Friday, November 23, 2007

Ike Signs, The Post Suckers for the Re-Framing

I saw a blogger yesterday who linked to the Washington Post, noting that they had said that places with nondiscrimination laws like our new one had experienced no problems with men lurking in ladies rooms. And, yes, it's true that's in there, about three-quarters of the way down. That fact was certainly not featured in their telling of the story.

Oddly, The Post is the only real paper -- I am not including the Family Blah Blah newsletters -- that has opted to go along with the red-herring message of the pro-discrimination groups.

In case you haven't been following: Montgomery County just passed a law prohibiting discrimination against people on the basis of gender identity, and the Nutty Ones have been attempting to re-frame the message, to re-write the narrative so it's not about discrimination, it's about men going into ladies restrooms and shower-rooms, exposing themselves or looking at ladies and girls. No real news organization has adopted that absurd frame except The Post. Yesterday was the second story that played along with it.

We saw where PFOX's webmaster wrote the County Countil to tell them that "Hopefully, it will be one of your daughters who gets raped first!" The frame they are trying to impose here insists that failing to discriminate against transgender people will inevitably result in the rape of someone's daughters. Q: Are there any steps missing from that logic? A: Yes.

Even better, that local leader of the Republican Party, shouting at the Council meeting: "Wait until little girls start showing up dead all over the county because of freaks of nature."

Daughers raped, little girls dead, because the phrase "gender identity" was added to the existing law against discrimination.

Nobody buys it.

Except The Post. Here's how yesterday's story started out:
Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) signed off yesterday on legislation to protect transgender individuals from discrimination, over the objections of religious and community groups that say the measure would give male cross-dressers access to women's restrooms and locker rooms.

Opponents said they plan to gather signatures for a referendum to overturn the protections, and they have enlisted a California lawyer to consider filing a lawsuit.

"Leggett has broken the biological barriers that separate male and female facilities," said Michelle Turner, spokeswoman for a coalition of opponents who have created a Web site, http://Notmyshower.com, for their campaign. Leggett Signs Bill For Protection of Transgender People

The newspaper brings the bathroom frame right into the first sentence of the story. They call a leader of the MoCo anti-gay groups for a quote -- and then they publicize this weird web site, which is really just a page on the CRC's domain, it looks like.

Of the eighteen paragraphs of this story, fifteen talked about the opposition to the law or the "bathroom issue." The law protects a vulnerable subpopulation of our community, but The Post mostly ignores that, and treats it as if it were a law allowing men to go into women's showers.

I have said before, the story here, in the long run, will be about the campaign by these extremists to get the media to go along with their entirely artificial framing of this new law. The law is about discrimination against transgender people, the radical groups say it's about the innocence of women and girls. The law itself is boring bureaucracy, a modification of existing law to cover a group that most people are unaware of; the new frame is vivid, shocking, frightening, and irrelevant.

OK, here's your question: what sells more papers in the long run, thrills or accuracy? Most news organizations are betting on accuracy, in this one.

The media have been under suspicion throughout the Bush years, and need to make a display of getting their facts straight. The public remembers the WMD stories, the active role that the press played in promoting an unjustified war. We might expect a smaller paper to do this -- I would not be surprised if The Examiner ran with the CRC's framing of this story (and they didn't, in fact look HERE at how The Examiner summarized The Post's story) -- but we expect to open The Post in the morning and get some facts.

In a related story...
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Gov. Jennifer Granholm has issued an order that bars discrimination against state workers based on their "gender identity or expression," which protects the rights of those who behave, dress or identify as members of the opposite sex.

The order, which Granholm signed Wednesday, adds gender identity to a list of other prohibited grounds for discrimination that includes religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, height, weight, marital status, politics, disability or genetic information.

"State employment practices and procedures that encourage nondiscriminatory and equal employment practices provide desirable models for the private sector and local governments," says the resolution. Mich. Governor Guards Transgender Rights

The Maryland legislature failed to pass such a bill this year when they had the chance, so now the county has had to do it, in the face of threats and irrationality.

67 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Actually, the real story isn't the problem of the restrooms. It isn't even the creep of government regulation into every decision made in the private sector.

The real story, which TTF doesn't want to discuss, and the Post doesn't report is the bill defines your gender identity as psychological rather than biological. Government endorsement of this viewpoint is improper and will have casading consequences.

The Post, however, was simply reporting what has been the focus of the controversy. They've done their job well here. The groups need to discuss it before the press can report on it.

November 23, 2007 12:20 PM  
Blogger Dana Beyer, M.D. said...

There is no controversy when a handful of extremists in a county of 1 million start shouting insulting at elected officials. Those are fascist tactics, though I doubt you've ever read any history.

And as far as your "real" story, gender identity IS biological with psychological manifestations. It has been, it is, and it always will be. Your ignorant posturing on this issue is useless and contributes nothing to any rational discussion.

November 23, 2007 1:24 PM  
Blogger JimK said...

It doesn't matter how this bill defines anything, it's just a slight expansion of the existing nondiscrimination law. All definitions are inexact, this law is to provide protection to some people who need it.

Twist it however you want, this is a tiny change to an ordinary law, and it will have very few consequences of any sort. Transgender people know what they are, they don't need a law to tell them. This hardly affects anyone in any way, and does not affect anyone adversely. So far all it's done is to provide a launchpad for bigots to send themselves into orbit.

JimK

November 23, 2007 1:27 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jim says:
It doesn't matter how this bill defines anything, it's just a slight expansion of the existing nondiscrimination law. All definitions are inexact, this law is to provide protection to some people who need it.

Actually, it does matter how any law defines its terms. This is essential for people to know so they can comply with the law.

Transgender people know what they are, they don't need a law to tell them.

That is the problem. They can say anything they want to. All is required is for a person to say what his gender is. We are supposed to take his word for his gender. He may be lying. He may be a fake.

November 23, 2007 11:26 PM  
Blogger JimK said...

Anon, I see you're having a grand time peeing your pants over the possibility that there is an ambiguity out there not plainly defined in law. The fact is, nobody is going to pretend to be transgender so they can go into a ladies room and look at the ladies. That's the stupidest idea in the world. If a guy wanted to go into the ladies shower room he'd just do it, this law has no effect at all on his decision or the consequences of doing that.

You guys are just trying to see how far over the line into absurdity you can go before somebody stops you. This is it, you're over the line,you're on the far side of absurdity now.

JimK

November 23, 2007 11:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The two anons posting above are different.

The view that gender is simply a tribe you join is wrong and detrimental to society. The bathroom issue is the least of it.

