The Last Death in an Ideological War

Who will be the last child lost to trans ideology?

I have often thought about the last person to die in a war - the final soldiers killed as the Americans pulled out of Afghanistan or the final casualty before the end of World War II. When I was in high school and I learned about the Civil War battles that continued to rage after the Confederate’s surrender at Appomattox, I was horrified. How could those armies keep fighting? How could they not know the war was over?

When my teacher patiently explained that news didn’t travel very quickly in the 1860s, I had to set aside my anger at the military leaders. They did not know – they were following orders until they were informed of a change.

But my mind has often returned to the deaths of those poor young men and I’ve imagined the horror and anger of their families. To learn your son died for a cause can bring honor and some comfort. To learn they died needlessly, pointlessly, must create a spring of pain and anger that never ceases.

It feels like there is a shift in the wind this fall regarding gender ideology. Famous people are now admitting they had some doubts all along. My kid’s principal has finally agreed that secret pronoun forms are not such a good idea after all. Target has stopped promoting tucking swimsuits for little boys. There are still a few “Protect Trans Kids! Protect the Dolls!” posts popping up on my social media, but they seem to be limited to my most woke and clueless friends. My mainstream mom friends are taking deep breaths and keeping their mouths shut. That is a positive sign. I’ve got to believe that we’re swimming towards the surface of “Believe the Science” again: no one can change sex. Even if Trump’s executive orders are flipped in a few years, I don’t think the Democrats can tie themselves to this anti-woman and anti-LGB ideology again. Most Americans aren’t buying it anymore. The War is over: Trans lost, Reality won.

But I’m still thinking about these confused and vulnerable kids – the gay kids, the autistic kids, the lonely and isolated kids. There are at least four girls in my daughter’s high school who are transitioned – two of them on testosterone. There are at least six more in our social circle who have medicalized, and another 14 I know of who have socially transitioned. Everyone has a neighbor, classmate, family member who has been caught up in this. What happens to them?

I predict there will be a broader retreat from this mass psychosis, and many of these young people will learn to walk through the world carrying the physical scars and mental damage from this era. Like the generation of Vietnam Vets who ambled around my city during the 1970s and early 1980s – they will be the wounded victims of a pointless war. We will observe them with pity and carry the shame of our abandonment of them.

And I think about the families of these kids. To learn they were harmed needlessly, pointlessly, will create a spring of pain and anger that never ceases. They did not know – they and their doctors were following orders until they were informed of a change.

There is no delay in spreading news today - it ricochets around the world in an instant. Gender ideology is a con. Transitioning destroys lives – it does not save them. No one can or should claim they do not know. Only the zealots could argue that the battle is still being waged, and that sacrificing children is the appropriate thing to do.

And yet – today I learned about Henry Gunther, the last soldier to die in World War I. He died charging a German roadblock on November 11, 1918, at 10:59 am - just one minute before the Armistice was to take effect. There was no delay in the news- Henry knew the Armistice was coming, it had been announced that morning. In fact, when he sprang up from his position, Henry’s commander ordered him to not charge. The German soldiers tried to wave him off. When Henry persisted and began to shoot at them, they returned fire. Henry had been obsessed and “determined to make good before his officers and fellow soldiers.” I doubt Henry’s family was comforted by his beliefs as they buried his body.

Who will be the final adolescent sacrificed to trans ideology?