Podcast Summary: The Briefing with Albert Mohler

Date: Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Host: R. Albert Mohler, Jr.
Main Theme: The Decline of LGBTQ (Trans/Queer) Identification Among Gen Z and the Culture’s “Vibe Shift” — Cultural and Scientific Reflections

Episode Overview

In this episode, Albert Mohler explores new data and analysis suggesting a steep decline in trans and queer identification among Generation Z, especially in elite educational institutions. Drawing from a significant report authored by Eric Kaufman and data from prestigious schools and surveys, Mohler discusses what’s driving this cultural shift, the nature of “social contagion” and “fashion” in identity, and how scientific voices—even from the secular and atheistic left—are challenging the ideological underpinnings of the trans movement. He further examines the implications of recent assertions by atheist biologist Richard Dawkins, who issues a scientific critique of non-binary and transgender arguments.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Eric Kaufman's Report: Declining Trans/Queer Identification

Timestamps: 00:04 – 17:55

• Substantial Drop Documented

  • Large-scale surveys (FIRE study of 60,000 undergraduates, 2025) show a halving of those identifying as trans in just two years:
    • 2025: 3.6% of respondents identified as something other than male or female.
    • 2024: 5.2%
    • 2022/2023: 6.8%
    • “In other words, the share of trans identified students has effectively halved in just two years.” (Mohler quoting Kaufman, 00:18)
  • Elite high school (Phillips Andover Academy):
    • 2023: 9.2% identified as neither male nor female
    • 2025: Just 3%.

• Broader Patterns

  • Similar drops seen in sexual minority/queer identification, not just gender identity.
  • A “near 10-point return to the norm” observed over past two years in several datasets. (00:32)

• Possible Explanations: Social Contagion and Fashion

  • Mohler and Kaufman both attribute the rise (and current fall) partly to “social contagion”—the tendency of peer groups, especially adolescent girls, to copy and amplify certain non-conformist identities.
  • Key Quote:
    • “Much of this deviation from sexual norms and gender norms is driven by peer pressure. It is, for one thing, evidently a contagion, a specific kind of contagion... What we refer to as a social contagion.” (Mohler, 02:10)
  • The term “fashion” is now openly used even by some on the left:
    • “Younger students ‘are less BTQ than older students in their colleges.’ And Kaufman says that is a sign that fashions are changing.” (Mohler citing Kaufman, 06:37)

• Nature of the Change: Not Ontological or Biological

  • Mohler underscores the “faddish” nature of the phenomenon:
    • "You really are talking about something that can't be explained by... biology. That underlines the word fashion here. Something is going on here that is more explained by something like fashion—trying on BTQ identity. Fewer now trying it on. It's not as cool as it used to be.” (Mohler, 07:21)

• Elite Example – Ivy League & Competitive Schools

  • Brown University: 5% identified as non-binary in 2022-23; only 2.6% in 2025. (08:42)
  • “If it’s a fashion, then it could come in fashion and then go out of fashion.” (Mohler, 09:05)

• Mohler’s Theological Theory

  • The basic biological reality of sex/gender remains central, even when politics or ideology try to obscure it:
    • “Figuring out if you’re a boy or a girl would seem to have priority [for young people]...” (Mohler, 11:07)

2. Interpreting the “Vibe Shift”: Post-Progressiveness and Challenges to Leftist Assumptions

Timestamps: 10:05 – 17:55

• Shift from “Progressive” to “Post-Progressive”

  • New trend described as “post progressive”—a correction or reaction to recent progressivism.
  • “Things were moving in a direction defined as progressive, and now a reaction to that, or on the other side of that, post progressive.” (Mohler, 13:05)
  • Mohler pushes back on Hegelian, ever-leftward view of history, suggesting the present moment demonstrates history is not an uninterrupted, one-way arc.

• Not a Full Rejection of WokePolitics

  • These new “anti-woke” tendencies are specific to gender/sexuality; young people remain largely aligned with progressive attitudes on other issues.

