interview with Good Morning America, Thomas said,

I knew there would be scrutiny against me if I competed as a woman. … but I also knew I don’t need anyone’s permission to be myself.

Thomas’s self is male, so taking estrogen and cross-dressing constitute a denial of himself.

Thomas is not seeking permission to be himself. He’s demanding to swim on a women’s team when he’s a man. Objecting to a man swimming on the women’s team is not a denial of permission to be himself. It is a denial of his demand that everyone play along with his desire to masquerade as a woman.

When asked about his change in rankings after he began swimming on the women’s team, Thomas responded that swimming success didn’t factor into his decision. All that he sought was to be his “authentic self”:

The biggest change for me is I’m happy. … Trans people don’t transition for athletics. We transition to be happy and authentic and our true selves. 

All that matters to Thomas are his feelings—not the feelings of female teammates or competitors who too have trained their whole lives only to see hopes and dreams destroyed because Thomas wishes he were a woman.

It is widely reported that Thomas—a man with all his man parts—undressed in women’s locker rooms. Many women strongly feel that as women, they should not and do not want to undress in the presence of male peers. For some of these women, those feelings derive from their faith. Thomas, therefore, denied them permission to be their authentic selves. He made them unhappy.

Well, finally the World Swimming Coaches Association (WSCA) has found some sanity and courage in a dusty corner of a chlorine-choked locker room and tossed another obstacle in the lane of Will Thomas.

On May 13, 2022, the WSCA issued its position statement on “transgender” swimmers, that is, on swimmers who pretend to be the sex they are not and never can be. The statement, unfortunately infused with “trans”-cultic language, reads in part,

[T]he inclusion of transgender people into female sport cannot be balanced with fairness due to the retained differences in strength, stamina and physique that are present when comparing the average female with the average transgender female/non-binary person who was assigned male at birth (whether with or without the involvement of testosterone suppression). This is the primary factor to be considered in an endeavour to balance fairness with inclusion.

A “transgender female” is a male. Non-binary persons don’t exist.  And no one is “assigned” either a sex, or a gender, or a gender identity at birth. But at least the WSCA acknowledges that men and women are different, and those differences matter when it comes to sports.

The WSCA offers a solution:

One … solution is to create a Trans Division. The Trans Females [i.e., men or female impersonators] will race each other. The Trans Males [i.e., females or male impersonators] will race each other. There is an argument that the Trans Males have been completely lost in this debate because they are uncompetitive in our current structure. This would also allow those of indeterminate gender to be factored into such a solution.

This solution would enable Thomas to be his “authentic” self: a “trans” person.

Evidently, the WSCA is not up to date on current Newspeak. “Gender” refers to the aggregate of behaviors, conventions, roles, and expectations associated with sex of male or female. As such, there is no such thing as a person possessing an “indeterminate gender.”

Perhaps the WSCA was using “gender” in the old-fashioned way, as a synonym for biological sex. If so, neither Will Thomas nor any other “trans”-identifying swimmer has an “indeterminate gender.” Smith has a definite “gender,” and it’s male.

Like other supporters of the sexual integration of sports who grasp at any defense they can concoct, Thomas trots out the tired and patently silly claim that since there is physical diversity among women athletes, women’s sports should include men:

I’m not a medical expert, but there is a lot of variation among cis female athletes or cis women who are very tall and very muscular and have more testosterone than other cis women. Should that then disqualify them?

Well then, why should women’s sports be limited to women? Why should only men who pretend to be women be allowed to participate in women’s sports?

If the fact that some women have more testosterone than others justifies allowing men who pretend to be women to participate in women’s sports, why not let men who don’t pretend to be women participate in women’s sports? Thomas can’t say, “Well, they’re not women,” because he’s not a woman either. And he can’t say, “Well, they’re not transgender” because that would constitute discrimination based on “gender identity.”