"You guys are just trying to see how far over the line into absurdity you can go before somebody stops you. This is it, you're over the line,you're on the far side of absurdity now."

This statement applies more appropriately to TTF and the head of its transgender department, Dr Beyer. The people will answer this ridiculous statement in the next election.

"Twist it however you want, this is a tiny change to an ordinary law, and it will have very few consequences of any sort. Transgender people know what they are, they don't need a law to tell them. This hardly affects anyone in any way, and does not affect anyone adversely."

How bizarre that proponents of a law would advocate it by saying it will have no effect. The effect of all laws is to reduce freedom. The challenge, with all laws, is to balance this loss of freedom with the benefit to society. This law fails this standard without question.

Transgenders don't face trouble obtaining services or access to public accomodations in this county. Their only problems in finding employment are related to appearance and demeanor, matters on which the onus should be on the employee to accomodate the desires of their employer. In these types of positions, where relationships are a significant element of success, business owners will be significantly burdened whenever a transgender strolls in to seek a job. Avoiding legal liability will be a tricky and unnecessary endeavour.

"There is no controversy when a handful of extremists in a county of 1 million start shouting insulting at elected officials. Those are fascist tactics, though I doubt you've ever read any history."

What an assinine statement. Transgenders have no trouble in this county and have chosen to raise this issue themselves. If we had a conservative, or, even, moderate Council, the insulting and shouting would be from groups like TTF.

Requiring business owners to let biological males in womens' restrooms is an extreme move on the part of what has now been revealed as a radicalized local government.

"gender identity IS biological with psychological manifestations. It has been, it is, and it always will be."

Yes, it is. Male organs and XY chromosomal makeup equal a male, not the way one likes to "express."
I mean, why stop at gender if you're going to look at things this way? Why can't we say a person is whatever he wants to dress like? It's absurd.

If some guy wants to surgically change himself, I don't think anyone, outside of his family, would object. If you want to pretend you're something else by dressing up, we still have no objection, but a law saying the rest of us have to play along is a violation of freedom. It's that simple.

November 24, 2007 1:12 AM  
Anonymous Emproph said...

"All is required is for a person to say what his gender is. We are supposed to take his word for his gender. He may be lying. He may be a fake."

His gender
His word
His gender
He may
He may

So only those transitioning from male to female may be lying. All those transitioning from female to male can be taken at their word (which of course is irrelevant in the eyes of a misogynist).

It would appear that the issue seems to revolve around the “desecration” of the all powerful penis.

:::

"Transgender people know what they are, they don't need a law to tell them.

That is the problem. They can say anything they want to. All is required is for a person to say what his gender is. We are supposed to take his word for his gender. He may be lying. He may be a fake."


Or:

Religious people know what they are, they don't need a law to tell them.

That is the problem. They can say anything they want to. All is required is for a person to say what his religion is. We are supposed to take his word for his religion. He may be lying. He may be a fake.
_
Do blather on anon, you haven’t made it China yet.

November 24, 2007 1:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The central premise of the POSTs article is correct, the bill does still open ladies room doors to biological males. Period.

Regardless of how the MCC trys to spin or the HRC now back pedals. She was very thorough, she called the HRC based on their statement in the county's documents and asked them for a position. They gave the reporter a different position than what was on their written memo - very interesting. Sounds like the HRC should be asked again, don't you think ?

November 24, 2007 2:18 AM  
Anonymous Emproph said...

Anonymous said...
"The two anons posting above are different."

I was going to say the same thing. I mean who wouldn’t take the time to differentiate between one invisible person and another invisible person who both sound equally insane?

"The bathroom issue is the least of it."

You say that like it’s news to us.

"The effect of all laws is to reduce freedom."

I couldn’t agree with you more. I’ve been lobbying for years to do away with stop signs and building codes. I mean, who says that the people who are murdered didn’t want to get murdered in the first place? Prove me wrong.

"The challenge, with all laws, is to balance this loss of freedom with the benefit to society. This law fails this standard without question."

Ergo, FACT: Society has no questions about the need for this law.

I don't know about that. Because I know society, and society wouldn't make such an absolute claim. Are you sure society wasn’t drunk at the time?

"Transgenders don't face trouble obtaining services or access to public accomodations in this county."

That’s news to me, but I have an idea. Since the only way you could possibly know that would be if you knew every single transgendered person in the county, why don’t you call them all up, and arrange to have them testify to this effect to the MC County council. Anyone who can’t make it, get a signed affidavit to the same effect. Piece of cake.

"Their only problems in finding employment are related to appearance and demeanor, matters on which the onus should be on the employee to accomodate the desires of their employer."

Gosh golly gee, what have the transgendered citizens of Montgomery said when you told them about this? I’m assuming you tell them things like this when you speak to each and every single one of them?

And since you’ve also spoken to each and every single one of the employers who have “rightfully” discriminated against them, I think it would help the public to know what specifically these employers are saying about the inappropriate appearance and demeanor of transgendered persons when they come to apply for a job.

I see this as an opportunity for you to enlighten transgendered persons about themselves and their predicament here.

"In these types of positions, where relationships are a significant element of success"

As opposed to employment positions where relationships are NOT a significant element of success?

Or did you really mean to say "relationships with transgendered persons are a significant element of failure."

"In these types of positions, where relationships are a significant element of success, business owners will be significantly burdened whenever a transgender strolls in to seek a job."

stroll >verb 1) walk in a leisurely way. 2) informal achieve a sporting victory easily.

So you’re saying that arrogance and a sense of entitlement on the part of transgendered applicants is part of the problem? Is that a separate problem, or is that part of the demeanor portion of the problem?

"business owners will be significantly burdened whenever a transgender strolls in to seek a job"

(I take it that's what you meant by “The bathroom issue is the least of it.”)

So you really don’t have a problem with transgendered persons being employed, you just have a problem with transgendered persons being able to find employment.

Well I’m glad that’s cleared up.

"Avoiding legal liability will be a tricky and unnecessary endeavour."

It’s a slippery slope. If qualified transgendered persons can be hired, who’s to say employers won’t be forced to consider inappropriate appearance, inappropriate demeanor, arrogance and a sense of entitlement, as qualifiers for any job?

"Transgenders have no trouble in this county"

Where were you when the testimony was going on?!! The CRC would LOVE to hear from these people who are having absolutely NO trouble in this county what so ever.

"Male organs and XY chromosomal makeup equal a male"

All hail the penis. You female to male transgendered persons can carry on as usual. That goes ditto for all you intersexed persons with ambiguous genitalia and multiple chromosomal combinations, apparently you don’t count either.

