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In today’s episode, we present thought-provoking sessions from the Pray, Vote, Stand Summit, highlighting critical cultural topics. Engage with the panel featuring detransitioner Walt Heyer and Dr. Jennifer Bowens, as they tackle the complexities of the transgender movement, uncover the deeper issues of trauma, and discuss the importance of addressing these challenges with biblical compassion. Through eye-opening discussions, our speakers provide a comprehensive overview for those seeking to navigate and support vulnerable populations in today’s cultural landscape.
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from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
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Good afternoon and welcome to this special edition of Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heiss, the Senior Vice President here at the Family Research Council and President of FRC Action. So honored to be filling in today for Tony and glad to have you on board with us as well. We hope you all had a very, very Merry Christmas. Well, today we want to bring you some special content from our most recent Pray, Vote, Stand Summit. Now, for those of you who may not be aware, the Pray, Vote, Stand Summit is our annual event that draws Christian voters from literally all across America to our nation’s capital. And the summit addressed many important issues. It included sessions with political as well as theological experts who talked about things like Israel, education in America, corporate wokeism, global governance, the war on women, and so, so much more. It was absolutely a phenomenal event. Well, today we’re going to share with you two sessions from that summit. One is the session featuring children’s rights advocate Katie Faust, who spoke on the threats that are facing our children today. The second is a panel discussion on the transgender movement, and it featured the transitioner and senior fellow here at FRC, Walt Heyer, as well as Dr. Jennifer Bowens, who’s the director of FRC’s Center for Family Studies. And like all the speakers did at the summit, Katie, Walt, and Jennifer really knocked it out of the park. So we’ve got a great show coming your way today. And of course, if you miss any portion of it, you can always catch it by going to our website at TonyPerkins.com. All right. As I mentioned, this past October, we held our annual Pray Vote Stand Summit. That would be by FRC as well as FRC Action, drawing Christian voters from all across the country to our nation’s capital. It was spectacular. Again, among the speakers at the summit was Katie Faust, founder and president of Them Before Us. That’s a global movement that strives to put children before adults in every conversation about marriage and family. And in her address, Katie talked about the threats facing children today and how many of the issues that we’re fighting today are the same issues faced in the early church in the first century. Let’s start with her discussion on parental rights. Here’s Katie.
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Children’s family is also under threat because parents’ right to their own children is being threatened. specifically by schools who seem to answer the question to whom do children belong with the word us. The left seems to think that children belong to the schools, the doctors, or the community. And really what that means is the activists. That’s what it means. But children have a right to their mother and father and mothers and fathers have a right to their children. And that is being threatened, unfortunately, by the schools that we send our kids to so much of the time. It’s also threatened by laws such as in California and Minnesota that will remove children from the homes of parents that do not consent to child sterilization and mutilation in the name of transgender treatments. So when it comes to voting, what are we supposed to do? We vote for candidates and policies that always reinforce the parent-child relationship because there is no substitute for it. Children’s minds are under attack. Children actually have a right to innocence. And this is not something that a lot of people have had to argue about in the past. But children have a right to not have innocence violating sex ed curriculum forced on them in fourth grade. They actually need protection from pornographic library books. Kids can’t defend that themselves, right? We have to do that for them. Children’s minds are being victimized by a lot of the materials that we are siphoning into their worlds through curriculum. Children’s minds also need to be protected by pornography. Right now, the average first age of looking at porn is the age of 12. Pornography can very easily turn into an addiction and has significant impacts on children’s development, emotional and psychological health. We have got to start standing up to big tech as it relates to porn. We have got to advance laws that require age verification so that a 10-year-old boy cannot look at more naked women before his feet hits the ground in the morning than most men have ever seen in their lifetime. This is child victimization on a mass scale. So how should we vote if we want to protect children’s minds? for candidates and policies that support school choice so that kids can get out of bad schools and into schools that are serious about protecting their innocence. And we need to vote people in who are talking about the harms of porn and their willingness to protect kids from it. Children’s bodies are under attack. Their bodies are under attack, and Vanessa just talked about that. It is a very serious victimization that we haven’t seen for about 2000 years, because it’s not the first time