Webinar abstract Dr. Rouhana will present on eight arguments for “Gender Dysphoria” as a mental disorder along with some aspects of the theological problems.Dr. Hruz will present on clinical aspects, “treatment” fallacies, and dangers, with reference to the complementarity of faith and science in addressing “gender dysphoria.” Our presenters Stephen Rouhana, Ph.D. Gender Dysphoria – Lessons from Science and Faith Dr. Stephen Rouhana is a husband, father, and grandfather with a Ph.D. in physics. He worked for 17 years at General Motors Research Labs and 15 years at Ford’s Scientific Research Labs, trying to save lives in automotive crashes. He authored or co-authored 82 technical publications, 3 book chapters, and 18 U.S. patents, and 7 international patents. Among other awards, he’s received the U.S. Government Award for Safety Engineering Excellence, the Award of Merit from the Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine, and is a Fellow of Society of Automotive Engineers and a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.As a young Catholic, he felt called to serve God. Near the end of his career in research, that calling led him to Sacred Heart Major Seminary for a master’s degree in Pastoral Studies. In December 2014, he retired to concentrate on serving in ministries within the Catholic Church. He has authored two books: “A Rosary for Religious and Restless Minds – The Structured Contemplative Rosary,” and “The King and Queen are Naked: Establishment Failures based on Scientific, Medical, and Psychiatric Research on ‘Gender Dysphoria,’” both published by En Route Books and Media. He currently serves in many ministries and is a faculty member of the Catholic Biblical School Ministry. Abstract This presentation is derived from my book titled, “The King and Queen are Naked – Establishment Failures based on Scientific, Medical, and Psychiatric Research on ‘Gender Dysphoria’.” The term “Gender Dysphoria” was created by a small group of psychiatrists in the American Psychiatric Association (APA). It is currently used in reference to people who experience confusion about their own gender and is part of the APA’s clinical reference guide known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders (aka the ‘DSM’). The APA asserts that experiencing feelings of living in a body of the wrong gender is not a mental disorder. Instead, they claim that distress caused by those feelings is what is disordered.In the presentation, I share the results of a scientific analysis of over 275 journal articles on “Gender Dysphoria.” The analysis leads to the conclusion that the feeling that one is living in a body of the wrong gender is a mental disorder. The presentation will go through the eight arguments for that conclusion and will show how the APA has ignored their own definition of a mental disorder in an effort to mislead the public and to ensure continued funding for gender-affirming care by insurance companies.The presentation also addresses how faith enters into the equation of “Gender Dysphoria.” An analysis of Church teaching from sacred scripture, magisterial documents, and understanding of moral theology are all brough to bear on the topic. A response for Catholics, individually and corporately, is proposed. Paul Hruz, M.D., Ph.D. Scientific Fact and Fallacy in the Evidence Base for Medical Management of Sex Discordant Gender Identification Paul Hruz is a Pediatric Endocrinologist and Physician-Scientist. He currently holds academic appointments as an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Professor of Cellular Biology and Physiology. Dr. Hruz received his Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from Marquette University. He received his M.D. Degree and Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Medical College of Wisconsin. He completed Residency training in Pediatrics at the University of Washington in Seattle and a Pediatric Endocrinology fellowship at Washington University. Hruz served at the Chief of the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes at Washington University from 2012-2017. In his laboratory-based research career, he has contributed to improvements in the treatment of people with HIV infection. For the past decade, he has presented scientific evidence related to the medical care of children with gender dysphoria to a variety of audiences both nationally and internationally. Dr. Hruz is board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Endocrinology. He has also received certification in Healthcare Ethics from the National Catholic Bioethics Center. Dr. Hruz. has authored over 60 peer-reviewed manuscripts, scientific reviews and book chapters. Most importantly, together with his wife Anne, he has raised five children in St. Louis. Abstract In this presentation, Dr. Hruz will discuss ongoing scientific controversy in the rapidly expanding field of “gender medicine” with specific attention to serious deficiencies in the evidence base for the gender affirmation model. Individuals who experience sex-discordant gender identification frequently seek medical care to address significant psychosocial morbidities. As in all areas of medicine, healthcare professionals have a moral duty to utilize the foundational ethical principles of beneficence and nonmaleficence with the goals of alleviating suffering and restoring health. Achievement of these aims is facilitated by a firm understanding of the meaning of health, discovery and application of scientific evidence regarding disease pathogenesis, and objective assessment of the relative risks versus benefit of any proposed intervention. Well-established understanding of the role of sex-steroid hormones on growth, metabolism, bone health, and neuro-cognitive development together with emerging data on adverse effects of intentionally inducing the pathologic state of hypogonadotropic hypogonadism will be exposed. Known and unknown effects on psychological health will also be considered. Finally, a framework for conducting ethical controlled clinical studies on psychological intervention based upon anthropologically sound scientific premises will be proposed.