"I mean, why stop at gender if you're going to look at things this way? Why can't we say a person is whatever he wants to dress like? It's absurd."

Exactly, what’s next? Taking hateful bigots at their word when they say they're motivated by Christian love?

"If some guy wants to surgically change himself,"

Again, “some guy,” all you gals who want to do the same are A-OK. But don't mind the CRC et al, when they pretend this is about transgenderism and not misogyny.

"I don't think anyone, outside of his family, would object. If you want to pretend you're something else by dressing up, we still have no objection,"

How gracious of you to not have an “objection” to what you won’t know about. I feel the same way about the influenza virus.

"but a law saying the rest of us have to play along is a violation of freedom. It's that simple."

So, bottom line, all transgendered persons are simply playing some frivolous childish game, right down to the surgery, for no reason at all.

Who could possibly see such a trite and virulently ignorant definition of the motives of fellow human beings as anything other than compassionate Christian understanding?

November 24, 2007 4:19 AM  
Blogger Dana Beyer, M.D. said...

These Anons are the definitions of bigots. With no scientific training or medical training, they pompously declare that people with XY chromosomes and male genitals are men. End of story. That it isn't so doesn't concern them on the plane of reality; that they would have to tolerate others who live in the world of facts is what annoys the hell out of them.
Ms Griggs made it clear -- she has her definition of male and female, demands the right to believe it (which is her right) but then the right to impose it on others and not to be stigmatized for her archaic and perverse beliefs. Sorry, Regina. No go. And you know there are few outside Mississippi and Alabama who would flock to your banner because you have had to use the old fascist and racist ploy of shouting about the "innocence of women and children." How sad for you to live in the modern world.

November 24, 2007 6:25 AM  
Anonymous Emproph said...

Anonymous said...
"The central premise of the POSTs article is correct, the bill does still open ladies room doors to biological males. Period.

As opposed to the sure safeguards presently in place -- all over Montgomery County -- to prevent biological males from opening a ladies room door?
_
I haven’t even read it yet, but based on your assessment, the central tenet of the Post’s article is a strawman. And based on that, it would seem that you’re arguing that they were correct in their reporting of it.

Is this your contention, that it’s a good thing that the Post is accurately reporting on a logical fallacy?

November 24, 2007 8:05 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

andrea-not anon
N. anon and Theresa- want to put your money where your stupid statements are? You are so incredibly wrong about the next election. The Council will stay strongly Democratic and the Board will stay strongly non-nutty. I am sure Steve Abrams will be gone. Remember this is Montgomery County Maryland and as some paper pointed out- you had 400 local calls(assuming people were being honest- and I don't) supporting your stand againt the bill- the rest were non-local. In the last MC election- your side lost- badly. Get real- the electorate is not on the side of the bigots- not here!

November 24, 2007 8:35 AM  
Anonymous Emproph said...

And what a slap in the face to all the supporters who swore they’d move if this measure passed. To claim that their votes will count in the next election is to practically call them liars!

November 24, 2007 9:24 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"With no scientific training or medical training, they pompously declare that people with XY chromosomes and male genitals are men. End of story. That it isn't so doesn't concern them on the plane of reality; that they would have to tolerate others who live in the world of facts is what annoys the hell out of them."

Science isn't semantics, Dr. It studies the world empirically, it doesn't define terms. We'll tell the scientists what a word means and then they can serve us by sticking to those definitions in their research.

The blurring of definitions is the driving force of the gay agenda. Tolerance, family, gender and to infinity and beyond. According to the gay advocacy lunatic fringe, all definitions need an upgrade to serve the gay agenda.

Oh, and I'm not annoyed in the least. I'm quite delighted by the turn of events. I've always thought, if we don't do much, your side will over-reach and self-destruct.

"Ms Griggs made it clear -- she has her definition of male and female,"

Attested to by most users of the language.

"demands the right to believe it (which is her right) but then the right to impose it on others"

She's not trying to make any laws. You and Duchy are. You are the imposing party.

"and not to be stigmatized for her archaic and perverse beliefs."

Mainstream and current is the idea that you are given a gender at birth. No one is denying you your adventure in gender-bending, but society, even MCPS society, doesn't want laws imposing participation in this adventure on everyone else.

This you will find out.

November 24, 2007 10:34 AM  
Anonymous Merle said...

Anon, the big question is: why do you care?

It is very suspicious that you and the other nuts are making such a big deal out of this one little phrase being added to a rarely-invoked local law. What is it to you?

Merle

November 24, 2007 10:52 AM  
Anonymous PasserBy said...

Merle, I was wondering the same thing.

The only thing that makes sense is that Anon and the others think that if you allow men to change into women, everybody will do it. The only reason they would possibly think that is if they themselves w2ant to do it.

So, Anon, do it already, ok? Stop holding back, let it loose. Just start signing as "Anonette" and get it over with, and stop hassling the others. Because you look like an idiot raving like this.

November 24, 2007 11:15 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

whichever anon just provoked dana into saying that, you have my sincere thanks.

Dana, we will quote you.
theresa

November 24, 2007 2:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

DANA your saying:
These Anons are the definitions of bigots. With no scientific training or medical training, they pompously declare that people with XY chromosomes and male genitals are men. That it isn't so doesn't concern them on the plane of reality; that they would have to tolerate others who live in the world of facts is what annoys the hell out of them

This statement by Dana shows why transgender identity is a psychiatric disorder. Living in a land of make be believe is a disillusion existence. It reminds me of those that suffer from being schizophrenic A schizophrenic person doesn’t think anything is wrong with him, only those around him. People who think they can be the opposite gender by changing a few outward characteristics are dreaming. They will never appear to others as the opposite gender. All they needed was a father to show them how to be a guy or a mother to show them how to be a girl. Jim thinks ex-gays are a hoax, transgenders are a bigger hoax.

November 24, 2007 5:15 PM  
Anonymous Aunt Bea said...

Anon stated Male organs and XY chromosomal makeup equal a male

This is one more example of Anon's ignorance of scientific facts. It's usually true that XY chromosomes mean the individual is male, but not always. In some cases, XY individuals are female as noted in the Wikipedia entry on Intersexuality. There's a link on the Intersexuality page to a separate page on Swyer syndrome:

Swyer syndrome, or XY gonadal dysgenesis, is a type of female hypogonadism in which no functional gonads are present to induce puberty in an otherwise normal girl whose karyotype is then found to be XY. Her gonads are found to be nonfunctional streaks. Estrogen and progesterone therapy is usually then commenced. The gonads are normally removed surgically because they do not function and may develop cancer...