we’ve distorted children’s bodies for the sake of adult servicing ideologies. Children’s bodies are being victimized. They are not being transformed from a boy to a girl. They’re being transformed from a healthy boy into a boy that will be a lifelong consumer of cosmetic surgery and big pharma. That’s what transgender treatments are. These children, two-thirds of whom suffer from all kinds of comorbidities, that is other psychological disorders, depression, suicide, dissociative disorders, unresolved trauma, are now still going to have to confront those mental illnesses, but they’re going to have to do it with a body that is dysfunctional. It is going to go down as one of the greatest medical scandals of our time. We have to fight against it. children’s bodies are also being threatened when their sex-segregated spaces, such as locker rooms, bathrooms, and changing rooms, are being determined who can use them based on gender ideology or gender identity rather than biology. Why is that such a risk to kids? Well, when you look at the numbers, a trans woman, that is a man who is masquerading as a woman, is 131 times more likely to sexually assault, commit sexual assault, than an actual man, than a man who is not masquerading. And about 630 times more likely to assault that child than a real woman. There is something, and a lot of people don’t like to say it, but I’m gonna tell you, there is something about the cohort of men especially who adopt a transgender identity, who are more likely to victimize others, And we should never put them in spaces where there are no windows and locked doors. We simply should not. So when it comes to protecting children’s bodies, how should we vote? We vote for anybody that rejects the idea that anyone, adult or child, can change their gender. We simply say no. We say no. So in all of these areas, children’s life, family, mind, and body, they are under attack. A lot of people would say that, well, these are political issues. Don’t get involved in that. That’s politics. And I would say, no. This is actually what the church has been doing for the last 2,000 years. When the church was born into the pagan world, the Roman world, children were being victimized, their life, family, mind, and body. Abortion was rampant. So was exposure. That is allowing underweight, undesirable, disabled, or female infants, toss them into the river, onto the dumpster, allow the elements to take their course or for those children to be ravaged by wild animals. Look what we’re seeing today, abortion. And you know what else we’re seeing? Exposure. I know in the VP debate, and actually in the presidential debate, that topic came up of letting kids die after a botched abortion, and somehow the fact checkers simply couldn’t fact check it. But in Tim Walz’s own state, we know, even though he gutted the Born Alive Protection Act, that since he’s been governor, at least eight children have been exposed, left to die after a botched abortion. So we are fighting against a lot of the same issues that the first century church came in and beat back when it comes to defending children’s right to life. What about children’s families? Well, when it came to sexual standards, the standard was the man, the free man of the household could do anything he wanted with whoever he wanted. Women, children, slaves, whatever. Anything that he said was permissible was permissible. So you had rampant child victimization on a sexual level, but also that permissibility, that allowance for sexual congress to take place outside of a married mother and father created a lot of fatherless kids. The Christian world came in and said, no, sex only between a man and a woman. Don’t touch the kids. and you need to have sex only with your husband or your wife. What that did is it meant that children born to those Christian homes, at least, were always raised by their mother and father, the two people who are the most connected to, invested in, and protective of them. It meant less children were fatherless. It meant children were not being used as sexual objects. So Christianity was born into a world where simply the sexual ethic, simply the requirement of total monogamy within marriage and chastity and abstinence before marriage massively protected children. What about children’s minds? again, rampant sexualization of children, oftentimes lewd displays happening out in public. Christians said, no, no, these are image bearers. They deserve protection. They actually dignified, the first century church actually dignified children to such a degree that some sociologists posit that Christianity invented childhood because they allowed kids to be kids in ways that the pagan culture didn’t and wouldn’t. And what about children’s bodies? Children’s bodies were also mutilated in the first century. It wasn’t uncommon for a young boy, especially, to be made a eunuch so he could serve in a wealthy household or in government in ways that wouldn’t threaten the leadership. Well, I’ll tell you, there’s an organization, a transgender advocacy group called WAPATH, and they created a new sexual identity two years ago. You know what it is? Eunuch. So what we’re facing right now is the same thing that the church eradicated in the first century. We are seeing them all again because Christians have withdrawn to such a degree that our culture is being repaganized. Only Christianity has the answer. Only Christianity dignifies children. Only Christianity insists that their life, family, mind, and body must be protected, not just in our own personal life, but in our political decisions as well. The first century church, they didn’t have the power to vote. We do. And I would encourage you to use your vote to do what Christians have always done and advance child protection.
