When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment

Ryan T. Anderson

Aug 2019 · Encounter Books

About this eBook

Can a boy be “trapped” in a girl’s body? Can modern medicine “reassign” sex? Is our sex “assigned” to us in the first place? What is the most loving response to a person experiencing a conflicted sense of gender? What should our law say on matters of “gender identity”?

When Harry Became Sally provides thoughtful answers to questions arising from our transgender moment. Drawing on the best insights from biology, psychology, and philosophy, Ryan Anderson offers a nuanced view of human embodiment, a balanced approach to public policy on gender identity, and a sober assessment of the human costs of getting human nature wrong.

This book exposes the contrast between the media’s sunny depiction of gender fluidity and the often sad reality of living with gender dysphoria. It gives a voice to people who tried to “transition” by changing their bodies, and found themselves no better off. Especially troubling are the stories told by adults who were encouraged to transition as children but later regretted subjecting themselves to those drastic procedures.

As Anderson shows, the most beneficial therapies focus on helping people accept themselves and live in harmony with their bodies. This understanding is vital for parents with children in schools where counselors may steer a child toward transitioning behind their backs.

Everyone has something at stake in the controversies over transgender ideology, when misguided “antidiscrimination” policies allow biological men into women’s restrooms and penalize Americans who hold to the truth about human nature. Anderson offers a strategy for pushing back with principle and prudence, compassion and grace.

Ratings and reviews

It is truly sad that common sense has become a condemnation. In 2021, objective math is being proclaimed "white racism". That would be a joke, except that it comes from highly academic sources. The same academic sources (including Ivy league schools) say that when a man, even after 50 years, says he is a woman, then he is truly a woman. In the last century, we were told by 'scientists' that the world would freeze, and run out of food. No apologies were made after that proved wrong. This book uses scientific and common sense methods, but because of the times and questionable science of today, it is damned. Sad.

Mindblowing....It is a shame that this book is highly disregarded. It is almost we are looking back to Medieval era when any progressive idea was supressed and punishable. Shame on you, Amazon! Thank you, Ryan T. Anderson!

Very hypocritical to claim you care about biological women here, and then write an anti abortion book.

About the author

Ryan T. Anderson is the William E. Simon Senior Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation. He is the author of Truth Overruled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Freedom, and co-author of What Is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense and Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination. Anderson has made appearances on ABC, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, and Fox News. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal, and his research has been cited by two U.S. Supreme Court justices in two Supreme Court cases. Anderson received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and his doctoral degree from the University of Notre Dame.