The first known step of sexual differentiation of a normal XY fetus is the development of testes. The early stages of testicular formation in the second month of gestation require the action of several genes, of which one of the earliest and most important is SRY, the "sex-determining region of the Y chromosome".

Mutations of SRY account for most cases of Swyer syndrome. When this gene is defective, testes fail to develop in an XY (genetically male) fetus. Without testes, no testosterone or antimullerian hormone are produced. Without testosterone the external genitalia fail to virilize, resulting in female genitalia. Without testosterone, the wolffian ducts fail to develop, so no internal male organs are formed. Without AMH the mullerian ducts develop into normal internal female organs (uterus, fallopian tubes, cervix, vagina).

A baby girl is born who is normal in all anatomic respects except that she has nonfunctional streak gonads instead of ovaries or testes. As girls' ovaries normally produce no important body changes before puberty, a defect of the reproductive system typically remains unsuspected in girls with Swyer syndrome until puberty fails to occur."

November 24, 2007 5:22 PM  
Anonymous TTFrist said...

This statement by Dana shows why transgender identity is a psychiatric disorder.

This statement shows that Anon is a quack who attempts to make medical diagnoses on the basis of bigotry and partial information.

November 24, 2007 5:47 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Andrea -not anon

Theresa and her crew are sad people. Michele, Johnny, Steina. Bianca/Precious/Retta(one odd woman with three "personas"), N. anon(possibly a certain former einstein parent)- they build their lives around bigotry and hatred. Talk about a psychiatric disorder- I am pretty sure senseless hatred(besides being a sin)spouts from some serious mental disorder.

November 24, 2007 8:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Anon stated Male organs and XY chromosomal makeup equal a male

This is one more example of Anon's ignorance of scientific facts. It's usually true that XY chromosomes mean the individual is male, but not always."

You will note that my statement said "and" not "or". Hopefully, that clear up your confusion.

"whichever anon just provoked dana into saying that, you have my sincere thanks."

Don't know what was going on here. I wasn't watching the blog too closely today so I guess something must have been deleted by someone with administrator rights. Then, as often happens, some other anon pops up to subtly alter the meaning of previous anon posts.

This is all really bizarre. These TTFers really seem to think this legislation, that they say will have no effect, is in danger.

Who would argue? The attempt by the lunatic fringe gay advocacy movement to impose a requirement that we all acknowledge their definition of gender will backfire. It's a key moment here in MC.

November 25, 2007 12:39 AM  
Anonymous David Weintraub said...

Anon (whichever),

"The view that gender is simply a tribe you join is wrong and detrimental to society"

This is exactly right, and is why Dana and others have been trying to explain to you what gender identity is. It's most definitely *not* the case that internal gender is determined by a person just "saying it" and putting on some clothes. It is indeed biological. A person whose neurobiology is predominantly one gender while other biological markers (including the ones you mention) are predominantly the other, is transsexual. That's what the word means. So, your definitions of male and female, precious as I know they are to you, are too simplistic. They do not accurately describe reality. This is not something that can be voted on, my friend. You'll just have to adjust.

By the way, the insistence that people can be "taught" how to be a boy or a girl even when inconsistent with their neurobiology sounds exactly like you see gender as a tribe you join (or are inducted into).

November 25, 2007 6:21 PM  
Blogger Dana Beyer, M.D. said...

Theresa,

The Inane-Anons are let into this blog for comic relief and to provide foils, because no one could ever conjure them up out of thin air.

You, however, I find fascinating. You're an engineer. You've had a rigorous scientific training. Not too much biology, perhaps, but chemistry and physics at least. Unless you're a digital engineer, which I doubt, you must have an appreciation for variations and spectra and the fact that little in our classically-sized world is 0 or 1, on or off, yes or no.
I imagine you have the training to read science. So why don't you? Why do you stupidly say the things you do?

You know full well what I mean, yet, like most Republican officials, you so twist it as to make it unrecognizable.

Humans with a Y chromosome and penis and testicles are usually male. I don't know the exact percentage, but let's say 99%. Intersex births are 2.2% of all live births, and trans persons are approximately 1:500-1:1000. Any student of developmental biology would tell you intersex and transsex people would have to exist in our biological world.

My question to you (I don't know why I address my questions to you, since you don't have the decency to answer them, while I've answered yours), is why you haven't bothered to use your scientific training to learn a little something about sexual development? Just think about how satisfying it would be for you to educate your cronies. If Rick Bowers could do it, Theresa, you can.

Oh, now that Palm Beach County has joined Montgomery County and Governor Granholm of Michigan has extended trans protections to state employees, we've got over 38% of the country covered. You guys are running out of space. In a few years you'll need your own private Idaho where you can define people you don't like out of existence. Or, maybe, you could move to Canada. I hear their health care system is very popular there.

November 25, 2007 7:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Humans with a Y chromosome and penis and testicles are usually male. I don't know the exact percentage, but let's say 99%. Intersex births are 2.2% of all live births, and trans persons are approximately 1:500-1:1000."

Spin it as you will, Dr. Intersex is a condition with biological manifestations. Transexualism, by contrast, is purely psychological. All evidence of it's existence is purely objective.

Nobody wants to illegalize this imagined condition. Freedom means you can pursue any theory you want. Basing laws on a recognition of special protection of anyone's particular fantasies is unwise and will lead to problems, not the least of which is: why can't everyone else's psychological theories receive special protection?

The end of the matter, and where society will eventually arrive, is that we cannot command others to partake of the fantasies of any particular group.

Because of over-reaching, we'll arrive there much sooner in MC.

November 25, 2007 10:01 PM  
Anonymous Emproph said...

“Basing laws on a recognition of special protection of anyone's particular fantasies is unwise and will lead to problems, not the least of which is: why can't everyone else's psychological theories receive special protection?

The end of the matter, and where society will eventually arrive, is that we cannot command others to partake of the fantasies of any particular group.”


The problem is that you don’t believe a word of what you just said.

Not only do you want your “imagined condition” of supremacism to continue to be protected, but you also want your particular “fantasies” about OTHER CITIZENS to be protected by law.

Either example alone is proof of your “imagined condition.”

The real problem is that you’re so hypocritical, deceitful and in love with evil, that you’re incapable of recognizing your own psychological illness.

You're essentially children trapped in adult bodies.

November 25, 2007 10:49 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Most transsexuals agree with the idea proposed by Harry Benjamin, that gender is hard-wired in the brain before birth. As such, most transsexuals believe that being transsexual is instead an intersex condition: a mis-match between physical and mental gender."