3. Richard Dawkins and the Biological Critique of Transgender Ideology

Timestamps: 17:56 – End

• Dawkins’ Credentials and Worldview

  • Mohler introduces Dawkins as a leading evolutionary biologist and vocal atheist, but also an advocate for basic biological realities:
    • “You need biology to get evolution, and you also need male and female to get evolution...” (Mohler, 20:03)

• Dawkins’ Argument in The War on Science

  • In a new essay, Dawkins asserts the immutability and binarity of biological sex:
    • “There is no non-binary in the entire catalog of nature. ... There’s no third thing between male and female... It’s a sperm or an egg. Nothing in between.” (Mohler reporting Dawkins, 25:01)

• Memorable Quotes from Dawkins

  • On biology:
    • “In humans, one look at a newborn baby is nearly always enough to clinch it. ... Even if it occasionally isn’t, the genetic structure remains unshaken.” (Dawkins, cited by Mohler, 26:36)
  • On gender identity:
    • “Maybe they’ve sincerely bought into the superstition that uttering the magic incantation, ‘I am a woman’—he means as a man—quote ‘turns you into one like a pumpkin turning into Cinderella’s coach.’” (Dawkins, cited by Mohler, 28:44)
  • On mainstream adoption of language:
    • “So powerful has the postmodern counterfactualism become that newspapers refer to her, I’ll just say, male organ as a matter of unremarked routine.” (Dawkins, cited by Mohler, 31:05)
  • On the “trans women are women” slogan:
    • “I draw the line at the belligerent slogan ‘trans women are women’ because it is scientifically false... When taken literally, it can infringe the rights of other people, especially, hold for it, women.” (Dawkins, cited by Mohler, 31:53)

• Dawkins’ Alarm at Suppression of Science

  • Warns of ideological capture, especially by DEI initiatives, noting even leftist academics are caving under activist pressure.

• Mohler’s Closing Reflection

  • Christians and atheists may have deeply opposing worldviews, but both can see the clarity of male and female as ordered in creation/biology.
  • “It is interesting that the five alarm fire right now, when it comes to scientists like Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss, it’s not any kind of threat from the right. It is the threat from the DEI, LGBTQ, ESG left.” (Mohler, 34:08)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Declining Identification:

  • “The share of trans identified students has effectively halved in just two years.” - Mohler quoting Kaufman [00:18]
  • “The number has crashed to just 3%. So we’re not talking about halved here, 9.2% in 2023, 3% in 2025.” - Mohler [01:47]

• On Social Contagion & Fashion:

  • “A lot of this that is claimed to be based upon immutable identity... clearly... is, at least in some cases, a fashion.” - Mohler [06:54]
  • “Trying on BTQ identity. Fewer now trying it on. It’s not as cool as it used to be.” - Mohler [07:29]

• On the “Vibe Shift”:

  • “It turns out that the same Surveys polling these same young people... They’re not sounding anti-woke on many other issues. They’re sounding particularly anti-woke on this one.” - Mohler [10:47]

• On Dawkins’ Critique:

  • “There is no non binary in the entire catalog of nature. ... There’s no third thing between male and female.” - Dawkins (via Mohler) [25:01]
  • “The cell isn’t socially constructed. The cell is a thing... It is the most profound unit.” - Dawkins (via Mohler) [24:15]
  • “‘Trans women are women’... is scientifically false.” - Dawkins (via Mohler) [31:53]

Key Segment Timestamps

• 00:04 — 10:00: Survey results and detailed trend analysis from FIRE, Phillips Academy, Brown University.
• 10:01 — 17:55: Interpreting cultural change, social contagion, and the “fashion” argument.
• 17:56 — 34:10: Richard Dawkins’ critique of transgender ideology, science vs. activism, and the common ground of biological reality.

Tone and Style

• Mohler’s tone is analytical, reflective, and at times wryly humorous, but always from a conservative theological perspective.
• He maintains a focus on empirical data and primary sources, layering in scriptural/biblical anthropology as interpretive context.
• Notable for bridging secular scientific (even atheistic) critiques with Christian worldview analysis.

Summary prepared for listeners seeking a comprehensive yet concise understanding of the episode's major arguments and insights.