Leftists claim that anti-discrimination policies and commitments to equality demand that men who pretend to be women be treated exactly like women. Such a claim is nonsense. If commitments to anti-discrimination were intended to prohibit all distinctions based on both sex and “gender identity,” then there should be no sex-segregated activities for anyone anywhere.

If sports cannot take into account either sex or “gender identity,” then there should be no single sex sports at all. If swim teams allow Will Thomas to swim on the women’s team, then they should allow Michal Phelps to as well. Allowing Thomas to swim on the women’s team while prohibiting Phelps would constitute discrimination based on “gender identity,” and as Thomas believes, we can’t have that.

With regard to equality: commitments to equality entail treating like things alike. Equality does not entail or require treating unlike things alike. Will Thomas is a thing unlike those things called women. The fundamental distinction in sports is not height, muscle mass, and hormone levels. The fundamental distinction is biological sex, which shapes average biological differences. Sure, the fastest female swimmer may be faster than the slowest male swimmer. But the fastest males will always be faster than the fastest women.

We ignore “trans”-cultic beliefs and practices at our own peril. Left unopposed, they threaten our First Amendment speech rights and religions liberty. They threaten the right of parents to raise their children in accordance with truth. They threaten the privacy of all Americans in spaces in which men and women engage in personal acts, like going to the bathroom, undressing, and tending to menstrual needs–which only women do. They threaten women’s sports. And they threaten the safety of girls and women.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Finally-a-Sports-Association-Commits-to-Fairness.mp3

If you ever doubted that we wrestle against spiritual forces of evil who call good evil and evil good, then please watch these two videos of brief statements made on the floor of the Illinois House on Wednesday.

First, watch this video of one of Illinois’ finest lawmakers, the always gracious Tom Morrison (R-Palatine), who civilly expressed his views on the injustice of eradicating public recognition of sex differences, including in women’s private spaces and sports.

Then watch this video of Illinois’ worst lawmaker, the sanctimonious, arrogant, and venomous lesbian Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago), who, in response to Morrison, hurled indefensible lies at him, refusing even to use his name.

I urge you to watch these videos because how each Illinois House member spoke is almost as important as what they said. But for your convenience, the transcripts of both statements are set forth below, beginning with Morrison’s. Please read it carefully, so you are able to discern whether Cassidy’s response was justifiable:

For these past several weeks, we’ve been hearing facts about women’s history month, and I’m sure that we’ll hear more facts today and this week. When we hear those words, we think about our own mothers, wives, daughters, other notable women throughout history. We objectively know what a woman is, but it’s become increasingly common now to pretend that we don’t know. This is becoming George Orwell’s 1984. It’s Newspeak. It’s gaslighting. It’s activists pounding the table to declare that two plus two equals five. And that does not make it so. Demands that society accept lies as facts in the name of tolerance, inclusion, and justice is anything but. It’s not right, compassionate, or just.

This past weekend, the NCAA allowed a man to become a national champion in women’s swimming. This action was months and years in the making, and it denied that rightful place of honor to actual female athletes, several of whom were denied being named All Americans because their place was taken by University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas. Anyone who thinks that fairness in sports competition is the only issue here is missing the point.

Months ago, teammates of Lia Thomas complained to school officials that Thomas had exposed male nudity repeatedly in their locker room. This should have been a clearcut case of indecency and harassment, but university officials ignored the women’s concerns and discomfort. “Listen to women.” In this case, hardly.

Parents in Los Alamitos, California last month sent their fifth-grade girls on a three-day overnight school science field trip. After the weekend concluded, the girls told their parents that three male counselors who identify as non-binary shared those cabin quarters with the girls for each of the nights. Schools in Illinois already have similar policies. And most parents don’t even know, nor will they be told by school officials, less they be accused of discrimination.

In several states, including California, Washington State, and even here in Illinois, hundreds of male inmates, many of whom are serving time for sexual crimes or other crimes of violence are self-declaring as female or non-binary. And they’re getting a transfer to a women’s-only facility. There’s no requirement for surgery, no requirement for hormone therapy. Even if that did make the policy less bad, any sane person realizes how outrageous this is, but the practice continues and is expanding as more individuals realize what they can get away with.

