The transgender battle in the culture wars is a multifaceted debate: Is the ideology correct? Is it medically safe? When can it be implemented for people suffering from this gender confusion? Should this affect sports? Should this be taught to kids? Is it Marxism? Is it a social contagion? What is the best way to treat those who are suffering from it?

For the radical Left, all bets are off. Kids can “decide their gender” at any age and medical assistance should be provided to them regardless of parental caution or even common sense. For those in the middle, they merely draw the line at 18 with the caveat that children younger than that aren’t able to vote about these issues and have no say one way or another. For the conservative Right, we believe that there are only two sexes and that biology determines that. Gender is a made-up term from the 1950s to help construct the lie that is transgender ideology. Deciding to transition oneself into a different gender is not only a dangerous and destructive ideology, but it is simultaneously promoting and cheapening an actual mental disorder that is serious and rare.

One of these positions is morally correct. The other two are not.

Why is the radical Left’s position incorrect?

Well, it’s more than just the obvious: that its ideas lack common sense, decency, or care for the people who are being duped by this ideology.

Transgenderism is a social contagion. Here would be a good place to insert the fact that there is such a thing as gender identity disorder. It was rare (only affecting 0.02% of the population), and some of those who were affected were able to adjust or grow out of this discomfort between their biological selves and their inner identities. Today’s version — minted by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in 2013 — is called “gender dysphoria,” with the “dysphoria” part being essential to the base of transgender ideology. This encouraged all sorts of people who were dissatisfied with life or had other mental struggles to explore the possibility that they were actually transgender.

The social contagion, particularly amongst young women, has been observed all over the world. There are even prestigious scientific studies that have been swept under the rug by the activists because they indicate that transgenderism is a social contagion, not a revolutionary LGBTQ+ phenomenon or a triumph of radical feminism.

Transgender ideology is a facet of political ideology disguised as a civil rights movement for a mental health struggle. In fact, President Joe Biden is treating transgenderism as a civil rights issue. That political ideology is a toxic mixture of radical freedom for all and cultural Marxism. That radical freedom is a way of justifying moral relativism — doing whatever you want because it seems right in your own eyes. The cultural Marxism aspect comes in because transgenderism is the most protected intersectional class in the hierarchy of victimhood. Because the Left is obsessed with intersectionality and equity and collectivism, it has lost track of what is actually good for individuals, particularly children, and it is attempting to tyrannically oust parents of their rights to train up their own children.

Finally, this ideology is literally destroying men, women, and children. The destruction is mental, spiritual, and physical — in other words, complete. Radical leftists and transgender activists of all stripes are encouraging no limit to the ages of people seeking medical interventions for their dysphoria. “Medical interventions” is a loose term that really alludes to experimental/irreversible drugs, hormone replacement, and even gender-mutilating surgeries that have lasting and pervasive health problems.

The euphoria that these victims usually feel is short-lived and doesn’t stand the test of long-term observation. Many ultimately take their own lives rather than live with the medical, mental, and social struggles they inflicted upon themselves.

Why are the centrists incorrect?

To some extent, the notion of preventing transgender ideology and, thus, the manipulation and gender confusion that this ideology brings is a decent start. If children are allowed more time to be kids and not be introduced to this ideology, then there is a reasonable chance that they won’t fall victim to it.

Then there is the political argument posited: that children under the age of 18 do not have a vote in the matter and are minors. The clear counterargument here is that waiting until 18 still doesn’t protect the children from making life-altering decisions that they’ll regret. Human brains aren’t fully developed until the age of 25 and young people’s ability to understand long-term consequences is low. That’s why suicide rates for this particular demographic tend to be higher. They still don’t really understand the concept of death.

For those in the middle, waiting until children are no longer minors under the law seems like a more winnable position politically. After all, people should be free to choose what they want to do with their lives and their bodies, right? There is a difference between being free to choose and being free from its consequences.

One can be free to choose to do a drug, but one is not free from the addictive, destructive consequences. One is free to choose to murder another person, but one is not free from the punitive consequences of society. Likewise, we can allow these children to choose to believe a cultish ideology and be drawn into cultural Marxism starting at 18 rather than as toddlers; however, every child who consequently destroys her life or her body as a result of being squishy on this subject is on our conscience.

Why are those conservatives correct?

From a scientific and medical standpoint, all the long-term results point to harm. “Gender affirmation” has been long debunked by medical professionals in Europe, as well as the use of puberty blockers. The U.S. medical professionals seem to finally be admitting that hormone replacement therapy and puberty blockers are going to have irreversible effects (which is significant for the sake of not allowing children under 18 to indulge in this ideology). Even the World Health Organization is now admitting that “gender-affirming care” is dubious.

From a religious standpoint, transgenderism is an argument about God. The Book of Genesis clearly states that God created man and woman. There were no other genders mentioned. Transgenderism also harkens back to an old gnostic dualism heresy regarding souls and bodies.

From a political standpoint, holding firm to the notion that there are only two biological sexes, that gender is a made-up term, and that indulging in fantasy is not in the best interest of the public seem to be the lane of sanity.

There is only one conscionable course in this argument, and the conservative one is it.