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Jeff Younger is a Texas father of twin boys whose ex-wife came to the conclusion that one of the twins, at the age of two or three, had “gender-dysphoria” and would rather be a girl. Instead of letting the fantasy pass, as fantasies do with very young children, she decided that it was in the boy’s best interests to start “socially transitioning” James into a girl named Luna with the intention of medically “transitioning” him once he was “old enough” – that is 10 or 11.

Mr. Younger is staunchly opposed to this, not only on ethical grounds, not only on religious grounds, but because his son, when with him, has no interest in being a girl.

In a sane world, there should be no questions here, and a mother who insists her son is a girl ought to be stripped of custody. However, the twins’ mother is a pediatrician, a respected member of the “elite class”, and Jeff Younger is a rough-at-the-edges Texan. Again, this should make no difference; the courts should be working in the interest of the children, period. Regardless of what social circle the mother belongs to, what she is proposing to do would have been rightly been seen as child abuse across the board fifteen years ago.

However, this is an insane world right now, and for the past several years, the Texas Family Courts have generally ruled in the mother’s favor. I cannot imagine the amount of frustration and anguish this has caused Mr. Younger. Rather than giving up, Mr. Younger has fought tooth-and-nail to protect both of his boys. He has raised his voice, and his case has gotten national – and international – attention.

Many times, when things seem like they are unbearably hard, we wonder “Why me?” Often, people fall back on this to fall apart, to curse God, to wallow in despair. I am reminded here of in the book Anne of Green Gables, when Anne tells Marilla that she’s in the “depths of despair”, Marilla reprimands her, saying that to despair is to turn one’s back on God.

I am sure that there are times that Mr. Younger has been brought very low in this travesty. He has kept fighting, though. He’s been a fighter and he refuses to curl up and die. I believe that this is probably one of the reasons that this has been given this cross to bear.

The thing is, the publicity that the James Younger case is probably the first time most people realized that in this country, there are actually places that are in the business of “transitioning” children to a different gender. It’s probably the first time that most people realized that this doesn’t just include “social transitioning” but also the prescribing of hormones that have irreversible effects on children and actual surgery. These practices lurked in the shadows before this; by dragging them out for the general public to see, millions of people were horrified and disgusted, and it started movements across the country to limit or end the amount that gender clinics are able to do to small children.

The fight is far from over, especially for the Younger boys. The boys’ mother was given permission to move from Texas, and she has made it clear that she plans to head for California, a state that wants to be a haven for transitioners, and in particular minors who might not have “access” in their home states. According to this Epoch Times piece, Jeff Younger hasn’t seen his boys in over a year, but he continues in the struggle. All the while, the greater public is learning more about the horrors of the business of medical transitions, from hospitals bragging about how much money transgender surgeries make for them, to research from various people, including the Twitter user “LibsofTikTok” throwing light on how many children’s hospitals are actually performing gender surgery on minors, to the horror stories of people who have transitioned who feel like it was a mistake and are fighting to get back their lives. [Update: I forgot to mention that just today the National Health Service of the United Kingdom has issued guidance that “most children who think they are transgender are just going through a phase.”]

One would hope – pray – that no matter where Jeff Younger’s son ends up, he’s not forced into a medical transition to a girl, especially when it seems like any affinity that he may have for “being a girl” is strongly influenced by the preferences of his mother. And we should not forget the other brother who is also caught in the middle of all of this. Jeff Younger has vowed to take this to the Supreme Court, if necessary. I have nothing but the greatest respect for this man, and I hope he can be reunited with his sons soon. He may seem like an unlikely tool of God’s, but I feel like it is highly likely that he was “chosen” for this cross, if you will, because he accepted it, and he keeps “stumbling up the hill” with it, to paraphrase Dr. Jordan Peterson. Of course, his aim is to save his own sons, but by not giving up, he’s doing an awful lot of “wider good” as well.

For those of you who are Orthodox Christians, as a note, Jeff Younger is Orthodox as well; his ex-wife apparently left Orthodoxy over this. The situation is dire, but we hold on to hope. According to the official “Save James” Facebook page, it does seem that the judge who made this latest ruling is under an ethics investigation regarding campaign help and donations made by the ex-wife’s legal team. In addition to prayers for Jeff and the boys, they’ve also requested for prayer for Anne, the boys’ mother, understanding that she is being “spiritually oppressed” and that she may set free from that. #savejames

P.S. There’s still an active GiveSendGo campaign for Jeff Younger. This has been an extremely expensive fight; if you find yourself moved to chip something in, please do.