Life is so complicated and hard to understand. I am always amazed how many people weigh in on subjects they don’t understand. I am equally amazed how many people who claim to be followers of God can choose to leave God out of so many discussions. Now having said all that I am going to weigh in on the Transgender issue and try to unravel the cloak of misunderstanding that surrounds this issue. I am also going to weigh in on the transgender issue using my faith in the God I believe in. My belief in science and my faith in God will be my foundation to how we should treat this issue and find a compromise to move forward beyond what is being used to divide us as a people.
Let’s try and define what it means to be Transgender first and then we can move forward from there.
The American Psychological Association defines Transgender as the following, “Transgender is an umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender expression or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth.”
When they talk about the sex that people are assigned at birth, they are referring to the genitalia that are displayed at birth on the newborn. The newborn is given the determination of their sex solely based on the sex organs they were born with. According to the Williams Institute that determination is correct 99.5 % of the time, which shows there is no need to change the way we determine the sex of the newborn at the time of birth.
However, the door to that determination needs to be left open to change. I will explain why I think that is so important and necessary. I believe the science of being transgender and my faith in God will both support the need to accept and welcome transgender individuals into our society as nothing more than human beings with the right to be who they were born to be.
In the National Library of Medicine, I found an article under the PubMed Central section. The PMCID is PMC7415463 and the PMID is 32801984. The article is written by two authors, Ferdinand J O Boucher and Tudor I Chinnah. The title of the article is; Gender Dysphoria: A Review Investigating the Relationship Between Genetic Influences and Brain Development. The article draws from research papers relevant to the subject matter and pulls the data together in a way that the casual reader can understand.
I encourage all of you to seek out this article and read it for yourself. I will be using some of their scientific conclusions, so we can all understand the phenomenon of being transgender a little better.
Probably the most interesting theory I found was the development of the sex organs and the development of the brain are the result of two different processes. There are conditions in which they do not develop in unison and may not develop representing the same gender as the other.
They write about how the male brain and the female brain are very different in size and structure. They give data and results showing most transgender people have the brain structure of the gender they identify with and not the gender they were assigned at birth. They give evidence of how the male brain and female brain react different to certain outside stimulus. They document how the brains of transgender people react to outside stimulus more in-line with the gender they identify with and less in-line with the gender they were assigned at birth.
They go on to explain the role that genes, chromosomes and hormones have on the development of sex organs. They show flow charts explaining the development of the sex organs for males and females. The article is very thorough in its explanation of how all that works. How it is supposed to work and how it breaks down due to the mutation of certain genes.
They go on to talk about when and how the brain and the central nervous system develop in the second trimester of pregnancy. They talk about the effect that steroidal hormones have on the brain’s sexual development. When you learn there are genetic mutations and underlying causes that may cause the brains sexual development to be different from the individuals sex organs, you begin to understand how a person can have the organs of one gender and the brain and soul of another gender.
They do say a couples of times in the article that certain areas and conclusions need to have more research to be fully understood. That is very important to keep in mind when drawing any conclusions from the facts in this article. However, there is enough evidence in the article to draw the conclusion that being transgender may be a result of many biological factors. They do mention there are outside non-biological factors that contribute to an individual believing they are or are not the sex they were assigned at birth. It is these non-biological factors that may lead to the individual being confused about which gender they are and why.
When you hear people saying that a person should be assigned the sex they were biologically born with, that leaves the question, the sex organs they were born with or the brain structure and cerebral characteristics they were born with?
Please read the article for yourself. You will understand what it means to be transgender and the biological processes that may have caused them to be transgender. It may be possible that being transgender is a situation where they are born with a birth defect, whether that birth defect being the gonads or the sexual structure of their brain is probably still up to debate.
Now that we have established a possible scientific and biological reason for why a person is born being transgender. Let’s talk about the soul of a human being and how that plays a role in who they are as a person.
I like to define the soul in less religious terms and more in terms of consciousness. There are definitions out there of the soul being what lives on after the physical body has passed away. That certainly is up for debate. Full disclosure, I believe our souls are given to us by God and lives on after death. But I like to define the soul in general terms as, it is how and what we think. The soul is also defined by the characteristics that are formed from a person’s thoughts and innate feelings. It is the determination of those characteristics that define the gender of the soul a person personifies.
Let’s try and talk about what defines us as individuals. Is it our skin color? Is it the color of our hair, eyes or the condition of our teeth? Are the physical attributes of our body or the appearance of ourselves as seen by others the determining characteristics that define who we are? There probably can be an argument made for both sides of that question, but in the end, the answer and conclusion would probably be no. I believe it is our own perception of our thoughts, innate feelings and actions that define who we are.
Let’s take a look at the roles of what our beliefs say about who we are. If society puts out definitions of what different segments of society are defined as, then individuals are likely to categorize themselves into a particular class or group they are most aligned with. For example, if your morals and values align more with a political party than another political party, you will probably define yourself as a member of the party you find your morals and values aligned with. We as individuals probably use our beliefs in who we are to categorize ourselves more often than we realize.
Let’s talk about the actions we take, why we take them and how that defines who we are. Our actions are a reflection of what we believe to be true. If we want to cross the street, we look both ways and believe it is safe, we will take the action of beginning to cross the road.