According to a press report, President Joe Biden is now reportedly planning or considering I should say an executive order modeled after the California law, which would allow federal inmates to self-identify their gender and choose between a male or female prison.

Ideas have consequences. It is a minority of vocal activists who continue to push this ideology on all levels of society, including to young school children. It’s an ideology that is at war with reality, and we must stop blindly going along.

We can and should be kind to individuals who suffer from gender dysphoria, but we can do so without completely and irrationally upending society, which is already happening at lightning speed. If we really believe in the protection of women and women’s rights, we must acknowledge the harms being done and bring a stop to this, including the silence and passive acceptance about what’s really going on.

I imagine that here in this body, and perhaps beyond this chamber, there will be some who will try to condemn me and my words, but I’d like to close with these words by columnist Selwyn Duke: “The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.”

Thank you.

Now read Cassidy’s statement:

Last week, my constituent Elise Malary was pulled out of Lake Michigan. Elise was a shining example of what we want people to do and be in our community. She was part of our community on the North Side. She was dedicated to uplifting the people that she lived and worked with every day. She is one of too many black trans women whose lives mean nothing to the man on the other side of this room. She is one of many transgendered youth who are at increased risk of suicide because of the actions of people like the man that just spoke.

We are watching around the country as right-wing politicians take aim at trans youth and their families picking on the least of these. I’ve watched for years as my colleague has tormented trans youth in his community. And the brave young woman who stood up to that behavior is now my constituent as well. And to every trans youth out there listening,  to every parent who loves and affirms their children as God gave them to them, that’s not happening here in Illinois.

We will not follow in the footsteps of states that are tormenting these families and driving them away. We will embrace our youth. We will protect our youth and we will work together to solve the epidemic of murders and suicides among trans women in our community because we actually love and care for people as God made them. I don’t want to hear any more hate speech on this floor, not from anyone. And if we can only do one thing to honor Elise Malary’s memory, it’s to do that. Hate speech does not belong on this floor, not now, not ever.

For those who don’t know, “Elise” Malary, was a 31-year-old man who identified as a woman. He was not—as Cassidy implied—a “youth.” His age doesn’t make his death less tragic. Rather, his age reveals how misleading and manipulative Cassidy is.

To summarize, Morrison believes it is unjust for women to lose sports awards and records to biological men. He believes it is unjust for adult men to room with young girls. And he believes it is unjust for female prisoners to be housed with male criminals.

So too do feminists from the other side of the political aisle, including the Women’s Liberation Front, Naomi Wolf, Kara Dansky, the Women’s Declaration International, and J.K. Rowling. In Cassidy’s view, are all these left-leaning feminists—including many lesbians—guilty of hate speech for expressing their belief that sex-based rights exist and that denial of them is unjust? Does defending the sex-based rights of girls and women constitute the tormenting of gender-dysphoric boys in Cassidy’s distorted view?

I have seen and heard a lot of repugnant things spewed by the unscrupulous demagogue Cassidy, but nothing as repugnant as her exploitation of a tragic death to smear of one of Illinois’ finest public servants. In her vitriolic diatribe, she trembled with unrighteous rage as she falsely accuses Morrison of not caring about the death of a “black trans youth.” What is her evidence for this allegation?

What evidence did Cassidy provide for her malignant claim that Morrison doesn’t care about the deaths of “trans”-identifying youth or that his words about the reality and meaning of objective, immutable biological sex causes the suicide of “trans”-identifying youth?

What is Cassidy’s evidence that Morrison hates and “torments” trans people? What is her evidence that Morrison (or the millions of men and women who share his beliefs on gender dysphoria) hates those who identify as “trans”? Does Cassidy hate everyone who believes differently than she does on gender, sex, and “sexual orientation”? If so, then she must hate a huge swath of people, including many Catholics, Protestants, Eastern Orthodox, Orthodox Jews, and Muslims.