Here's a statement from wikipedia. Notice it says they believe the condition transexualism is a mismatch between phycial and mental.

In other words, not biological, imaginary.

November 25, 2007 11:08 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The APA agrees that transexualism is a mental problem.

Some transexuals claim that surgery to turn one into their imagined gender is the answer but follow-up cast doubt on this strategy. From the UK Guardian on July 31, 2004:

"There is no conclusive evidence that sex change operations improve the lives of transsexuals, with many people remaining severely distressed and even suicidal after the operation, according to a medical review conducted exclusively for Guardian Weekend.

The review of more than 100 international medical studies of post-operative transsexuals by the University of Birmingham's aggressive research intelligence facility found no robust scientific evidence that gender reassignment surgery is clinically effective."

November 25, 2007 11:17 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Not only do you want your “imagined condition” of supremacism to continue to be protected, but you also want your particular “fantasies” about OTHER CITIZENS to be protected by law."

BS. I want my privacy protected by law. I don't want anyone with male genitals in my bathroom.
Period. end of story. the end.

I don't care how he is feeling that day... it is a male dominance technique by the way to push females around. WEll I am pushing back.

NO NO and HELL NO.

November 25, 2007 11:22 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow, based on that last post, it seems like the Nazi is back.

November 25, 2007 11:51 PM  
Anonymous Emproph said...

The APA agrees that transexualism is a mental problem."

In all my time here I have made it a point to avoid going basal on your ass, but at this point, I feel lead to. You people are too stupid to be true. There, I’ve said it.

First of all, which APA? The American Psychological Association or the American Psychiatric Association?

No matter, because here’s a couple of things your “beloved APA (both of them) have to say about homosexuality:

American Psychological Association:

"Is Homosexuality a Mental Illness or Emotional Problem?

No. Psychologists, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals agree that homosexuality is not an illness, mental disorder or an emotional problem."


American Psychiatric Association on (reparative or conversion therapies):

"In the current social climate, claiming homosexuality is a mental disorder stems from efforts to discredit the growing social acceptance of homosexuality as a normal variant of human sexuality.

1. APA affirms its 1973 position that homosexuality per se is not a diagnosable mental disorder. Recent publicized efforts to repathologize homosexuality by claiming that it can be cured are often guided not by rigorous scientific or psychiatric research, but sometimes by religious and political forces opposed to full civil rights for gay men and lesbians. APA recommends that the APA respond quickly and appropriately as a scientific organization when claims that homosexuality is a curable illness are made by political or religious groups."


So you’re using a source that pretty much puts a stake in the heart of your very dear friends PFOX.

In addition, FROM YOUR OWN WEBSITE:

CRC:

"Selective viewpoints relied upon by Mr. Fishback come from only a small group of professional members of the Gay and lesbian Committee within the American Psychological Association and American Academy of Pediatrics. Mr.Fishback fails to reveal that there are a large number of professionals within these same organizations that share another viewpoint based on scientific research on the topic of non-heterosexual individuals. For instance, a large number of these members share the views of The National Association for Research and Treatment of Homosexuality (NARTH) (www.narth.com) and the American College of Pediatricians. (www.acp.org), both of which are respected organizations."

(NARTH is another hate group, so at best you've got the ACP vs virtually every other respected medical organization.)

Further, FROM YOUR OWN CRC WEBSITE:
"The documents from the American Psychological Association (APA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics, reflect only the positions of small sub-groups within the respective organizations, are highly selective and do not reflect the positions of the entire organizations or their membership—they are not mainstream."

How is it possible to be so stupid as to cite a source that you yourself don’t even trust, and still expect to be taken seriously?

November 26, 2007 12:55 AM  
Anonymous Emproph said...

Anonymous said...
"Most transsexuals agree with the idea proposed by Harry Benjamin, that gender is hard-wired in the brain before birth. As such, most transsexuals believe that being transsexual is instead an intersex condition: a mis-match between physical and mental gender."

Here's a statement from wikipedia. Notice it says they believe the condition transexualism is a mismatch between phycial and mental.

In other words, not biological, imaginary.


Do you even think before you type?

If you agree with that statement, then you agree that transgenderism is real and NOT imaginary.

If you’re going to go so far as to say that EVERYTHING mental is imaginary, then you damn your own insistence that your religious “beliefs” trump the gender “beliefs” of those who are transgendered.

Or were you saying that there’s some biological basis for the Bible?

Oh, and P.S.

Harry Benjamin
(January 12, 1885 – August 24, 1986) was a German-born sexologist[1]. He is best known for his pioneering work with transsexualism.

Benjamin continued to refine his understanding, in 1954 introducing the term "transsexualism"


Born in the 1800's, died in 1986, and coined the now offensive term "transexualism."

You really should learn how too Google better. There are plenty of more offensive terms you could use on sites with even more out dated information.

November 26, 2007 1:36 AM  
Anonymous Emproph said...

Anonymous said...
The APA agrees that transexualism is a mental problem.

Some transexuals claim that surgery to turn one into their imagined gender is the answer but follow-up cast doubt on this strategy. From the UK Guardian on July 31, 2004:

"There is no conclusive evidence that sex change operations improve the lives of transsexuals, with many people remaining severely distressed and even suicidal after the operation, according to a medical review conducted exclusively for Guardian Weekend.

The review of more than 100 international medical studies of post-operative transsexuals by the University of Birmingham's aggressive research intelligence facility found no robust scientific evidence that gender reassignment surgery is clinically effective."


Wow, again, you are a serious piece of work. No wonder you don’t give links, you don’t want anyone following them.

Here’s what is actually said: From Wikipedia:

“Against the statistic above indicating that 1% to 2% of post-operative persons have serious regrets, the Report itself states:

Paradoxically, a growing number of post-operative transsexuals are scathing about their medical care. International research suggests that 3-18% of them come to regret switching gender.[4]”


Out of 38 footnotes, 9 Bibliography links, 4 links under “See Also,” and 11 External links, “Anonymous” quotes from footnote #4, not only to mischaracterize every transgendered person on the planet, but also to show that “Anonymous” also believes in medical studies, or facts of any kind that may happen to contradict “known” CRC fantasy.

Anonymous, you’re a LIAR. You lied by not including the fact that your quote represented as low as 3% of the total population of “transsexuals.” But that’s why you tried to hide (lied about, via omission) the total story and sources of your information, isn’t it?

November 26, 2007 2:29 AM  
Anonymous Emproph said...

