Recent developments and news on the national debate over gender ideology:
A New Tool For Parents: Courage is a Habit equips parents with practical tools and legal resources to protect their children from gender ideology in schools.
Is there a difference? Stella O’Malley of Genspect contrasts “gender-affirming care,” which seeks to validate identity claims and promotes sex-rejecting interventions, with “sex-affirming care,” which recognizes biological reality and addresses the underlying causes of sex-identity distress.
Detransitioned After 6 Years: After identifying as a male for more than six years, Kyla Gillespie now warns others about the long-term emotional and physical harms of testosterone and sex-rejecting surgeries.
Sincerely,
The Biological Integrity Team
The American College of Pediatricians
Courage is a Habit—A New Tool For Parents
Courage is a Habit is a non-profit organization that creates actionable tools and strategies to help parents confidently protect their school-aged children from harmful influences, such as gender ideology.
For example, a March Supreme Court ruling in Mirabelli v. Bonta halted California schools from secretly affirming a student’s gender-identity distress, providing leverage for parents across the United States to protect their children from similar secret social transitions in schools. In response to the ruling, Courage Is a Habit drafted template letters that parents can send to schools to enforce the Mirabelli decision and protect their children:
Courage is a Habit Cease & Desist Letter
Recommended Steps:
- Customize and send via certified mail (return receipt requested) to the principal, superintendent, and school board.
- Keep copies and delivery proof.
- Share with other parents in your community.
These letters create an important paper trail and put schools on notice. The case is still ongoing, but Mirabelli now gives parents strong leverage to act with confidence.
“Sex-Affirming Care” vs. “Gender-Affirming Care”
So-called “gender-affirming care” prioritizes validating a person’s self-declared gender identity and often moves quickly toward social and medical sex-rejecting interventions, while “sex-affirming care” recognizes the reality of biological sex and seeks to understand the psychological, developmental, and social factors contributing to sex-identity distress. Rather than immediately affirming identity claims, therapy should help individuals explore underlying causes and develop a healthier understanding of themselves.
Stella O’Malley from Genspect compares two approaches up against each other and explains what is the goal of each.
Detransitioned After Six Years of Identifying as the Opposite Sex
A woman who self-identifies as male more than six years now regrets that doctors did not fully explain the emotional and physical consequences of sex-rejecting interventions. Kyla Gillespie described grieving the loss of healthy body parts after taking testosterone and undergoing surgeries, saying that conversations around her “transition” focused almost entirely on positive outcomes.
After years of struggling with sex-identity distress, alcoholism, and other mental instabilities, she ultimately detransitioned and returned to identifying as her own female sex through the support of her Christian faith and community. She now shares her story publicly to warn others about the long-term harmful consequences of interventions and to encourage deeper exploration of the underlying causes of sex-identity distress.
