Just say "boy" or "man." I promise you, it's the right thing to do.
Out of Illinois comes the latest allegation in the nation’s ongoing transgender mania:
A mom of a Deerfield, Illionois, school district student testified at a school board meeting that her daughter and her daughter's classmates were forced to undress in front of a boy pretending to be a girl.
When the girls refused to change, the school reportedly sent staff to the locker room to force them to change in front of the boy.
I should qualify at this point that I do not know if this is true. These are, at this point, allegations; so far as I know they have not been directly refuted either in public or in court. It could be this incident happened; it could be it happened but not in the way described; it could be some huge misunderstanding. This should always be considered. But of course I have no trouble believing it’s true. Do you? Do you think it’s unbelievable that public school administrators would force reluctant girls to undress in front of a boy in order to satisfy the dictates of transgender ideology? In fact that sounds to me like an entirely credible, believable, completely unsurprising allegation. Say it to yourself: “That would never happen!” “School administrators would never do that, not in 2025!” Do you believe yourself?
I have little to remark on here as to the substance of the charges themselves; we are past the point of shock and incredulity and we are at the point where, yes, it is just completely plausible that gender-obsessed adults would force underage girls to disrobe in front of young boys. And one of the many reasons that this strikes me as absolutely believable is the media response to these claims—specifically the conservative media response. Consider these headlines:
National Review: “Middle School Staff Forced Girls to Change in Front of Trans-Identifying Boy, Mom Says”
Fox News: “Illinois mother […] says daughter nearly forced to change in front of trans student”
Daily Wire: “Illinois School Staff Watched To Ensure Girls Changed In Front Of Trans-Identifying Boy, Mom Says”
You will notice what is absent from these headlines, namely a straightforward presentation of the facts, e.g.: School administrators allegedly forced young girls to change in front of a boy. A boy. That’s the kicker! That’s the whole controversy. Not that young girls were forced to change in front of a “trans-identifying boy” or a “trans student.” That’s all LGBT gobblygook, made-up words describing made-up ideas in service to a delusion, and it’s all just confusing and distracting. The shocking thing here isn’t that young girls were forced to change in front of someone with a mythical cross-sex identity; it’s that young girls were reportedly made to get naked in front of a boy. That’s the only reason anyone’s reporting on this!
This should be easy. It should be a conservative media slam-dunk, barely worth an editorial quibble. And yet, with few exceptions, even the nominally conservative media cannot for whatever reason bring itself to call a boy a boy, instead sort of half-accepting the premises of the transgender movement and cloaking a scandal like this in the bewildering, misleading language of the transgender movement.
So, yes, I don’t have any trouble believing that all this actually happened, not when even the “conservative” news outlets are too scared to report on it honestly.
In any event, here is a tip for anyone who is on the fence about this: In instances where there is some dispute over transgender ideology, particularly where it concerns the safety and privacy of women and girls, just call boys “boys” and men “men.” Don’t struggle and stumble and mumble trying to figure out some formulation or syntax that you think might be pleasing or mollifying to transgender activists. Just say it accurately and without varnish. E.g.: “Did you hear some school administrators forced a bunch of middle school girls to change in front of a boy?”
Or: “Wow, down at the gym they’ve started letting men into the women’s locker rooms.”
Or: “My daughter’s all-girls high school has started admitting boys.”
Or: “My friend is a biker and she went to Belgium to compete in Le Samyn des Dames but they’re letting men race in it now and three men took home all the medals.”
Do you see how much more accurately this captures the nastiness, the injustice, and the insanity of this whole charade? Instead of “trans-identifying male student” you just say “boy.” Or instead of “trans woman who is biologically male,” you just say “man.” These terms are true, honest, and fair. There is no reason not to use them.
A lot of good has happened on this front in recent years, particularly in the last several months. The tide does seem to be turning in the way of sanity and fairness and away from the dangerous, violent, and unjust ideology of transgenderism. But we’ll know that the order is really shifting when normal, reasonable people stop being afraid of the words “boy” and “man.” Once people just start being brave again and using those words without hesitating, you’ll know things are truly changing for the better.