A little over two years ago, I wrote an article about the growing push to affirm transgenderism in children and teenagers. National Geographic had just published an issue praising the movement, and featured a cover photo of a 9-year-old boy dressed like a girl.

Ken Zucker, a secular psychologist in Canada, had recently lost his longtime position at a mental health center in Toronto for suggesting parents should try to help confused children become secure with their birth sex.

A friend texted, “Mary Oliver died.” I looked up at my husband, “Do we know a Mary Oliver?” Shrug. I typed back, cagily: “How old was she?” No clue forthcoming there: “83,” she replied. Then, after a quick Google search on this end: 

“Did you know her personally?” “My aunt took her in when she was a teenager and she lived with her in Provincetown for a few years. … My aunt has all of her books personally signed by her. … [Mary] ventured into lesbian life later on. She was sexually abused at home. … Tell me if you write something about her.” 

On an online forum for parents concerned about their teenagers’ sudden change in sexuality, one mother confesses: “I am desperate. My 14-year-old daughter just told me that she is trans. These past weeks have felt like a hundred years.”

A while ago, I was visiting a homeless couple in Los Angeles for an interview when the man—let’s call him “Bill”—began to mock another man for being “feminine.” I didn’t know this other man well, so I couldn’t judge his apparent femininity, but I knew Bill. 

Andy Draycott’s theology is the evangelical equivalent of vanilla ice cream—conservative and widely palatable—but his presentation on transgenderism at the annual Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) conference in November left listeners wondering if Draycott was promoting more exotic flavors.

I was 9 years old when I declared myself a feminist. Who knows what provoked me to take up the feminist cause—it might have been the progressive books I was reading, rebellion against the traditional family dynamics under which I grew up, or just extreme irritation that I had to wash the dishes every night because it was a “female chore” while my brother watched TV. Whatever it was, I decided at a very early age that I wanted to smash the patriarchy. 

John Freeman founded Harvest USA, a Christian ministry that helps individuals and families troubled by pornography, homosexuality, and sexual addictions. He’s a graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary, an elder in the Presbyterian Church in America, and the author of a new book, Hide or Seek: When Men Get Real with God About Sex. Here are edited excerpts of our interview before students at Patrick Henry College.