Anonymous said...
"BS. I want my privacy protected by law. I don't want anyone with male genitals in my bathroom.
Period. end of story. the end."


BS

There are 55 entries for the acronym "BS" there, but I only see one that accurately describes its use above.

(and I think there's a swear word involved.)

November 26, 2007 3:39 AM  
Blogger JimK said...

... it is a male dominance technique by the way to push females around ...

All right -- taking re-framing up a notch. Now, not only are they going to pretend that this bill is about perverted men hanging around the ladies room, they are going to make it a feminist issue, of all things!

The question remains: will the press fall for it?

JimK

November 26, 2007 7:56 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow, Jim, you're really worried about this, aren't you?

November 26, 2007 8:25 AM  
Anonymous David Weintraub said...

"..with many people remaining severely distressed and even suicidal.."

Gosh, I can't imagine why, can you?

Maybe it has to do with trying to communicate with people so stupid that they don't realize their brain is a physical organ. I'm curious, "Anon" - what do you think that thing inside your skull is, if it's not biological?

November 26, 2007 9:35 AM  
Blogger Dana Beyer, M.D. said...

It's because of people like Anon and Theresa that so-called mental illnesses are still stigmatized, not covered fairly by insurance, and then people are poorly treated and end up ruining their lives and those of their families.

Anon would prefer we treat epilepsy with exorcism.

November 26, 2007 9:48 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

IF the sexual orientation of a transgender male to female was a sexual attraction to females before the operation, than what is the sexual attraction of the transgender after the operation and drugs? If the sexual orientation continues to be toward’s females, “get out of the ladies room!”

November 26, 2007 1:01 PM  
Anonymous Merle said...

This is going to get good! Now they don't want lesbians in the ladies room!

Pull up a chair, folks. You'll want to see how this one ends.

Merle

November 26, 2007 1:07 PM  
Anonymous Aunt Bea said...

What are you saying you want now Anon? To add a sexual history test requirement to the gonad inspection before a person can use a public potty?

November 26, 2007 1:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"It's because of people like Anon and Theresa that so-called mental illnesses are still stigmatized, not covered fairly by insurance, and then people are poorly treated and end up ruining their lives and those of their families.

Anon would prefer we treat epilepsy with exorcism."

Wow! The Dr is really going wacko now.

Dr, if you're suggesting that health insurance cover sex change costs, please know that there is no evidence that this is a cure for aberrant sexual desire. Most of the time, those who undergo this major surgery wind up as confused bisexuals with just as many related mental problems.

Of course, transexuals would also need to concede that their condition is a mental illness and stop waffling words.

BTW, epilepsy is a physical condition that proven therapies can address. Epileptics aren't in denial. They seek and get help. How dare you try to compare their condition to transexuality.

November 26, 2007 1:43 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"All right -- taking re-framing up a notch. Now, not only are they going to pretend that this bill is about perverted men hanging around the ladies room, they are going to make it a feminist issue, of all things!"

Phone home, Jim. I know they don't realize this on Liberal Syndrome Planet but the main beneficiaries of sexual morality and boundaries are and always have been women.

Anyone remember how shocked liberals were when feminists first allied with religious conservatives to fight pornography?

November 26, 2007 1:49 PM  
Anonymous David Weintraub said...

This is certainly getting complicated for anon, poor thing. It's good, anon, that you seem to recognize that epilepsy, although the affected organ is the brain, is indeed a physical disorder. That's progress.

Now, for this idea of bathroom use being based on sexual orientation. (I can't help noticing your tendency to associate "sexual desire" with topics that are quite unrelated, such as SRS and the evacuation of waste, but we'll leave that aside for now.)

You've stated that lesbians, with or without a penis, shouldn't use the ladies room, presumably since they are attracted to other women. As a man attracted to other men, should I be using the ladies room? I eagerly await your answer.

November 26, 2007 2:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

You've got your anons mixed, DW. I didn't bring up lesbians. It was probably a TTF decoy.

The brain vs mind issue is a stupid diversion. Try again, you're failing.

November 26, 2007 3:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Andrea- not anon
We don't get anons mixed up- all anons are nutty anons and ashamed of what they are saying- otherwise why remain anons? TTF doesn't need or have decoys- we leave that to the CRC mini-minds.

November 26, 2007 3:59 PM  
Blogger Dana Beyer, M.D. said...

The latest comments exemplify just how simple-mindedly rigid Theresa's group is. This Anon has conflated sexual orientation with sexual desire with sexual behavior with gender (sexual) identity. Because their world-view is so limited -- white, heterosexual, missionary position, woman subservient to husband -- any difference is terribly threatening to them.

So now we're reduced to gay women, trans or otherwise, using the men's room, and, logically, gay men, trans or otherwise, using the women's room. How lovely!

So tell me, Anon, just what you expect your wife (hard to believe you could possibly be married, but stranger things have happened)to do when a straight trans man is using the women's room when she's there as well? He has a vagina so he has to use the women's room. He's also straight so he would undoubtedly be interested in the women in the bathroom, according to you. Poor woman -- so confusing!

November 26, 2007 4:43 PM  
Anonymous David Weintraub said...

"The brain vs mind issue is a stupid diversion."

Yes, it certainly is. We've been trying to get you to see that for quite a long time.

If you anons don't bother to distinguish yourselves in any way, we're just going to assume you're the same person. It's entirely up to you.

November 26, 2007 5:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Andrea- not anon
hey, person who said they don't want someone with male genitals in the bathroom with you. I must quote Ali G- "Is you mental?" Are you a pervert? Are you peeking into the other stalls or grabbing under skirts? You better stay out of any bathroom I am in-my genitals are my business. Normal people are not interested in what is under the skirt or slacks of the person using the next closed stall. You sound like a person with a serious mental problem(and I think there is help you can get). You know what you should want in a public bathroom- doors that close, toilet paper, soap ,towels and a staff that keeps the place clean. Any concerns beyond that- you are the one with a problem- and you definitely have one.

November 26, 2007 6:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"The latest comments exemplify just how simple-mindedly rigid Theresa's group is. This Anon has conflated sexual orientation with sexual desire with sexual behavior with gender (sexual) identity. Because their world-view is so limited -- white, heterosexual, missionary position, woman subservient to husband -- any difference is terribly threatening to them."

Oh, why can't we all be loose and sophisticated like Dr D? We'd then realize that gender is all relative and we could just create our own. Then, we could all stop being so "threatened" by the county's transgenders and their various escapades in androgyny.

Let a thousand genders bloom and we'll all be free to be- you and me.

Ting!

