LGBT Rights Are Human Rights!

This latest Trump admin attack on trans people is fascist, stupid, irresponsible, and anti-scientific. The proposed Trump admin policy would make "genetic testing" necessary to prove the sex of an individual if they wanted to change their gender from that assigned at birth. The policy proposal is a trans-erasure measure, meant to erase trans people and force them to out themselves on every occasion. No trans individual would ever be able to have their sex changed on any government document because it would be impossible for any of them to pass the required test. A trans woman who has a vagina and breasts would be forced to go to an all-male prison. A trans man with a penis would be forced to use the ladies' room. That’s the world that the Republican Party and the Trump administration are trying to impose on us.

Every time a trans person has to show their ID to buy liquor, they’ll have to out themselves by showing an ID card that shows their assigned sex. Trans people are often victims of hate crimes. Concealing the fact that you are trans is necessary for your own safety. This policy will make it impossible to get a loan, rent an apartment, or get a job without outing yourself as trans. By forcing trans people to out themselves regularly, you are making already vulnerable people more vulnerable. This is unconscionable and unethical. This policy will result in trans people being assaulted and murdered. In my book, that makes supporters of this policy the equivalent of murderers. And forcing trans people to out themselves will increase rates of depression and suicide in the trans community. This policy proposal shows an utter disregard for human life and lack of respect for the wellbeing of trans people.

No individual would ever be able to pass the “genetics test” because sex cannot be determined via genetic testing. The idea that chromosomes exclusively determine sex is bunk science that was disproven years ago. Chromosomes are a primary factor in determining the development of sex, but they are not the only factor. There are a multitude of other factors involved, including environment, womb temperature, and the mother’s diet. It is impossible to identify a person’s sex by looking at genetics and chromosomes alone. Having an XX combination makes it highly probable that the fetus will develop as female, but it’s still fairly common in the grand scheme for individuals with XX pairs to develop as male. You can also have XY chromosomes and develop as female.

Plus, sex just isn't binary. XX and XY aren't even the only chromosome pairs. There are also other chromosome combinations, like XXY which occurs with a frequency of about 1 in 500 males. Many men with XXY chromosomes don’t even know they have it. XYY is a more rare combination, but has few symptoms so usually goes unnoticed. XXX is a common female chromosomal variant. There’s also things like gonadal dysgenesis and XX male syndrome. (Cf. https://tinyurl.com/c8mwynd) Intersex people, individuals whose genitals and/or chromosomes don’t conform to either male or female descriptions, make up about 2% of the populace, which is actually fairly high. It sounds low, but let’s put this in perspective. I went to a high school with about 5,000 students. Calculating the probability based on statistics, there were likely 100 intersex students. This scales up to there being about 20,000 intersex individuals in my city—20,000 people that are neither male nor female, biologically and genetically speaking. Scaling up further, statistically there are likely to be over 6.5 million intersex individuals in America. If you’re reading this, there’s a very real possibility that you are intersex but don’t know it because you’ve never had your chromosomes tested. Intersex individuals are not transgender, but I have brought up this topic to demonstrate that genetic testing cannot determine a person's sex in any scientific way. The total number of intersex plus transgender individuals in America is likely around 10.5 million people.

Transgender dysphoria is not the result of a chromosomal mismatch. An individual with XX chromosomes that develops a penis will usually identify as a male, in spite of having “female” chromosomes. An individual with XY chromosomes that develops a vagina will typically identify as female, in spite of having “male” chromosomes. Very few, if any, transgender individuals would be able to legally change their gender if a “genetic test” were required. Thus, this policy would essentially erase legal recognition of trans people and forcibly out them as trans to employers, lenders, landlords, etc.

This Trump admin proposal to define sex exclusively by genital expression at birth is anti-science, discriminatory, and fascist. It would also have some pretty absurd and unreasonable implications. Consider the case of “guevedoces,” individuals who happen to be born with female genital expressions but develop a penis and testicles when they reach puberty. (Cf. https://tinyurl.com/yau67zg4) Such an individual would be forced to identify as female for all government purposes in spite of having naturally developed a penis and identifying as a male. If they wanted to legally change their gender/sex, they would have to pass a “genetic test” which they could fail simply because sex is not determined entirely by genetics. Environmental factors during fetal development can cause sex to develop contrary to what genetic indicators would predict.

If the arguments presented here are not sufficient to convince you to oppose the Trump admin’s anti-trans agenda, then I can only conclude that you are the moral equivalent of a murderer. The purpose of social order and governance is to create security in order to allow for the maximization of human happiness and wellbeing. Any policy that does not promote human happiness and wellbeing is unethical, unjust, and illegitimate. This anti-trans policy does nothing but harm and endanger innocent individuals. There can be no logical arguments in its favor.