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That was children’s right advocate Katie Faust during the 2024 Pray Vote Stand Summit. You’re tuned in to Washington Watch in a special edition. We’re glad to have you joining us. By the way, let me just tell you, if you missed any part of the summit, or if you’d like to go revisit some of it, you can do so, but you must have our Stand Firm app first to get that. Go to the App Store or Google Play, wherever you get your apps, or you can also simply text the word APP to 67742. That’s APP to 67742. All right, after the break, we’ll share another session from the PrayVote Stand Summit, our panel discussion on the transgender movement. So stick around. We’ll be back in just a moment.
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During these challenging times for our nation, Family Research Council continues to serve as a watchman on the wall for faith, family, and freedom. And together, thanks to your support, we’re making an eternal impact. 2024 has been another year of shining the light for biblical truth in Washington, D.C. This fall, over 1,000 spiritually active, governance-engaged conservatives gathered for the Pray Vote Stand Summit. to pray for our nation and ensure that the issues impacting sage cons were understood and advanced. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins marked a major milestone this year, its 900th episode, and added the Washington Watch News Desk, a new production that presents the top news each day from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand published 2,000 articles of news, commentary, and podcasts in 2024, garnering over 5 million views. FRC’s outlet for news and commentary continues to pursue the truth on the issues that matter most to you and your family. And with the launch of the Stand Firm app, you can listen to, watch, and read our content in one simple place. Pray for current issues, stay rooted in the scriptures, and engage the political sphere with a community of believers on our new platform. In 2024, FRC shaped public policy and culture, organizing the National Gathering for Prayer and Repentance, where members of Congress and Christian leaders came together to seek God’s intervention in America. In May, FRC called upon believers to pray for and stand with Israel by dedicating a portion of their worship services to pray for Israel’s peace, prosperity, and protection. With Pray, Vote, Stand Decision 2024, FRC and Real Life Network led a powerful evening of election night coverage to analyze the election results and pray that our nation would turn back to God. We also filmed a transformative educational course, God and Government, Launching in January 2025, this series will explore the biblical and historical foundations of our government, empowering you to stand confidently in your role as a citizen of heaven and earth. Family Research Council thanks you for partnering with us for another year of standing for faith, family, and freedom.
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Good afternoon and welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m your host Jody Heist. Our website TonyPerkins.com. Today we’re broadcasting special content from the 2024 Pray, Vote, Stand Summit that was held in Washington, D.C. Now in this next part you’ll hear from detransitioner and FRC senior fellow Walt Heyer and our director of the Center for Family Studies, Dr. Jennifer Bowens. Now together they’re going to talk about what’s behind the transgender movement. This is a powerful, powerful segment. Here’s Walt.
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I started the website 16 years ago, almost 17 years ago, Sex Change Regret, because I wanted to find out if I was the only one that had regret. And as I put in the video, 2015, we had 350,000 people come to the website. We’ve really had over… four or 5,000 people that we’ve actually helped through our website working with them one-on-one who’ve come back and restored their life. Four or 5,000 just from one website. So what’s been really the key point, Travis, is that when people contact me, I realize that, and I know some people may be, this might be new to you, but when people approach me and they say I’m a transgender, I transitioned, and I have gender dysphoria, I always say, well, you’re not a transgender, you never transitioned, and you probably don’t have gender dysphoria, but we’re gonna find out what happened so that you can be redeemed and restored through the power and grace of Jesus Christ. Because the truth is, Travis, when they find out that it is categorically impossible to change your gender with hormones and surgery, it doesn’t happen, that it’s all like plastic bananas, that they realize there was something else that happened. My story, I was sexually and physically and emotionally abused as a child. That’s not gender dysphoria. That’s trauma. And that’s where you come in. And that’s why our book really points to the issues that are underlying issues. That’s what we need to address, not gender. gender dysphoria. They have dysphoria, but oftentimes it’s not related to their gender, it’s related to something else.
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Jennifer Wall just mentioned the issue of trauma. Can you share a little bit about how that’s related to this issue and even what you’ve done in your background, how you see it coming to bear on the issue we’re discussing right now?