"If you anons don't bother to distinguish yourselves in any way, we're just going to assume you're the same person. It's entirely up to you."

Not surprising to me that you guys don't care if you get your story straight before you start flying off the handle.

"hey, person who said they don't want someone with male genitals in the bathroom with you. I must quote Ali G- "Is you mental?" Are you a pervert? Are you peeking into the other stalls or grabbing under skirts? You better stay out of any bathroom I am in-my genitals are my business. Normal people are not interested in what is under the skirt or slacks of the person using the next closed stall. You sound like a person with a serious mental problem(and I think there is help you can get). You know what you should want in a public bathroom- doors that close, toilet paper, soap ,towels and a staff that keeps the place clean. Any concerns beyond that- you are the one with a problem- and you definitely have one."

What's so humorous is that TTFers like Dreary spend so much time attempting to ridicule the opposition for making too big a deal out of the bathroom issue. And yet, it was them, through their plant in the County Council staff, Dizzy Dr D, who decided this whole thing was important enough to get the government involved.

The problem with the bill, though, is that they are having the government support a view that has no empirical evidence supporting it: that your gender is whatever you want it to be. If someone says they're a female, you darn well better treat them like one or else answer to the authorities.

Also laughable is when they try to accuse they who simply would like things to remain as they are of heated hate, big bigotry, pogroms and fascism. Do they really think this kind of hyperbole is going to convince a public that already thinks they are off their rocker?

The government- and the liars at TTF- need to back off and let people make up their own mind who they want using their bathrooms.

Again, there is no proof that brains are "hard-wired" to a gender other than your biological one. There is no evidence supporting the notion that trying to make a imagined gender come true by surgery and drugs actually improves the situation. The government should stay out of imaginary realms. They have enough trouble trying to govern the real one.

Jimi H

November 26, 2007 7:39 PM  
Blogger JimK said...

Anon, there already was a Jimi H, and he was a great visionary guitarist who would not agree with a single word you have ever said. Please use another name here.

JimK

November 26, 2007 7:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Also laughable is when they try to accuse they who simply would like things to remain as they are of heated hate, big bigotry, pogroms and fascism.

Yo DumbOne. You sound just like George Wallace at the University of Alabama door. The guy who yelled "Heil Hitler" is your buddy, the pro-trans-segregation-pogram fascist. The witches who yelled "perverts" are your pals, the bigoted haters.

November 26, 2007 8:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Anon, there already was a Jimi H, and he was a great visionary guitarist who would not agree with a single word you have ever said."

You talking Hendrix? I think he would definitely agree with keepng gays out of the army. He got out by pretending to be one, if you believe his biographers.

Also, his biographers paint a picture of a misogynist who was violent toward the women in his life.

Well, I don't believe a word of it. He's made out of gold and can't be sold.

"Yo DumbOne. You sound just like George Wallace at the University of Alabama door."

Could you give us a comparative quote showing what you mean? I know Wallace was racist and I certainly don't support his views. Still, to give the devil his due, outside of MLK and the Kennedys, he was probably the best orator of the sixties. The sixties were the zenith of the American English. It's all been downhill since.

"The guy who yelled "Heil Hitler" is your buddy, the pro-trans-segregation-pogram fascist. The witches who yelled "perverts" are your pals, the bigoted haters."

Really? Thanks for telling me. Who are these "witches", I'm pals with?

Jimi P

November 26, 2007 8:35 PM  
Blogger Dana Beyer, M.D. said...

Jimi P,

How about you occasionally back up your comments? Show me where I said gender is relative and you can create your own.

And please explain to me what androgyny is, because no one has brought that up here and you are descending further out of your league.

November 26, 2007 8:43 PM  
Anonymous David Weintraub said...

The anon that claims to be Jimi P:

If you want to participate in a discussion, it's recommended that you address the arguments that the other participants have made, rather than the ones you merely wish they had made. Otherwise, you just look weak.

Several times now you have pretended to be conversing with someone who has argued that gender is just something that you decide to put on in the morning, rather than a core, intrinsic attribute of a person. I have seen no one here make that argument.

Again, if you "all" will follow the example of identifying yourselves in some way, I will be happy to address you as individuals. But I'm not interested in playing guessing games about which anon is which.

November 26, 2007 9:02 PM  
Blogger JimK said...

... Also, his biographers paint a picture of a misogynist who was violent toward the women in his life ...

Anon, is this supposed to be evidence that Hendrix would have agreed with you, or are you just running a dead guy down?

JimK

November 26, 2007 9:11 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Andrea- not anon
I think N. anon really does live somewhere else. Along with Theresa, he continues to claim that
the "public" and the electorate of this county think the Council and the school Board is crazy and that they will be pushed out of office. Wake up, Nutty- you are the ones who the vast majority of MC think are crazy and you are the ones who will not win (again) in the next election. maybe you can get your buddy Adol to run again- he has a great platform now.

November 26, 2007 10:10 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"How about you occasionally back up your comments?"

Why, sure, Dr. Soon as you start backing up yours.

Here's a good place to start:

"gender identity IS biological with psychological manifestations"

How would you back that up?

Jimmy P

November 26, 2007 10:23 PM  
Blogger Dana Beyer, M.D. said...

Jimmy P,

Ask any physician, check out any recent textbook. Everyone, even the bigot, Paul McHugh, accepts that gender identity is biology. It's a function of your brain sex.

And, if you ever took science in high school, you would know that most higher brain functions have psychological manifestations. That needs no backing up. It's fundamental science.

For those on this blog who can actually read and are interested in learning, the article that brought Paul McHugh in from the dark ages on gender identity was Bill Reiner's in the New England Journal of Medicine, N Engl J Med 350:333, January 22, 2004

November 26, 2007 10:46 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"For those on this blog who can actually read and are interested in learning, the article that brought Paul McHugh in from the dark ages on gender identity was Bill Reiner's in the New England Journal of Medicine, N Engl J Med 350:333, January 22, 2004"

Dr,

I just read the abstract of your cited article. I'll look at the entire text tomorrow but unless I'm missing something here, the study seems to discriminate against sexual reassignment surgery.

Well, in the words of the Monkees, "tomorrow's gonna be another day."

November 27, 2007 12:30 AM  
Blogger Dana Beyer, M.D. said...

