Report from Genspect Conference, September 2024

As part of my ongoing research into transgender ideology and the issues now affecting many children and adults across the world, I attended the Genspect Conference in Lisbon (Portugal) from Friday 27th – Sunday 29th September 2024. I also attended the inaugural Genspect conference in Killarney (Ireland) in 2023. Both times, they have been set up to run alongside and oppose the transgender-affirming medical conferences EPATH & WPATH, held in the same city.

Genspect is an organisation with a largely secular base looking to interact with and challenge gender-affirming care, citing the abundant (and growing) biological, medical, mental health, sociological, legal and philosophical evidence suggesting that it is not only impossible to transition biological sex and gender, but it is actually harmful to both individuals and wider society, especially in the long-term. The conference attracted an international group of speakers and attendees, including: journalists; political activists; scientists; healthcare providers; lawyers; and family members of trans-identifying people.

I found it to be an extremely informative and enlightening conference. I had multiple opportunities to share the work of OCCA along with the gospel and my own personal testimony, and was able to connect with many other professionals with an aim to collaborate on future work. Although much of the conference was extremely sobering in terms of evaluating and quantifying the harm being done to people struggling with their gender, and their families, it was useful to continue to grapple with many viewpoints in the transgender conversation.

I was also struck that, multiple times, speakers identified that there is a colossal struggle in our society for meaning and purpose, not least with people who are trans-identifying. In addition, multiple presenters suggested that as human beings, there are unchangeable biological realities that we are faced with, and that we live in a broken world where we are lost and face disappointments and grief, both in our bodies and in our minds.

For me, this confirmed that the work of OCCA (and other similar ministries) continues to be invaluable, because we point to the person that we believe to be the answer to all these issues: Jesus Christ. Without God who has made our bodies, minds and souls in his image, who has come into our world to find us in our sin and brokenness, and who has forgiven us and can transform us into his likeness forever, we are hopelessly lost, and without over-arching meaning or purpose. I continue to stand with and look forward to working alongside those with both Christian and non-Christian worldviews in order to help show the way for lost and hurting people questioning their gender, their families and friends, and wider society. We have a better story, so let’s get out there and share it!