What is her evidence that God “made” gender dysphoria? Did God make Minor Attraction? Zoophilia? Genetic Sexual Attraction? Did God make body dysmorphia? Did God make schizophrenia? Did God make cleft palate or spinal bifida? Or does God make humans in a world corrupted by the fall that results in disordered bodies, minds, and hearts?

In Cassidy’s view, does “loving and caring for others just the way God made them” include loving and caring for Christians just the way God made them? Does such love demand she affirm all their desires, beliefs, and actions? Does caring for and loving pedophiles or hebephiles require affirming their feelings and identities?

Is Cassidy aware that many in the medical and mental health communities believe that gender dysphoria and “trans”-identification may be symptoms—like depression and anxiety—of underlying causes, including autism, trauma, abuse, and psychosocial experiences?

Is she aware that hospitals in Sweden and the UK have stopped providing hormonal “treatment” to minors? Are they hateful? Should they be prohibited from speaking? While children and teens with gender dysphoria need compassion and treatment, the disputed question is what kind of treatment is best. Disagreeing with Cassidy on the best path forward does not constitute hatred of gender-dysphoric youth.

Cassidy concludes with an astonishing display of arrogance. Cassidy arrogates to herself the right to define “hate speech” and then arrogates to herself the right to ban it from the House floor? Unbelievable hubris.

Word to Cassidy, Christians think her assumptions about gender, sex, and “sexual orientation” are false and destructive. Many Christians feel uncomfortable and even marginalized by what they view as her hate speech and her attempts to silence dissent. They find her words as intolerant and bigoted as she finds the words of Rep. Morrison.

Why did no Republicans respond to Cassidy’s intemperate, uncivil, indefensible statement? Are there no Republicans with the integrity and courage to speak publicly as Morrison did on this issue of profound importance? Are there no Republicans willing to call for Cassidy to be censured?

Republicans who said nothing following Cassidy’s calumny should be ashamed.

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Kelly-Cassidy-Hits-New-Ethical-Low.mp3

In the past three days, Twitter has suspended the accounts of the well-known satirical website Babylon Bee and of Division I swimmer Reka Gyorgy. What Gyorgy and Babylon Bee share in common is a willingness to criticize the alchemical superstitions of the “trans” cult.

Babylon Bee mocked USA Today for giving the Woman of the Year award to assistant secretary of health at the Department of Health and Human Services, Dr. Richard Leland Levine, alias “Rachel” Levine, who is a man. In response to USA Today’s insulting award, Babylon Bee tweeted that it had awarded Levine its Man of the Year award. Twitter suspended Babylon Bee’s account for alleged “hateful conduct,” a suspension that will be lifted only when Babylon Bee deletes the tweet.

And the left claims they hate censorship.

Former Olympic swimmer and current Virginia Tech swimmer, Reka Gyorgy sent a letter to the NCAA and tweeted about the injustice of having to compete against a biological male—also known as a man—which cost Gyorgy a chance to swim the 500 freestyle in the NCAA finals. Gyorgy tweeted,

My finals spot was stolen by Lia Thomas, who is a biological male. Until we all refuse to compete nothing will change. Thanks for all the support retweets and follows. I won’t stop fighting.

Christian obligations

Christians should stand publicly with those who are leading the way on this transgressive nonsense, like Reka Gyorgy, Babylon Bee, and this father and mother of a female NCAA swimmer:

Princeton University law professor Robert P. George recently urged those who reject the assumptions on which the “trans” ideology is built to live with integrity:

When you’re pressed to state or list your pronouns, you’re being asked to sign up for a practice with certain ideological presuppositions. It is not, and cannot be, a simple matter of politesse. If you believe in the ideology, and don’t mind being pressed to express your loyalty to its tenets, then, by all means, be my guest. But if you don’t believe it, or if you believe it but object as a matter of principle to being pressured to make public affirmations of beliefs, then stand by your principles and don’t sign onto the practice. The key things, either way, are to recognize what’s going on and have the integrity—and courage—to stick to your principles.

