A N LGBTQ +-A FFIRM IN G D E M O N STRATIO N N E A R CR O S S R OA DS CHUR CH O N J ULY 2 5 > > PHOTO : MA RY L E B US
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embers of Cincinnati's LGBTQ+ community and their allies are asking Crossroads Church in Oakley to support everyone — or to stop pretending. On July 18, David Mahan gave a controversial guest sermon at Crossroads that included transphobic notions, angering local activists and even some members of the Crossroads congregation, people have told CityBeat on background. Mahan is the policy director at the Center for Christian Virtue in Columbus, which "seeks the good of our neighbors by advocating for public policy that reflects the truth of the Gospel," according to its website. According to a public video uploaded by a Facebook user, Mahan’s sermon at the Oakley mega-church fixated on transgender individuals — their prevalence in society, Planned Parenthood’s support and their supposed “criminality.” (CityBeat has not yet been able to confirm the video's originator, but Brian Garry, chair of Neighborhoods United who was at the sermon, also sent video and audio to media outlets). Mahan denigrated transgender individuals using hormones.
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"We've got five and six gender clinics in the state of Ohio right now charging $430 a pop for hormone treatments for these kids every three to six months. Couldn't somebody from the house of God say 'Is it peace?' Is this really necessary based on the best science that we have?" Mahan said. During the sermon, Mahan also said the following:
“We think of a kid with anorexia bulimia. She is 60 pounds soaking wet. Come in here talking about 'I want to commit suicide because I'm fat.' How do you respond? What is your loving response to that child? Affirmation? Or do you try to get her dysphoric mentality of herself to line up with her biological reality? What do we do? And if we would do the latter, why wouldn't we do that with the same dysphoric condition for transgender?” Mahan also cited a study of transgender individuals out of context, alleging that adults are pushing transgender children through hormone therapy and surgery and that transgender individuals would be happier if they were “allowed” to go through puberty:
“If you would just let these kids alone, if you would give them two things, which is counseling, therapy and counseling — which is being banned at the statehouse right now — and two, if you would let them go through puberty, which is why they want to ban and suppress puberty right now, because if you let them go through that, it’s really harder for them to justify what they’re doing to these children. Voices are changing, things like that. “But here’s something I want to break down. Of all these 324 gender dysphoric individuals, those that actually went through the full transition, surgery, the whole nine (yards), listen, this was the outcome. Significant increased risk of mortality from all causes. Rate of psychiatric hospitalization was three times higher than the control group. Significantly increased rate of criminal conviction. Suicide attempts went up five times. Listen to this: death by suicide, actual completed suicide, increased, what, 19 times.”