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Yeah, basically, so I’m coming from the trauma field and all of the issues that sort of manifest as a result of going through trauma are present in the transgender identifying community. And what’s disturbing is that none of my colleagues really look at this and are curious enough to say, why is this? Because in the research world, what should be happening is all of these, if we know that trauma is high in a population, what we should be doing is including that variable in every piece of research that we produce. Because it’s significant and we need to understand the population well. but not when it comes to the transgender research literature. They don’t include it. They’re not curious. Why is self-harm so high in this population? And in fact, the very act of gender-affirming care, right, is self-harm, which is an expression of trauma. So that’s one of the things that Walt and I wanted to look at and to bring out into the open is what are the manifestations of traumatic stress and what’s the overlap there with the trans-identifying population?
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Jennifer, is it, as you’re sharing, I’m thinking, it almost seems like, for those of us who’ve been following this issue in the media and the culture and the political discussion, it’s like we’re presented with this idea that the battle is over the trans issue, over using the terms that we’ve heard discussed, but it almost seems like the real issue, which is not being discussed, is the question of underlying trauma, is the question of how academia has approached the research and how that’s filtered into the media and the culture.
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Yeah, two things here. So one of the main arguments that’s given for the trans population is that they have minority stress. So in other words, if you are a person who is a minority, then you’re going to be more likely to be bullied. But here again, it goes back to what I just said. You have to parse out what is actually attributed to trauma. And what is something else? Well, this is the same population. It’s very often people who are trans identified have trauma, and very often people who have trauma are bullied. So, you know, again, they’re not parsing that out. The second issue here with the academy is, I think it’s really important to note that 100% of research psychologists have, according to federal election data, have given to a liberal Democrat candidate.
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100%.
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92% to about 96% of psychologists and social workers are giving to a liberal candidate. So what does that tell you? It tells you that the interventions that are researched to intervene for any type of mental health issue or those intervening and the actual workers who are implementing those interventions are probably from a liberal mindset, right? So this is our opportunity, and this is the call for many of us here, which is why Walt and I produce this research. A lot of times on our side, we’re responding to a discourse rather than creating a discourse. And what we want to do is we see a population that is vulnerable, that has been taken advantage of, that has no means of intervention, because once they go through gender-affirming care, there’s no insurance to go through a detransitioning process. There is no insurance to cover the trauma that happens to someone who’s been told by the medical community, this is the way you’re going to get better. build that lie, there’s no answer for them. There’s no insurance code to go through that. So this is where we as the church of Jesus Christ have a grand opportunity. Because for one, people are looking for compassion. They’re looking to be heard. We are in a mental health crisis and we can be that answer to that mental health crisis by showing the true answer, not another ideology that’s gonna lead people down a path that is basically leading them to the need to have another solution. So that’s really the heart of why we’re writing this, is one, to understand, to bring to light what are the true issues behind the transgender movement, but also as an opportunity for us to really connect and get our own issues, you know, kind of dealt with. Because we can only give away what we ourselves have received. You know, freely you’ve received, freely give. And as we become healthy people, it becomes really attractive to the world. And then we’re able to intervene in a really great way.
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You’re tuned into a special edition of Washington Watch. We’ve got much, much more coming your way after the break. We’ll continue the discussion in just a second.
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So if you like to think and you like to pray, FRC is the place for you. I think it is the best program out there.
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Yeah, I’ve absolutely loved my experience interning at FRC.
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They really are making waves out in the political world and doing it from the light of the Lord. It’s really humbling for me as a college student who has been involved in the life movement for only a couple of years to be able to witness it alongside of some of the people who have spent their entire lives fighting. A huge thing that sets FRC’s internship apart from others is they are looking for what they can pour into you instead of what they can get out of you. I have talked to so many of my friends who have interned. other places and they’re responding to emails or taking phone calls and doing things like that but here we get real hands-on experience and get to talk to important people and do important things that we get to see the impact of
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The throne of Jesus Christ is unchallenged. His name was never on the ballot to begin with, and it’s never gonna be on the ballot. He’s the King of Kings, and He’s the Lord of Lords, and nothing’s gonna change that. And so our mission stays the same, preach the gospel, make disciples, get ready for heaven. In the meantime, that we’re to advance the concerns of the kingdom of God here on earth.
