We are living in extraordinary times. For years, we watched with heavy hearts as schools rushed to adopt policies addressing gender-confused students that were built on junk science and political blackmail. We prayed, we spoke the truth in love when we could, and many of you stood up at the cost of jobs and reputations. And now—praise God—the ground beneath gender ideology is cracking.

On January 30, 2026, a New York jury delivered the first successful medical-malpractice verdict in a detransitioner case. Fox Varian, now 22, was awarded $2 million after undergoing a double mastectomy at age 16. The jury found that her psychologist and plastic surgeon failed to obtain meaningful informed consent and properly evaluate her underlying conditions (including the effects of her autism). Despite the increasingly demanding assertions by her psychologist to Varian’s mom that she needed surgery to avoid suicide, 

Varian said that “she regretted the surgery immediately after removing the bandages.” [Her mother] recalled: “She was still anxious, she was still depressed, she still had all the same issues,” some of which even worsened. After the mastectomy, Varian began to cut herself.  

While worth celebrating, we might hope this case was a sweeping indictment of all so-called “gender-affirming care.” Unfortunately, that label doesn’t quite fit here. Even the president-elect of the corrupt World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) testified in favor of Varian that “a reasonable surgeon would have put on the brakes.” Yet, the widespread tendency of ideologically captured practitioners to rush their patients into puberty blockers and surgeries without thorough mental health screening suggests that there will be no shortage of similar cases. In fact, there are nearly 30 similar cases already filed. Liability insurance companies are no doubt panicking. Godspeed to those plaintiffs.

Professional medical associations were compelled to act. Within days of the verdict, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) announced that there is “insufficient evidence demonstrating a favorable risk-benefit ratio” for gender-related surgeries on minors. The American Medical Association (AMA) quickly followed suit. Another data point: over the last year, 42 hospitals and health systems have backed off providing “gender-affirming” care to minors, largely due to the Trump administration threatening their federal funding. 

In last night’s State of the Union address, President Trump spotlighted the heartbreaking story of Virginia teenager Sage Blair. At just 14, she was socially transitioned by school officials and a counselor without her (custodial) grandmother’s knowledge. The affirmation contributed to a psychotic breakdown, leading her to run away from home. Blair was then abducted, raped, and sex-trafficked. When the FBI located her, state authorities refused to return her to her grandmother—solely because she would not affirm her male identity—and placed her in an all-boys facility, where she was predictably sexually abused again. She escaped, only to be abducted and trafficked once more, enduring drugging, starvation, and torture. Nearly a year later, she was finally returned home. Now 18, she is at peace with her female identity and is an advocate for much-needed reform. Kudos to Liberty University, where she attends on a full scholarship. Let’s pray for her continued healing. 

Trump was right to emphatically state Tuesday night, “Surely we can all agree no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents’ arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents’ will… We must ban it, and we must ban it immediately.” For sure. 

I believe this is the tipping point we have prayed for. The same institutions that once pushed rapid affirmation are now tacitly acknowledging what Biblically informed believers have always known: God’s design as male and female is good, and rushing children into irreversible interventions is not compassionate care—it is medical harm.

What does this mean for us as Christian public-school educators?

Clearly, the legal and cultural shield that protected aggressive social-transition policies is weakening. Parents are already filing lawsuits alleging that schools violated their constitutional rights by transitioning their children without their consent. 

However, in progressive states and districts, many of us are still bound by policies or state laws that require staff to use transgender names/pronouns and to keep gender-related information from parents. Do we still have to obey those policies? Legally, the answer is becoming more nuanced. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, state Religious Freedom Restoration Acts, and the First Amendment’s protection against compelled speech provide stronger grounds for religious accommodations than ever before. Courts are increasingly skeptical of policies that force employees to affirm beliefs they cannot in good conscience affirm.

But another interesting question is now in view: will school officials face legal jeopardy in the future? Almost certainly. The same logic that led to Fox Varian’s $2 million award against doctors will likely be applied to districts and administrators who ignored parental rights, rushed social transitions, or failed to follow emerging medical caution. So how can we, as Christian educators, serve God’s purposes in either holding our schools accountable or assisting them in changing course and possibly avoiding legal jeopardy?

• Document everything. When asked to use names or pronouns that contradict biological reality, politely request a religious accommodation in writing. 
• Partner with parents. Encourage transparency and remind administrators that involving parents is both legally safer and morally right. 
• Share the shifting medical consensus. Forward the ASPS and AMA statements to colleagues and leaders—many principals and counselors rely on professional associations to guide their decisions. 
• Get Support. Christian Educators exist precisely for moments like these. We provide legal guidance, prayer support, and Biblical encouragement so you are never alone.

While we can rejoice in these victories for gender-confused students and educators caught under oppressive policies that enable them, let’s continue to pray and contend for the final defeat of gender ideology in our schools. May it properly join the ranks of slavery, eugenics, and other wicked constructs on the ash heap of history, so one day we can look back in astonishment that anyone, anywhere could ever have thought that sterilizing and mutilating the healthy body parts of minors ever made sense. 

Regarding other matters, here are a few updates to be aware of:

• New U.S. Department of Education Guidance on Prayer and Religious Expression in Public Schools. Incorporating recent Supreme Court cases, the new guidance provides clearer protection for both students and school employees to engage in personal religious expression during non-instructional time. This new guidance opens the door for teachers to pray with willing students (again, during non-instructional time) as long as the teacher is not suggesting, supervising, or coercing the prayer.
  
  
• Illinois Good News Club. For years, the Moline-Coal Valley School District has charged the Good News Club fees, restricted literature distribution, and barred participation in Backpack Nights, while giving free access and full privileges to secular groups like the YMCA and scouting. This appears to be a textbook example of what not to do (unless a school district wants to lose in court). I expect a quick settlement in favor of the Good News Club. 
  
  
• 10 Commandments in Louisiana. The 5th Circuit Court ruled last weekend that Louisiana’s law requiring every public school classroom to display the Ten Commandments can be enforced. The ruling did not address Texas, which has a similar law and an ongoing legal challenge. 
  
  
• Nashville First-Grade Teacher Reassigned. Eric Rivera, A devoted Christian first-grade teacher in Nashville, was removed from his classroom after requesting a simple religious accommodation: he arranged to have another teacher read two required books that promoted same-sex marriage, so he didn’t have to, because the content violated his Biblical convictions. Pray for Rivera and First Liberty Institute as they seek justice in this case, and check out this coverage from my favorite podcast. 
  
  

Finally, let’s remember that even in victory, our hope is not in improving our circumstances or winning political victories—circumstances are fickle. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, “the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame.” And note: the “joy set before him” was spending eternity with you!