In the wake of the election, some have said that Democrats need to talk less about transgender people.
They have spread lies about trans identity, trans sports, and trans kids.
They have Swift-Boated the Democrats, whowere afraid to fight backand lost votes and credibility as a result.
An LGBTQA+ rights march in Washington, D.C. on March 31, 2023.AFP via Getty Images
We need to take a breath and press the reset button.
Lets start with the definitions of sex and gender.
For almost everyone, biological sex correlates with either anatomy or genetic throw in.
Its mostly a binary, and mostly familiar: boys and girls, men and women.
Gender means something else, which is why its a different word.
But for a small minority recent estimates say between0.6 and 1 percent of the U.S. population they dont.
This condition is known as gender dysphoria, which simply means a non-alignment of sex and gender.
How do we know this?
Well, if you know trans people, especially teenagers, its obvious.
Trans people just exist.
Alternatively, you might read up on four decades of scientific studies.
Science is not guided bypublic opinion.
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The gender spectrum is also part of history.
Many societies have more than two genders.
In my Jewish tradition,the Talmud lists five.
In India, thehijraare a third gender that is neither male nor female.
Themuxepeople are a third gender in Mexico.
Its even in religion.
If youre religious, you might even see gender diversity as part of Gods design.
Obviously, medical interventions to treat gender dysphoria are new, and its reasonable to have questions about them.
But so are Ozempic and Botox, not to mention chemotherapy and heart surgery.
We intervene with nature all the time when the health of our bodies and minds are at stake.
We alter our bodies all the time.
Lets remember whats at stake.
Only 35 percent of trans teenssaytheir families are supportive of them.
I get that people are irritated by pronouns, and dont like being shamed for being politically incorrect.
(Since Ive simplified some things in this article, Ill probably catch some of that myself.)
So, sure, we can have conversations about sports, pronouns, and bathrooms.
We can talk about when hormones or puberty blockers are appropriate, and what safeguards should be in place.
We can call people into conversation, rather than call them out for their offenses.
But thats not whats happening right now.
According to every medical organization in America, trans girls are not simply boys.
It is flat-out wrong to deny these facts and it is dangerous.
My first question, whenever this happens, is always: Do you know someone trans?
My second question is: Do you know the parent of a trans kid?
They want what all parents want: whats best for their kids.
Check out thisMissouri dad who spoke to the state legislaturethere about his daughter.
Why is this anyones business but the families?
Thats how civil society functions.
We need to do better.
At stake are hundreds of thousands of lives.