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Good afternoon, welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m your host Jody Heiss filling in today for Tony and glad to have you with us as well. All right, today we’re broadcasting content from the 2024 PrayVote Stand Summit. In the last segment, we shared the panel discussion featuring detransitioner Walt Heyer and Family Research Council’s Dr. Jennifer Bowens. Now in this next part, we’ll continue with that discussion, starting with a question by the moderator, Travis Weber, on the resource that Walt and Jennifer worked on together. Here’s how that went.
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These are issues that many of us might think, well, how do I navigate that? This leads me into this question of, I’d like you to talk about the resource you guys are producing, Bracing God’s Design. And just to set the stage, this is a resource that Jennifer and Walt are co-producing, drawing from each of their backgrounds. with an eye towards every aspect of a crisis, with an eye towards something for every person who wants to help themselves or others address this. So I’d like to talk about this a little bit and just explain for folks what’s in this new resource you guys are developing.
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Yeah, so we definitely aimed to address the spiritual side as well as the psychological. So we’ve been talking a lot about trauma. But I think, first of all, just to say, God divinely connected the two of us. And I mean, you just can’t make this up. I mean, we can share offline about God’s genius because we couldn’t have orchestrated this if we tried. My background is in trauma counseling in more of a secular setting and doing research, teaching at Rutgers University. But I also taught in a seminary context. And so what I’ve done, my history is melding those ideas together with pastoral counseling, but also the knowledge that I have from the research in the trauma field. And I’ve helped churches develop teams to be able to intervene and deal with some of the things that a lot of pastors feel ill-equipped to deal with when it comes to trauma. And then the cool thing too is that my comrade here has also worked in churches and has helped be a counseling source
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So on that, I’m curious, yeah, I’d like for you two to talk. How have you both seen the Lord compound your efforts and what he’s given you by working together on this project?
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Well, I think for me, you know, when she contacted me and said that she wanted to come and talk to me, and I chose to note in my email, and I asked my wife, I said, find out her phone number because I didn’t know her. and call her and I got her on the phone and I said, why in the world do you want to come and talk to me? And so that’s how the book got started. And so we spent three days together talking about how to develop the book. And I think one of the key things about helping people is changing the language, which you mentioned briefly, is when somebody contacts me and we have a discussion, I always ask this one question. Anybody can do this. I always ask them, what caused you to not like who you are? I mean, that’s such a simple question, and it provokes some real interesting feedback. And when we begin to look into this, we find out that something happened to them that caused them to not like who they are. And I learned that from my own experience. And so I think this is where we were able to change the dialogue. Instead of saying, oh, you have gender dysphoria, you’re transgender, and you can get take hormones we don’t do that at all when i work with somebody i said no you’re not you you know so far uh no one has ever changed genders they’ve changed their persona you can make a man look like a woman you can make a woman look like a man but they can’t become a man or a woman if they changed it doesn’t happen never happened And it’s never going to happen. So I, you know, after eight years of living as Laura Jensen, identifying as Laura Jensen, I went to a gender therapist at Stanford University and stood in front of her and I said, so when does this start to work? I’ve been doing this for eight years. And the therapist looked at me and said, you need to give it more time. I said, what, nine years, 10 years, 11 years? And so when I took my gender therapist and the surgeon to Superior Court of California in 1990 and asked them to tell the court what hormones and surgery does and how effective it is, they documented it, both signed the letter saying hormones and surgery do not change anybody’s gender. It’s on file. It’s not me making it up. Walker wrote, my doctor wrote the standards of care, the WPAS standards of care. And he’s the one that diagnosed me. He got it wrong. And they’re getting it wrong every day. We don’t, there isn’t one person, not one person that needs hormones and surgery for the purpose of changing genders. Never, never, never. The insanity must be stopped. If I had it my way, we would close every gender clinic in the United States and stop this nonsense. We need to get a backbone, and we need to stand up and say we are destroying lives. We are not helping people. I was an associate design engineer on the Apollo space missions when I went through the surgery. I was homeless. within a few months after the surgery, living in a park in Long Beach, and struggled until the Lord came during a prayer that I had, came to me and redeemed my life. And I am so grateful to be here to be able to share that testimony with you today.
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Well, that was D. Transitioner and FRC Senior Fellow Walt Heyer speaking at the 2024 PrayVote Stand Summit back in October. You’re tuned in to Washington Watch. After the break, we’ll share the rest of that panel discussion on the transgender movement. So stick around. Much more coming your way here on Washington Watch.