Our actions can also be a reflection of our intrinsic motivations. Which is the internal drive to engage in certain activities. A person will do certain actions based on their feelings for pleasure or satisfaction. A person may be walking down an aisle in a clothing store and see an article of clothing and be drawn to walk over and look at it because they feel they may want it. It may give them the pleasure and satisfaction of wearing something they feel they will look good in and fits their persona and gender identity. They may even take the action of buying it based on their feelings and not a physical need such as the need to cross the street.
Now let’s try and put this all together and understand how this can relate to what really defines who we are. If a person’s sex is assigned at birth because of the genitalia displayed at birth, but their actions based on their beliefs and innate feelings are of a different gender, then by under what criteria should they be defined as? I believe the idea of them having a birth defect falls on the physical attribute as the birth defect and not the beliefs and actions taken by the individual. I believe their soul defines what gender they are and not the sex organs they were born with. Doesn’t it make sense that if a person’s self-perception of their gender is stronger and more defined than society’s influences and expectations of their assigned gender at birth, that their gender be reassigned to reflect what their soul believes their gender to be?
Now let’s talk about transgender athletes playing sports with respect to the gender they believe they are and what kind of compromise we can achieve that protects everyone involved.
What are the arguments of both sides of the issue?
One side believes the transgender athlete should compete in the sport with other athletes that match the gender they identify with.
The other side believes it is unfair for female athletes to compete against transgender athletes who were assigned the gender of male at the time of birth. This side believes that individuals born with male sex organs have a physical advantage over females because they tend to be stronger and faster than females.
I can see and understand where both sides of the issue are coming from. When you look deeper into the arguments of each side, you see when looking at the fringes of each side there are examples that are hard to argue with.
The side that believes an athlete who is transgender should not be forced to compete against athletes that identify as a gender different than their own. Should individuals born with the soul of a boy compete against girls? Should individuals born with the soul of a girl compete against boys? It is easy to understand why people believe they should compete with other athletes that share the brain structure of the gender they were born to identify as.
The side that believes boys have an unfair advantage over girls due to their physical attributes and hormonal differences have a legitimate point. Boys do have an advantage.
Both my girls played AAU basketball growing up from an early age, right up and into high school. They played a lot of travel ball and had many games down in the greater Boston area. I can say from experience that going down to the Boston area. My girls played against other girls that were much taller, faster and stronger than the girls we went down there with. Some of the girls down in the Boston area had the body and build of an elite athlete at a young age. Our girls did the best they could, they had moments where they could hang with them for a little bit, but inevitably they would lose and lose big. Would it have been fair for us to complain to tournament officials about the girls being too big, too fast and too strong? Obviously, those girls had the genetics that our girls just didn’t have. Does that mean they shouldn’t be able to play because they have a superior genetic make-up and build than most other players? I think they should be able to play. The WNBA is full of those girls who grew up as genetically superior players compared to the average girl playing because they love the game, win or lose.
Now where is the compromise in all of this? I mention in my book, Finding Our Compass, that in order for progress to be made, we need to govern by what the rule of an issue dictates and not what the exception to the rule dictates. The general rule to this issue is there are thousands of transgender athletes competing in women’s sports and no one knows they are transgender. My oldest daughter had a transgender girl on her AAU team and no one knew she was transgender until after she left high school. She played all 4 years in high school and was never a full time starting five player.
What do we do about track and field athletes? What do we do about swimming competition, volleyball etc.?
I believe the best way to address the transgender athlete issue is on an individual basis. I believe the transgender student athlete and their parents can apply for a private hearing with the principal of the school. At that time the parents and student can present their medical diagnosis and the treatment plan they are on. They can make their case to the principal in a very private manner and at that time the principal can make the obvious choice if there is one.
One choice would be the student is displaying the qualities and characteristics of the gender they identify as and be granted permission to play the sport they are applying for.
The other choice would be they are not displaying the qualities and characteristics of the gender they identify as and not be granted permission to play the sport they are applying for. In this case it would probably be due to the fact they have not been in transition treatment long enough.
If the choice is not an obvious one, the principal can call in the superintendent to help with the evaluation. And the application and evaluation process would be kept to just those individuals to keep the identity of the student private.
After all we have learned about being transgender, I think that is a sensible compromise.
It is a compromise that doesn’t demean the student, but instead lifts the student up to the level of acceptance in society.
In conclusion, there is enough scientific evidence to show how people are born to be transgender. Their genetic make up has caused them to born with gonads of a certain sex and the brain of the opposite sex. I believe it is safe to say, if you have the brain and soul of a certain sex then you are that sex. And possessing the sex organs of a different sex, means those sex organs were developed as a birth defect and should be medically treated as such.
I think we can conclude that most transgender athletes go on to play sports and compete with other athletes of the gender they identify as. It is a small percentage of male to female transgender athletes that can have an abundance of male hormones giving them an edge over other female athletes. I believe we have found a way to evaluate the M to F transgender athlete and protect female athletes from a transgender athlete who is not ready to mix in with other athletes of the gender they identify as.
Transgender children and adults deserve to be accepted and loved as much as anyone else in society. We can choose to set a course for society to where all children are loved and accepted.