The cultural battle over gender ideology is first and foremost a battle over words and their definitions. It matters a great deal, for example, how we define “ transgenderism .” Is it a legitimate biological disposition, or is it an abnormal mental affliction that spreads socially?

The reason this definition is so important is because it will determine how we respond to transgenderism, both culturally and politically. Gender ideologues know this better than anyone, which is why they’ve waged an aggressive campaign to normalize terms such as “cisgender,” “gender-affirming care,” and “ gender identity.” The more the public is exposed to these terms and the underlying idea that a person can identify as a different sex, the more willing they will be to accept them as normal and make accommodations for them.

But here’s the thing: There is nothing normal about gender ideology. It is an affront to biology and nature to argue that a person can change sexes. A person can, of course, identify as whatever they wish — but that does not change their physical reality.

I say all of this because there’s an important debate among gender ideology opponents as to how to best defeat it. Last week, for example, a prominent reporter on this subject left the Daily Wire over concerns that the outlet’s coverage of gender ideology was too divisive and that it left no room for allied “transsexuals” who don’t impose their preferences on the public. Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) struck a similar tone during a CNN town hall last week when he offered up “gender-neutral bathrooms” as an option for students who don’t wish to use the public restroom that aligns with their sex.

I believe both Youngkin and Christina Buttons are well-meaning people who have and will continue to do great work on this issue. But both are, perhaps inadvertently, helping normalize an ideology that is anything but.

I want to focus specifically on the issue of gender-neutral bathroom options because it’s an appealing policy that seems to cover all the bases. It protects women’s rights by keeping men out of their private spaces, and it takes into consideration the discomfort of gender-confused students.

The problem, however, is that by creating separate spaces for gender-confused students, you are signaling that it is normal and even OK for them to be permanently gender-confused in the first place. It isn’t.

Until very recently, everyone in the scientific and medical establishment agreed with that statement. In fact, gender confusion, or gender dysphoria, was for a long time documented as a rare mental affliction that primarily affected young boys, the vast majority of whom would later grow out of it. Now, 1 in 5 Generation Z young adults say they identify as transgender. The reason for this spike is obvious: Transgenderism is now more socially acceptable than it has ever been. It is therefore spreading like wildfire among young people who see it as a way out of the social and physical discomfort that maturation brings.

The way to stop this social contagion in its tracks, then, is to stop treating it as socially acceptable. This is especially important when it comes to policy. Our laws reflect reality, not the whims and feelings of confused persons. That might seem harsh, but so is all truth to those who lack the ears to hear it. A man cannot become a woman, nor can a woman become a man, and we must not bend the law even a little bit to pretend otherwise.

To be sure, it would be foolish to think that enforcing the truth on this issue will suddenly cause every ideologue and gender-confused person to snap to. And certainly, there is a time and place for a compassionate appeal to reason and common sense with those who are lost. But that is not the government’s job. The responsibility of the state is to pass and execute laws that conform to the laws of nature, lest we fall into the trap of subjectivity in which everyone gets to determine his own versions of right and wrong.

So to those who are tempted to think there’s a middle-of-the-road approach to gender ideology or that it’s possible to resist it while still making certain accommodations for those who disagree: Don’t. Transgenderism is not normal, right, or good. The sooner the state stops humoring the falsehood of transgenderism, the sooner we will be rid of gender ideology and its harms.

Kaylee McGhee White is the editor of Restoring America for the Washington Examiner and a senior fellow at the Independent Women's Forum.