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Hello, I’m Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council here in Washington, D.C. Behind me is one of the most recognizable buildings in all the world, the U.S. Capitol. What does it stand for? Well, most people say government. But you know, the Bible talks about four institutions of government. You know what they are? And do we have a republic or a democracy? Well, what do you say? Also, what about this thing, separation of church and state? Does that mean Christians shouldn’t be involved in government? Guess what? We address those issues and more in our new God and Government course. I invite you to join us to see what the historical record and the Bible has to say about government. Join us for God and Government.
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Let’s not be discouraged. Don’t lose heart. Don’t lose the faith. Stand now strong because the Lord has given us the great privilege of living in a time when our choices matter, when our lives matter, when our courage matters. So let’s stand together and save this great country. God bless the United States of America.
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The American Republic has a freedom like no other. It has roots in the scriptures far more than any other heritage. And if we as followers of Jesus and conservatives don’t defend it, who will?
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Neutrality is not an option. There are many Christians who believe that if we just keep our heads down, if we just don’t say the wrong thing, that somehow we will come out of this unscathed. You’re naive if you think that, because what they want from us is not our silence. What they want from us is our submission.
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Part of the dilemma of Christianity in our generation is that we’ve relied a little too much on human wisdom and human reasoning, human strength, human resource, and we’ve relied too little on the power of God and God’s ability to open doors that we can’t open and do things that we couldn’t even hope to begin to do.
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This may not be an easy task, But we are living in a moment of challenge, but also a great opportunity. And we know, always, that we are not alone, that his spirit empowers us and protects us, and that he can do the unimaginable. Dobbs, after all, was never supposed to happen.
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Father, we thank you. You have entrusted us with this moment in history, and I pray that we would be found faithful, and that as a result of our faithfulness to you, that thousands, millions would come into the kingdom as they would experience the forgiveness of sin and the new life that is found only in Jesus Christ. Amen.
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Well, good afternoon and welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m your host Jody Heiss, an honor to be filling in today for Tony. Thanks for tuning in to this special edition. We’ve been playing some of the highlights from the 2024 Pray Vote Stand Summit that was held in Washington, D.C. Really hope you’ve been enjoying this special edition. And to close out today’s program, we’re going to finish up with the panel discussion on the transgender movement that featured detransitioner Walt Heyer and FRC’s Dr. Jennifer Bowens. In case you missed the last segment, we’ll start off with this next part with Walt’s confrontation with his gender therapist after eight years of trying to live as a woman. Here’s Walt.
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You know, after eight years of living as Laura Jensen, identifying as Laura Jensen, I went to a gender therapist at Stanford University and stood in front of her and I said, so when does this start to work? I’ve been doing this for eight years. And the therapist looked at me and said, you need to give it more time. I said, what, nine years, 10 years, 11 years? And so when I took my gender therapist and the surgeon to Superior Court of California in 1990 and asked them to tell the court what hormones and surgery does and how effective it is, they documented it, both signed the letter saying hormones and surgery do not change anybody’s gender. It’s on file. It’s not me making it up. Walker wrote, my doctor wrote the standards of care, the WPAS standards of care. And he’s the one that diagnosed me. He got it wrong. And they’re getting it wrong every day. We don’t, there isn’t one person, not one person that needs hormones and surgery for the purpose of changing genders. Never, never, never. The insanity must be stopped. If I had it my way, we would close every gender clinic in the United States and stop this nonsense. We need to get a backbone, and we need to stand up and say we are destroying lives. We are not helping people. I was an associate design engineer on the Apollo space missions when I went through the surgery. I was homeless. within a few months after the surgery, living in a park in Long Beach, and struggled until the Lord came during a prayer that I had, came to me and redeemed my life. And I am so grateful to be here to be able to share that testimony with you today. Thank you. Thank you. You see, the story is about Jesus. His story is about the power and grace of Jesus. He just used me to tell his story, and I am richly blessed.
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Amen. Amen. Thank you, Walt. I’d like to talk a little bit about, I mean, Walt, we were praying for your testimony to come through in the resource that you guys are developing, embracing God’s design. And it seems to me that this resource is time for the moment our country and the world is in, really, the world is in, with this issue. Because it’s spread around the world. It’s not just in our country. And so… Jennifer, I’d like to kind of just give folks a little maybe outline of the stages and sections of the resource of just a little bit of what’s in there so they know what they can look forward to.