If theologically orthodox Christians believe their beliefs are true, then they should act like it.

Christian failures

The courage of these parents raises the question, why aren’t all Christian parents of high school and collegiate athletes saying publicly what these parents said?

There are two reasons that account for the refusal of so many Christians to speak truth. First, many Christians refuse to stand for truth in the public square unless they are guaranteed that doing so will be cost-free. But that is not what Christ promises those who follow him. He promises that the Christian walk will be costly. He promises that Christians will be mocked and hated just as he was.

While Christians claim to admire men and women who have stood steadfastly and suffered grievously for the faith even to the point of martyrdom, many Christians teach their children by word and deed to flee from even the mildest form of persecution. Say and do nothing that will tarnish a reputation, cost a job promotion, or lose a friend.

According to the leftist, “whose truth?” crowd, there is no objective truth—oh, except every moral belief they hold. THOSE beliefs—the source of which is their reservoir of deep feelings—are absolute, objective, transcendent, eternal moral truths, disagreement with which leftists believe should cost you your reputation, your ability to earn a living, and friendships.

In a sermon series on Romans and preached over fifty years ago, Pastor Martyn Lloyd-Jones identified the second reason for Christian silence in the face of evil, a problem that has only grown since he preached about it:

Christian people are mistaking natural qualities, niceness, a cultural veneer or politeness, for true Christian grace. … How often today is affability mistaken for saintliness! “What a gracious man he is,” they say. What they really mean is this: he never criticizes, and he agrees with everybody and everything. I know of nothing more dangerous than that. … Affability is not saintliness. … We are now judging only by our own subjective feelings, by our impressions and reactions. Is there anything so dangerous?

Real love, as opposed to some saccharine, ever-affirming substitute—requires first knowing what is true.

The danger of judging only by our own subjective feelings is nowhere more obvious than in the “trans” cult. “Trans”-activists in thrall to the delusional and dangerous idea that authentic identity is constituted solely by each person’s subjective feelings are destroying lives and necessary institutions and conventions.

Will Thomas, alias “Lia,” has likely been convinced by the “trans” cult that what he’s doing is brave and important. He’s likely been convinced that he will go down in history as a much beloved hero—the Rosa Parks of the “trans rights” movement. Someone should tell Thomas that “trans” cultists don’t care about him. They don’t care about anyone or anything other than their narcissistic, solipsistic, perverse desires.

They don’t care that Thomas will lose most of his swimming buddies because men know that he is stealing places and records from women.

“Trans”-cultists don’t care about the sad life Thomas will lead going forward.

They don’t care about the young women who will not want to date a cross-dressing man.

They don’t care about all the young women who after spending a decade swimming four hours a day all year long, had this year of collegiate swimming ruined.

They don’t care about the feelings of all the women whose locker rooms were invaded by a man who openly undressed in front of them this swim season.

And “trans”-cultists certainly don’t care about Will Thomas’ eternal life.

While “authenticity” for Thomas and Levine centers on their disordered subjective desires and their rejection of material reality, for other people authenticity centers on acceptance of biological reality and biblical truth—including the importance of not bearing false witness. For those people, denying God’s creation of males and females and bearing false witness by using false pronouns are acts of rebellion against God. For those people, such dishonorable acts are profoundly harmful and unloving acts.

Those who claim to revere diversity, equity, inclusivity, tolerance, freedom, and authenticity should be first in line to defend the right of conservative Christians to live authentically Christian lives.

