The transgender phenomenon (specifically the rapid-onset variety) is not particularly new, though it seems to be a constant in the news these days. Ten years ago, a U.S. Navy SEAL shocked the country by declaring he was “transgender.”

His name is Chris Beck. In 2013, he made public his declaration that he was a woman whose name was now Kristin. He has since detransitioned and is vehemently speaking out and trying to warn Americans in general and parents in particular that “everything that happened to me for the last 10 years destroyed my life.” He further notes: “I destroyed my life. I’m not a victim. I did this to myself, but I had help.”

Beck, a highly decorated and seasoned SEAL, bitterly recalled his experience with psychologists who were quick to put him on hormones and “affirm” his identity instead of doing their jobs and actually helping him address and work through traumatic experiences in his life. Beck recounted: “I walked into a psychologist’s office [and] in one day I have a letter in my hand saying I was transgender. I was authorized for hormones. I was authorized all this other stuff.” He also apologized to the American public, confessing that the VA (read: taxpayers) paid for much of this treatment.

Sadly, this tale of malpractice by ideologically motivated healthcare providers is not uncommon. Several detransitioners have testified that they experienced the same thing. They were dealing with trauma and needed talk therapy. Instead, they were unconditionally affirmed and given harmful drugs. This cycle of affirmation without addressing the real issues that these people are struggling with is the underlying pathology leading to higher risk of suicide for this cohort.

These days, it’s all too easy for people who are struggling with gender confusion to gain access to hormones. Many places, such as Planned Parenthood, don’t even require a note from a mental healthcare provider before handing out these puberty-blocking drugs.

This is particularly disturbing when you consider how many minors are getting access to these drugs that have irreparable consequences to the developing body. Many puberty blockers have serious side effects like osteoporosis, brain damage, voice changes, heart problems, and/or infertility. Some users have even developed cancers. Yet pharmaceuticals and gender clinics keep peddling this poison along with their life-destroying ideology.

As has been pointed out by many fighting to bring attention to the dangers of this ideology, one only needs to follow the money to understand the strongest motive for the ideological push. Places like Vanderbilt University Medical Center opened a pediatric gender clinic because, as one doctor said, it could “make a lot of money.” This industry “is expected to reach $5 billion by the end of the decade,” reports The Daily Wire. “According to a recent report from Grand View Research, the sector saw a $1.9 billion valuation last year and is forecast to expand at a compound annual growth rate of more than 11% through 2030.”

Beck is also disturbed by this monetary motive, saying: “This is a billion-dollar industry between psychologists, between surgeries, between hormones, between chemicals, between follow-up treatments. There are thousands of gender clinics popping up all over our country. And each of those gender clinics is going to be pulling in probably over $50 million.”

Beck is pleading with Americans to “wake up” to this grift before they’ve destroyed themselves or their children. England and other European countries are taking serious steps to protect minors from this dangerous, endless merry-go-round of gender “transition.”

Will America get the message before it’s too late?

Image credit: Sandi Foraci photography, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.