SPEAKER 15 :
Throughout this whole book, you’re gonna hear stories like, Walt, we take you through people who’ve been transformed by truth and by addressing the real issues. And I mean, that’s really, that’s what Jesus would do. He would speak to the heart of the matter and not to, you know, an illusion. He’s gonna dispel the illusion. So really, we start the book out talking about what is God’s design? We know what the transgender design is, but what is God’s design for family? And God’s, the whole reason he created humanity is because he wanted a family. Ephesians 3 tells us that every family who is named in heaven and earth, he is the father of. So the transgender movement isn’t about just erasing an individual image of a person. It’s about erasing the whole family unit, which from the very beginning is meant to reflect Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So we have family for that reason. They were supposed to be our initiation into a connection and a reflection of how we can connect with all of God. And so when you have a man saying, I can breastfeed my baby, You know, it’s a distortion that gets imprinted into that child from very on when really that mother-infant dyad is supposed to point to, as we behold him, we become like him, right? As we behold our mother, we become like our parents. And that’s just a reflection. God put that in nature. Everything he put in nature is meant to point to who he is. So, you know, we spend a little time talking about that for those who haven’t thought that this is an affront to the very foundation of the family, the building block of our society. And, you know, of course, we give some practical information about how this movement came because we want people to understand that You know, it seems to a lot of us this just came out of thin air, but there has actually been a concerted effort for many years, both in the academy and, you know, in the psychology, the social sciences, and the money funding it. So we do go into that. But then we spend a lot of time talking about gender dysphoria and the psychological issues that surround that. And Walt and I are very passionate about this issue of that diagnosis because even some of our colleagues that would be with us on that transing kids isn’t a good idea, there’s still this idea that gender dysphoria exists. And we wanted to say, this is a constructed diagnosis. You know, these ideas, everything in fact, you know, I’m in the field and so we use the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. And oftentimes what I do when I’m counseling with someone is I pray and ask the Lord to remove every label that has been put on people through diagnosis, through any issue, because we’re not, we’re child of God. I am not a diagnosis. You are not a diagnosis. We’ve talked about people who are struggling with alcoholism. You’re not an alcoholic. You might struggle with that, but that’s not your identity. And so even when it comes to the trans movement, people are clinging to, I’m transgender or I’m a detransitioner. No, you’re not. If you know God, you are first and foremost a Christian, and that is powerful. Had he known, he wouldn’t have crucified the Lord of glory. Why? Because all of these little anointed ones are popping up. So that label of being in Christ is the most important label that we can ever bear. And so even now, I just pray anyone in this room who has received a diagnosis from a psychologist, social worker, I just pray for you right now, for that label to be lifted off of you, and that you would come into the identity of who God has created you to be as a child, first and foremost of God, and that any words that people have spoken over you in this regard would just fall to the ground.
SPEAKER 03 :
Jennifer and Walt, I know the resource you’re producing is, we’re seeking to help everyone navigate this. So I’m wondering if we can just share the types of people out there who the resource will help. Who is this for? Who will benefit from reading it?
SPEAKER 16 :
EVERYBODY. REALLY. EVEN IF YOU’RE NOT WORKING WITH PEOPLE YOU’LL BENEFIT FROM IT BECAUSE THERE’S SO MUCH DATA AND SO MUCH HISTORY AND SO MUCH CONTENT THAT YOU ARE GOING TO BE AFFECTED BY IT AND YOU WILL COME AWAY FEELING LIKE WE DO THAT WE’VE BEEN OFF THE WRONG TRACK FOR A LONG TIME. There really isn’t anybody who can’t benefit from this, whether you’re a therapist, a pastor, grandma, grandpa, uncle, aunt, mom, pop. You’re gonna benefit from it.
SPEAKER 15 :
Yeah, I mean, we wrote it to be accessible. I mean, I can geek out with anyone, but, you know, I didn’t want to, like, put it so, like, you know, research-oriented, but there’s enough research in there that it’ll still be interesting.