The “trans”-gender house is built on a sandy foundation of faulty assumptions, delusions, biased pseudoscience, and bald-faced lies, all of which are propped up by buckets of ducats from the likes of the Pritzker family, the Stryker family, Tim Gill, and “Martine” Rothblatt and by the suppression of speech. It’s an ugly evil project that is destroying bodies, minds, souls, families, churches, schools, the practice of medicine, institutions related to lawmaking, speech rights, and religious liberty. Who could possibly be behind a project of such scope and enormity?

Listen to this article read by Laurie:

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Gender-Pretenders-Destroying-Authenticity-and-Liberty-94.mp3

One of my colleagues has been combating LGBTQ extremism for several decades, working tirelessly for almost no money, and with constant vilification as his main reward. I asked him one day on the air, “Why don’t you just stop?” He answered, “I’ll stop when they stop.”

That is exactly how I feel.

When I no longer have to read headlines like this, I’ll stop: “‘We’re uncomfortable in our own locker room.’ Lia Thomas’ UPenn [female] teammate tells how the trans swimmer doesn’t always cover up her male genitals when changing and their concerns go ignored by their coach.”

Seriously? His male genitals? What kind of madness is this?

And the fact that a biological male with male plumbing (who, by the way, is attracted to females), shares a locker room with women – where they disrobe and shower – is absolute insanity, not to mention terribly unfair. In fact, it is outright abusive.

As one of the female swimmers said (anonymously), “‘It’s definitely awkward because Lia still has male body parts and is still attracted to women.’

“The swimmer said that multiple teammates have raised their concerns with their coach, trying to get Thomas ousted from the female locker room,” but all to no avail.

How can anyone possibly defend this? And does anyone want their daughter exposed (literally) to something like this? This is madness.

As for Will “Lia” Thomas competing against other girls, even Bruce “Caitlyn” Jenner has weighed in, calling out the unfairness of it and saying, “We must protect women’s sports.”

So, as long as the madness continues, I’ll continue to shout out as well. How can I (or we) do anything less?

And what about headlines like this? How can we stay silent when this is happening on our watch?

“EXCLUSIVE: ‘They created a double life for my daughter’: Parents of girl, 12, who tried to hang herself twice at school after ‘months of secret meetings about her gender identity’ slam district staff who ‘went behind their backs’ and ‘likens it to sex offenders who take advantage of a child and try to keep things in secret’.”

What an outrage.

Yet similar things happen in schools across America every day, as the teachers and administrators and counselors encourage kids in their gender identity and same-sex attractions, to the complete exclusion of the parents.

In the words of the girl’s father, Wendell Perez, “We’re talking about the staff from school this information and developing a plan of several sessions with my daughter, for months, talking about issues that are related and that the parents need to be involved. They basically created a double life for my daughter.”

He added, “If we allow this to happen, we are admitting that the sex offenders – the models operating of the sex offenders – is correct, because that is actually what they do. They take advantage of a child, they try to keep things in secret and make them do things that they are not supposed to do.”

He was hardly exaggerating.

A mother and father in another country with a “progressive” school system were shocked when they met with their daughter’s teachers at school. She was a young teen.

In previous months, for the first time in her life and quite out of the blue, she had begun to identify as a male, wanting to go by a new name. But when the parents probed more deeply, they learned that the school had been encouraging her in this direction.

When they met with her teachers, they were shocked and outraged to learn that the school had planned to announce their daughter’s new male identity and name the very next day – without the parents having the slightest hint this was going on.

How can this be tolerated? And who on earth gave these teachers and administrators and counselors these kinds of rights?

As for those who struggle with gender identity confusion, I do not refer to their struggle as transanity, as I have stated many times. I have compassion for them in their struggles and cannot imagine the pain and agony they have lived with.

That’s also why I advocate strongly that we do our best to help them from the inside out, finding better solutions than puberty blockers for children and sex-change surgery and then more hormones for life for adults.

But as long as the casualties mount. As long as children’s lives are being destroyed. As long as girls are being exposed to male genitalia in their locker rooms (and sexually assaulted in their bathrooms). As long as female athletes are forced to compete with males.