The transgender wave has subtly arrived in Slovakia. Among young people, there are some who feel as if they were trapped in their gender. Mainstream culture argues that everyone should have the right to publicly declare the gender identity they feel and, at the same time, that this identity should be respected, even if it shows a contradiction with their sex identity. For example, if a boy feels like a girl, he should be able to change his name, be addressed with feminine pronouns, etc. Legislation is changing. How should we approach these challenges?
Paediatrician Dr Christl Vonholdt will argue from a medical and psychological point of view why children should not be affirmed in a gender identity that does not match their biological sex. To affirm such a split can be deeply harmful for a child’s development. An important topic especially for parents, educators, priests or pastors who are seeking to respond in a way that is both truthful and sensitive and respectful to young people expressions of a fragile identity in the area of gender identity and sexuality.
Dr. Christl Ruth Vonholdt is a retired pediatrician who is actively engaged in the public sphere. Her research has focused primarily on investigating how an (un)healthy father/mother relationship influences the development of a child's identity. Throughout her career, she has also worked on issues of sexuality and gender. In 2004, she defended the right of the child to a father and a mother before the state. Until 2017, she was Director of the German Institute for Youth and Society (DIJG) and is also a member of the Pediatric Committee for Psychosocial Development. She also currently speaks and writes on the topic of transgenderism, advocating for the protection of children and adolescents from emotional and sexual abuse, and for the right of adolescents to be adequately and appropriately informed about the issues of gender, corporeality, identity and sexuality. She has worked in Germany, South Africa and India.
He studied law at the Comenius University in Bratislava. He was a founding member of the civic association Forum of Life and currently works as the chairman of the Institute for Human Rights and Family Policy, o.z. (HFI). He is committed to the protection of life, family and freedom. He is also actively involved in these issues, either through HFI or 'Bratislava for Life'. He is married and has four children. He is a graduate of the 2nd semester of SLH.