SPEAKER 16 :
And it’s not too technical because I do the writing. I mean, she does the technical writing. I’m just a street drunk, right? And so I can bring that element where that’s really what makes it magical. And I think one of the things that’s so important, if you don’t remember anything else, remember that when we introduce a child or an individual to the idea that they can change genders, we devalue who they are in Christ, right? The second thing is when we give them hormones, we dehumanize who they are in Christ. And when we cut body parts off these individuals for the purpose of changing their identity, we destroy who they are in Christ until the Lord Jesus Christ can come and redeem their life and bring them back to living for Christ.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I believe there’s a graphic up on this side, but if you don’t see it, the website is embracingthedesign.org, embracingthedesign.org. You can go there and see what is forthcoming as the resource is finalized, rolled out, and released on that website. Jennifer and Walt, I believe this is going to impact many. It’s going to help many. And it’s going to serve not only those struggling, but the body of Christ, help walk alongside of those who need help. And so as we get ready to close it out today, I just would like to ask each of you to pray as the Lord leads, but I’d like to pray for… Everyone here, everyone within earshot who watches this and those struggling and really for the Lord to use this to address the crisis. So Jennifer, would you start? Walt, I’ll ask you to pray and then I’ll close this out.
SPEAKER 15 :
Father, we just thank you that you are the healer, that every good and perfect gift comes from you, Father of lights. And Lord, we just thank you for what you’ve been doing on this topic. We thank you for the victories and states and the hearts and minds that are being turned back to your design, Lord. And we just pray for revelation to continue to run through our nation, Lord, that people would hunger and thirst to know you and to know the creator and how they’ve been made. And so, Lord, we ask you that you would use this resource, but you would use, more importantly, Lord, that you would use us to be equipped and ready to receive the harvest. We know that you said, lift up your eyes, the harvest is ready. And so Lord, we ask you today that you would make us ready and that our hearts respond, here am I, send me, Lord. Here am I, send me. So Lord, I pray for your people. I pray that you would begin to stir their hearts today that you would show them their place on the wall in this hour of harvest, Lord, that we would rise up with hope, we would rise up with healing, and we would ride on our God who has healing in his wings. And Lord, we thank you for our nation turning back to you. In Jesus’ name.
SPEAKER 16 :
I PRAY THAT WE WILL HONOR AND GLORIFY GOD AND THE POWER AND GRACE OF JESUS CHRIST IN ALL WE DO, AND TO DO THAT, WE MUST PROTECT OUR CHILDREN, NOT ALLOW THEM TO BE CUT UP, CARVED UP, AND FILLED UP WITH HORMONES, AND I PRAY Lord, that we in this group, the people that can hear us today through these prayers have the power to do this and to be able to save our children and save our families, save marriages and save people from totally unnecessary hormones, surgery. And we just pray this in your precious name. Amen.
SPEAKER 03 :
Lord, we thank you for this time, Lord, and I ask that your perfect will be fully accomplished. With Walt and Jennifer, Lord, we ask that the way would be straight. And for all of us, Lord, may we link arms in unity. Lord, coming around, rallying around, Lord, what you are saying about the topic, Lord, as your word goes forth by the power of your Holy Spirit, Lord, we step forth boldly to be of service to you, Lord, stepping into places where you desire to step into, Lord. to take ground from the enemy lord as you lead your people by the guidance wisdom power grace and mercy of the holy spirit lord so i just ask for a blessing upon them right now in this resource lord may your may people embrace god’s design as your people display and proclaim god’s design so lord we commit this time to you lord may you seal it and send this word forth in jesus name amen thank you all
SPEAKER 17 :
I’m Jody Heist. Thanks so much for tuning in to this special edition of Washington Watch. What you just heard was a panel discussion on the transgender movement that was part of the 2024 PrayVoteStand Summit. By the way, if you want to find out more about the resources Jennifer and Walt worked on, you can visit embracethedesign.com. What a great, great resource that’s available there for you. And I also want to encourage you to join Family Research Council in shining the light of biblical truth as we go into brand new year. You have from now until December 31st to double the power of your tax deductible gift to FRC. You can do so right now by simply texting the word LIGHT, L-I-G-H-T, LIGHT to 67742. Well, that’s all we have for today. Thank you so much for joining us. Hope you are able to come back with us again tomorrow right here on Washington Watch. God bless you. Have a great evening.
SPEAKER 11 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
