To many today the idea that gender is nothing but a feeling and has nothing to do with biology is an incredibly foreign and confusing belief.
But where did this idea stem from? Meet Dr John Money.
While Dr John did not coin ‘gender identity’, he played a massive role in propelling the ideology out of obscurity and into the public eye.
John was a New Zealand born psychologist and sexologist and rose to notoriety after his work in Canada with the Reimer family. The Reimer family faced tragedy when the oldest of their 6 month old twins, David, had his genitals damaged beyond repair during a botched circumcision. When the twins reached two years old, the Reimer family came to Dr John, with the hopes that he could help them to navigate this issue. Dr John reassured them that this was no major issue and that it was not too late to raise David as a girl instead. He was adamant that gender was more about feeling and identity, than biology. In 1967, the surgical construction of a vagina was more successful than constructing a penis, so Dr John further pushed the Reimers to surgically transition David, now to be referred to as ‘Brenda’.
Although now being raised as a girl David was still every part a boy, wanting to roughhouse with his brother and play as the other boys did. He did not accept the identity that he knew did not align with biology and reality. The Reimers continued to have regular appointments with Dr Money, often with the parents leaving both twins alone with Dr Money. During these private sessions, Dr Money would command the twins to strip naked and engage in “childhood sexual rehearsal play” involving the twins re-enacting sexual acts with each other. He believed that this ‘therapy’ was vital for developing a healthy adult gender identity. These acts can be described as nothing short of medical malpractice and child abuse.
While David and his brother were left traumatized and confused, Dr John would tout this experiment as a success in his university lectures and would go on to publish several books and have interviews on the ‘success’ of his experiment. He would continue to use the Reimers as proof of his theories on fluid gender identity, even though David rejected his ‘female’ identity and was living as a boy from the age of 15.
Much of the gender fluidity ideology that we face today is rooted in Dr Money’s work. Work that was touted as fact, when in reality only further confirmed the rooted biological identity that each of us carry. His work proved only that the idea of gender fluidity was just that, an idea.
The story of the Reimers ends tragically, with both twins committing suicide before the age of 40. It goes without saying that the abuse and trauma they faced in the name of Dr Money’s research was a considerable factor in the tragic end of the twins.
Chole Cole is another example of medical practitioners failing to help a gender dysphoric child. She was pushed towards chemical transition at the age of 12 and had a double mastectomy at the age of 15. She detransitioned back to female at the age of 17 and is now an activist against gender affirming care. You can hear her full story in person in the upcoming Forum on the Family.
Biology, science and truth matters. We should not be experimenting on our youth with theories and ideology. We need to be healing the mind, not cutting the body.
By Luke Tetley-Jones
