Even biologists are confused about gender confusion. One thing they know from science: it is not biological.
A study at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles resulted in a politically-incorrect conclusion: transgender identity is not due to hormone imbalance.
“We’ve now put to rest the residual belief that transgender experience is a result of a hormone imbalance,” said Dr. Johanna Olson, of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “It’s not.”
Olson and her colleagues found that transgender youth have sex hormone levels consistent with the gender they were assigned at birth. So, a transgender youth who is assigned a female gender at birth, usually based on the appearance of external genitalia, has the same female balance of estrogen and testosterone pumping through her body as any other biological girl; yet she nevertheless “feels” male.
The study, reported by Live Science, was based on 101 gender-confused individuals, ages 12 to 24, “from diverse backgrounds in terms of race, income, family structure and religion.” This minimized cultural influences from those factors. On average, they were at age 8 when feeling a discrepancy between their “assigned” gender and their “self-perception” of gender.
The article notes, “Studies have revealed that transgender youth are three times more likely to have suicidal thoughts, and four times more likely to have attempted suicide, compared to nontransgender (also called cisgender) youth.” Reporter Christopher Wanjek attributes this to the shame that society puts on them.
The study creates a conflict between science and culture. As the transgender movement gains steam (after the highly-publicized case of Bruce or “Caitlin” Jenner), LGBT individuals want to have it both ways. They want to be able to blame their biology, but they also want to claim it’s a personal choice. This happened with homosexuality years ago when psychologists decided to remove it as a “disorder.” Note the careful wording by Wanjek this time:
But searching for a biological explanation of gender identity shouldn’t imply that being transgender is something that needs to be corrected. “The idea that being transgender is a ‘disorder’ of any kind invalidates a specific human experience that has existed since the beginning of human experience,” Olson added.
Olson just wants the gender confused to “thrive” as a result of the findings. But if there is no biological basis for it, what is left as a cause other than personal choice? One way to avoid criticism is to leave things indecisive:
It may be that a transgender individual who feels male or female has a brain structure similar to those of other males or females, respectively, Olson said. However, the data remain inconclusive.
There are rare cases where an individual is born with extra X or Y chromosomes that might influence their sexual identity. Aside from those, what is a transgender individual to think of himself, herself, or itself? If there is no biological basis, it’s a choice. But if it’s a choice, the individual could choose to go back to its biological gender; so why should society give the person special rights and protections, including access to opposite-sex bathrooms (to the harm of “cis-gender” [normal] people)? On the other hand, if it is biological, should it not be corrected as any other biological abnormality?
Scientists and reporters don’t appear eager to get into those debates.
The “identity” craze has already gone past absurd. If someone can decide what gender they are, regardless of plumbing, why can’t they decide what race they are, regardless of skin color? How about the fat man identifying as a skinny girl, or the short guy identifying as an NBA giant? Do we want to let a stocky bearded man enter a girl’s bathroom to shrieks of terror from the girls, just because he claims he feels like a woman? Will women who identify as men be barred from all-female colleges? Will men who identify as women be allowed in, not only to matriculate, but use the women’s dorms and showers? These issues are already being faced. Where does the craziness end? “My mother the car” may come back into vogue at this rate.
Cheers for the Texas Supreme Court justices who unanimously overruled a leftist city attorney in Houston intent on punishing those who opposed his LGBT agenda (see FRC). Elsewhere, the outlook is not bright. First, it was LG demanding rights. Then, B (bisexuals) wanted in. Now it’s T for transgender. How many other groups will jump on the bandwagon? Are polygamists next? Probably. In the limit, society breaks down when everybody wants special protection for every choice they make. Maybe that would be the best way to stop the craziness; people with common sense forcing society to accept their identity as sensible on the grounds that they were born that way. LGBTCS perhaps? Short circuit!
Everyone should be treated with respect and compassion; that’s not at issue. But true compassion helps a confused person become less confused. Each sex is beautiful in its own way. Wise people learn to accept the way they were born, and rejoice in it, finding additional pleasure in the attractions of the opposite sex. A good church counselor help a person work through an identity crisis. Just because some individuals struggle with feelings about their sexuality, that doesn’t mean they have to act on them. We don’t give free rein to sex addicts, do we? Wisdom includes self-control.
Unfortunately, at the rate the world plummets down the LGBT slippery slope, it will be illegal to counsel someone out of their gender confusion, even though transgenderism appears to have no biological basis and puts the person at high risk for depression and suicide. Leftists will force taxpayers to pay for hormonal therapy and sex-change surgery, but disallow doctors or counselors from trying to bring a confused individual’s “feelings” into alignment with their biology. Disagreeing with these policies will bring on heaps of scorn and violence, all in the name of tolerance. Oh wait; that’s already happening.
It’s time to tolerate reality.
