A non-binary couple named Addison and Ethan, guests in Dr. Phil's recent episode together with the Daily Wire's Matt Walsh, say they felt "attacked" when the latter pointed out the truths on gender identity and dysphoria.
Church Leaders reported that Dr. Phil asked Walsh if he thought there was a "construct" for transgenders and other members of the LGBTQ. Walsh responded with "realities" that transgenders use pronouns and adjectives merely based on feelings and not the truth.
"Well, that's got nothing to do with the realities. You can feel however you want. I mean, I could sit here and say that I feel like a tomato plant, but that doesn't actually mean that I am those things," Walsh said as he sat opposite two people who identify as transgender and non-binary.
"You can have whatever self-perceptions you want. But you can't expect me to take part in that self-perception or to take part in this kind of charade, this theatrical production."
"You don't get your own pronouns, just like you don't get your own prepositions or your own adjectives," Walsh continued. "You know, it's like if I were to tell you, 'My adjectives are handsome and brilliant, and whenever you're talking about me, you have to describe me as handsome and brilliant, because that's how I identify.' It makes no sense. You don't get your own pronouns. That's grammar; that's language."
Dr. Phil asked Walsh further if he thought that those who do identify themselves as transgender are "delusional" to which the latter agreed to and pointed out as a probable "mental illness" and a whole "lot of different things."
According to Walsh, parents who tolerate such "confusion" in children are not helping children at all. He pointed out that parents should be able to help children understand their feelings better. He explained that a four-year-old boy coming up to a parent saying "I'm a girl now" to mean that the child wants to do things girls do and they may allow their children to do so but such an action will never change the true identity and gender of that boy.
He underscored the fact that a four-year-old can't answer basic questions and can not understand many things, how could that four year old possibly decide upon his identity.
Walsh then asked his co-panelists Addison and Ethan if they could define the word "woman," which they used to define themselves despite being biological men. However, the couple stated they couldn't but Walsh insisted they define it since they identify with it. But after several attempts, the transgender couple could not really define what the word means.
"Womanhood is something that is an umbrella term. It includes people who--" Addison responded.
"That describes what?" Walsh responded.
"People who identify as a woman," Addison continued.
"What you want to do is appropriate women. You want to appropriate womanhood and turn it into basically a costume that can be worn," Walsh eventually concluded.
Addison, after the episode, revealed in his Instagram account that he and Ethan experienced "anxiety" because of their encounter with Walsh and alluded they were caught off guard by something allegedly "planned" by Dr. Phil against them.
"Since the taping, Ethan and I have been experiencing a heightened level of anxiety to the point that we've had numerous nightmares and depressions spirals over the last month (this week has been the [worst]). What ended up happening was much different than they discussed with us, and we left feeling attacked by another guest and played by the producers," Addison disclosed.
"Please send us both good vibes today, we could really use it. We tried our best with no preparation for what the Dr. Phil show actually had planned behind our backs, and we hope our visibility inspires viewers," he said.
Walsh, on the other hand, responded in his Twitter account with screencaps of Addison's post in Instagram. He rebutted their claims and expressed his confidence in what he spoke of during the episode. Accordingly, Walsh has been applauded by conservatives for his statements "fighting a fight" that "many pastors don't have the guts to fight but need to." While liberals and LGBTQ advocates criticized him as "lousy," among others.
"Contrary to my fellow panelists, I felt great after the taping and feel even better now. That's because I'm 100 percent confident in my view on the topic and everything they said was blatant nonsense which did not for even a second cause me to second guess my own perspective," Walsh underscored.