Jimi,

Do you ever -- ever -- approach anything without your mind already made up? Reiner's study was a proof of the existence of gender identity, because people like you kept saying -- "I have a penis; therefore, I am a man."
It took this study to PROVE that was not true to the antediluvians left in medicine, such as Paul McHugh.
It has nothing to do with genital reconstruction in adults; it's about the proper sex assignment in newborns. It's about getting it right in the beginning so people like me don't have to grow up in hell.
All transsexual people do is correct an inaccurate sex assignment at birth. But because people like Theresa are so narrow-minded, and associate anything that looks like a penis (and there is an extremely wide variety of what may look like a penis) with being male, mistakes end up being made.

Yes, Jimi, even doctors make mistakes, especially when information is lacking. And a newborn cannot express its gender.

And contrary to Theresa and Dobson and NARTH, you can't force a gender on to a child who is not primed for it biologically. People have tried and they usually fail.

November 27, 2007 8:10 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

But, Dana, in these studies the incorrect assignment was because they ignored the Y chromosome and simply tried to change someone by surgery. Isn't that the same thing that transexuals do? And, in the study, the gender identity didn't change even after the surgery. No one asked the infants how they feel, it was determined by their chromosomes.

Am I correct that most who have sex-change operations are not changing to their chromosomal gender?

I don't think anyone denied that people have a "gender identity." We just don't buy that it's based on feelings, which can change, but on biology.

November 27, 2007 9:41 AM  
Anonymous David Weintraub said...

Anon,

You are assuming that chromosomal sex and neurological sex are synonymous. That's not the case, any more than it's the case that genital sex and gonadal sex are synonymous, etc.

I don't know why it's so important to you to deny the fact that trans people exist. Maybe you could think about that.

November 27, 2007 10:44 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"You are assuming that chromosomal sex and neurological sex are synonymous."

I'm assuming it until I see proof to the contrary. The study Dana cited buttresses the view that the two are interchangeable.

"That's not the case,"

Still, waiting for any evidence of this.

"I don't know why it's so important to you to deny the fact that trans people exist. Maybe you could think about that."

It's because they are trying to impose a requirement that we treat them in a certain way. They have pushed the issue and basically said "you've got to get on one side or the other." I'm actually open to the possibility that Dana's view is correct, I just don't think there is evidence enough to establish a requirement that everyone must believe it.

November 27, 2007 11:25 AM  
Blogger Dana Beyer, M.D. said...

Reiner performed this study not simply to help his patients with cloacal exstrophy, but to PROVE that gender identity exists. Believe it or not, until recently it was one of those obvious things that no one had ever bothered to prove. And I know personally scientists and physicians, including Paul McHugh, who denied the existence of gender identity until Bill's study.

Chromosomal sex, which is a lot more complicated than you imply, has been around about eighty years. It's simplistic, and like most things, works in most cases. Something like Newtonian physics which works under the limiting conditions of the classical world, but not in the hugely larger quantum and relativistic universes.
So XX is generally female in development, and XY male. But there are XO females (Turner's syndrome) and XXY males (and transsexual women -- I personally know three) (Klinefelter's syndrome). And many, many more.

But -- we have learned that there are at least 54 genes on our DNA (and not just the sex chromosomes) -- that are involved in the earliest stages of sexual development, before a drop of hormone is produced. These are genes that produce proteins and enzymes, as well as genes that regulate the spatiotemporal production of those proteins.
One simple example -- the SRY gene. It is a critical component of the gene cascade that produces testicles, though we're not yet sure of its exact role in the cascade. The SRY gene is usually on the Y chromosome. If it is mutated or missing, you will get an XY female in all her glory. Conversely, you can have that SRY gene appear on an X chromosome, and you end up with an XX male, indistinguishable from an XY male.

If you're interested in learning more, check out the work of Dr. Edward Vilain, at USC, I believe.

That's just chromosomes and some genes. The genes interact in complicated feedback loops, and other variations have been discovered. It's quite fascinating.
There has been one particular genetic variation found in a group of transsexual women over in Europe. There will be others.

Once you get to testicular development, you have to be able to produce testosterone. And if you do, and you secrete it normally, you then need to have androgen receptors appear in functional form on the right tissues at the right times to have normal male development. There is a hormone called MIH, Mullerian Inhibiting Hormone, which causes the female reproductive structures to regress. And on and on.

All this happens in the first two months, during the life of the embryo. Once you get to the fetal stage, it gets even more complicated, as brain development begins.

The introduction of endocrine disruptors, such as DES, at this stage leads to female brain development in the presence of testicles and testosterone production. This produces an intersex condition -- male genitals and female brain, with the brain being the slightly more important organ -- known as transsexualism.

Check out the work of John McLachlan from Tulane, who showed this in rodents over thirty years ago.

I would hope this would open your eyes to the complexity and beauty of human development; it's not as simple as it looks.

Reiner's paper was a cautionary tale as well that if you have a Y chromosome you should look for testicles, because if you have testosterone production with androgen receptors in a fetus you will likely get a male gender identity. The usual experience of urological surgeons with genitally ambiguous children has been to make them into girls, because it is far, far easier to create a vagina than build a penis.

But that presupposes, and it was believed for thirty years thanks to John Money, that genitals determined gender identity. That is now generally accepted to be wrong, or at least way too simplistic, without taking other biological phenomena into account.


Transsexual men and women prove that no matter how intense the gender socialization, you cannot force a change in gender identity. There is no therapy, there are no drugs, no religious conversion that can accomplish that.

There are people who blog here who might want to believe otherwise, though I don't know why they care so much. It's just not the way it is, and you're wasting your time trying to force others to be miserable, and you're certainly not being very Christian in doing so.

I would hope, however, that some of you might recognize the key social fact relevant to all the fire and brimstone recently, from all this -- that transsexual women are, and have always been, women. Therefore, there will be no men in the women's room. Genitalia are a sign, and not always signifying the same thing.
Conversely, transsexual men are, and have been, men, and they will not be using the women's room and scaring all the girls there, but will, rather, be in the men's room where they will assimilate and do their thing, just like all the guys.

November 27, 2007 12:57 PM  
Blogger JimK said...

Dana, thank you for your persistence in educating all of us. Because these are unusual and complicated conditions and most people don't know anything about them, there is a lot of confusion and ignorance, to which I plead as guilty as anyone. I'm sure you get tired of going over this same ground again and again, but I'm glad you do.

JimK

November 27, 2007 1:14 PM  
Blogger Dana Beyer, M.D. said...

I don't mind, Jim. It part of what I do.

When people such as Jimi P show any semblance of actually wanting to understand, I feel it's my obligation to teach. Yes, I've said this before, and maybe you could put together some of those "lectures" and link to them so I don't have to repeat myself. But as long as I have the time then I'll do it.

November 27, 2007 2:03 PM  

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