Dr. Jen

Here's a letter from a medical doctor that will be printed in my local paper's "Letters to the Editor".

SELMA, CALIF. ‹ I am a medical doctor with 26 years of experience in Family Practice and Obstetrics. I also have a special expertise in treating those with Gender Identity Disorder. GID is a medical problem ‹ a congenital disorder in which centers of the brain that determine our "gender identity" develop in the fetus in a manner opposite to the chromosomal sex and the anatomy of the rest of the body. Though many are successful in their lives, driven for decades to prove to others and themselves that they are "normal," this process extracts a mental-emotional toll that cannot be maintained indefinitely. When those with GID reach their crisis point (often in their 30s to 50s), they can no longer continue living a facade contrary to their "true self." They must either "transition" to their true (mental) gender, under the care of medical and psychological professionals, or end up in a severe depression which often results in suicide. The phrase we use for this crisis is "Transition or Die.²"

Unfortunately,most of those who transition that also have a strong church background are frequently brutalized by their very own churches, to which they have long attended and contributed over many years. It is astounding to see that their pastors and so-called Christian brothers and sisters, who should exemplify the love and compassion of Jesus, turn against them in this difficult period of transition. There is nothing in the Bible that would condemn anyone suffering from GID for utilizing the only means (including hormones and surgery) available to bring wholeness to a mind-body incongruity that has caused them decades of suffering. To equate GID with immorality or sexual perversion makes no more sense that to state that all who suffer from seizures are "demon-possessed" just because one boy healed from epilepsy by Jesus was afflicted by an evil spirit.
Jennifer A. Burnett, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine UCSF-Fresno,
Teaching Faculty Fresno Family Practice Residency