From Theybies and Maybies to Babies
In her article, “From He to She in First Grade”, Laurie Frankel describes how her son went from identifying as a male, to identifying as a female, in less than 2 years. This is not only morally insensitive, but it contradicts the very purpose we have as humans on Earth. It is also an illogical decision since Frankel’s child hasn’t even gone through puberty, meaning his brain has not yet matured. Frankel says, “she can be who she is on the inside and on the outside”, but biologically speaking, as God created him, her son is a male internally and externally. Even those that have undergone gender reassignment argue that it didn’t solve any problems, but created more. Though society says gender reassignment is acceptable and just, the opposite is true because it is based on false beliefs, it is contrary to our design, it is irrational, and it does not result in the solution that people desire.
Society likes to argue that sex and gender are two separate terms. They say that sex is determined by one’s biological genitalia, while gender is determined by what a person identifies as mentally. This would be true if gender was a social construct, however, it is not. Sex is determined by the design of your God-given body, and gender is decided by the chromosomes that make up your cells.
While it is illogical to believe that your gender and sex aren’t the same, it is also unreasonable to support a 6 year old, like Frankel’s son, that has made such a decision. Not only is he too young to understand the consequences of such a declaration, but his brain is not mature enough to make an educated, logical decision. According to Mental Health Daily (MHD), experts say that on average, the male brain isn’t fully developed until the age of 25. The MHD article titled “At What Age Is The Brain Fully Developed?” explains that people without a fully developed prefrontal cortex “may have major struggles with impulsive decisions”. During the maturing process, the brain improves its ability to handle emotions, solve problems, and to understand complex situations. The brain also gains better “executive functions”, as MHD calls them. These functions assist us in evaluating risks, thinking ahead, assessing ourselves, and regulating our emotions.
In addition, sexuality is also determined during puberty. The increase in hormone levels cause gender specific changes that determine one’s sexuality. The Journal of Human Reproductive Sciences published an article titled “Understanding normal development of adolescent sexuality: A bumpy ride” that states “puberty is reached during adolescence, which is a major landmark in the development of sexuality”. The authors explain that during puberty, biological factors such as genetic factors and neuro-endocrinal factors, are what determine the sex of a person. In men, the genitals become enlarged, the appearance of a beard and mustache begin to show, and their physique takes a typical masculine shape. In females, the development of breasts occurs, menstruation starts, the genitalia takes an adult shape, and their physique changes to a feminine type. While biological factors play a major role in sexual development, so do social factors. The article states that a major social factor is the parent’s attitude, parenting style, and relationship. What the adolescent sees and hears from the media and friends is also a large social factor.
Saying that your gender doesn’t align with your sex is a violation of our God given purpose on Earth. According to the resolution submitted by Eric Teetsel, a delegate for the Kansas Republican Party, “all persons are created in God’s image and, therefore, have inherent dignity and inalienable rights”. He also states that “God’s design was the creation of two distinct sexes, male and female”. He draws this argument from Genesis 1:27, which explains that God “created them [humans] male and female”. He concludes the resolution by explaining that “these cultural events run counter to God’s created order and violate the dignity of every human being”.
Biologically speaking, gender is determined by the paring of the sex chromosomes that encode each human cell. The two sex chromosomes for humans are ‘X’ and ‘Y’. Those that have a pair of two X’s become female, and those with an X and a Y become male. Since there are only two possible combinations for these chromosomes, there are only two possible genders. Additionally, as Eric Teetsel’s resolution states, the attempt to alter how your body was designed is a direct violation of the God given dignity of each human being.
It is perverse to believe that gender reassignment is the solution to all gender dysphoria problems. The article “New York Times Reveals Painful Truths About ‘Sex Change’ Surgery” mentions a recent transgender named Andrea Long Chu that acknowledges that sex reassignment surgery can’t truly reassign a person’s sex, because it was never “assigned” in the first place. The author of the article, Dr. Ryan Anderson, goes on to say that the reality is that “sex—maleness or femaleness—is established at a child’s conception, can be ascertained even at the earliest stages of human development by technological means, and can be observed visually well before birth with ultrasound imaging. Cosmetic surgery and cross-sex hormones don’t change biological reality”. Chu also recognizes that the process actually made things worse for him. He says that once he started the cross-sex hormones, he continually felt worse as time went on. He also mentions that his psychological state deteriorated once he started the transition. In addition, he realized that his sex reassignment resulted in suicidal tendencies. He revealed that before he began taking hormones, he was almost never suicidal, but once he started taking them, he was often contemplating suicide. Nigel Barber, the author of “The Gender Reassignment Controversy”, refers to a Swedish study of 324 patients, in which those that underwent surgery were associated with “considerably higher risks for mortality, suicidal behavior, and psychiatric morbidity than the general population”.
Dr. Anderson wrote another article titled “Sex Reassignment Doesn’t Work. Here Is the Evidence” that talks about how sex reassignment doesn’t address the psychological struggles that those with gender dysphoria face. He states that, “Transgendered men do not become women, nor do transgendered women become men. All (including Bruce Jenner) become feminized men or masculinized women, counterfeits or impersonators of the sex with which they ‘identify.’ In that lies their problematic future”. According to a 30 year-long study done in Sweden, the suicide rate of those that had gender reassignment surgery rose to 20 times higher than their comparable peers. McHugh also argues that the idea of gender shouldn’t be as controversial as it is. He relates it to identifying the genders of other species. He says, “No one finds it particularly difficult—let alone controversial—to identify male and female members of the bovine species or the canine species. Farmers and breeders rely on this easy distinction for their livelihoods. It’s only recently, and only with respect to the human species, that the very concept of sex has become controversial”.
Even those that have undergone reassignment surgery argue that the transition created more problems than it solved. In his article “Hormones, surgery, regret: I was a transgender woman for 8 years — time I can't get back”, Walt Heyer says his gender dysphoria started at the age of 4 because his grandma would repeatedly crossdress him and tell him that he was a beautiful girl. At the age of 42, he decided to transition into a female because he thought it would solve his gender dysphoria, but he later realizes that transitioning doesn’t fix the underlying ailments. Studies show that most people who want to undergo gender reassignment have other psychological issues, such as depression or anxiety. He says for him, he was diagnosed at age 40 with gender dysphoria and at age 50 with psychological issues due to childhood trauma. Heyer says the situation with his grandma led to sexual abuse from his uncle, before he was even 10 years old. He said that the abuse is mainly what caused him to no longer want to be a male. At the time, he thought that his family and the adults he looked up to would accept him. After dealing with the stress of living a double life, at the age of 40, he was told by Dr. Paul Walker that gender reassignment was the only option to relieve him of these problems. This change devastated his marriage, his children, and his career, and the reassignment provoked suicidal tendencies in his life. By the age of 55, he realized the mistake he had made, and decided to return to being a male. If an adult with over 40 years of experience in dealing with struggles can’t properly decide on their “assigned” gender, a 6 year old child is nowhere near capable of such a decision.
Sex reassignment is unnecessary. This society’s misconception of what is true is what leads to the sexual controversy of this generation. It goes against the intent for males and females, and creates significant problems rather than solutions. Even Dr. Paul McHugh argues that sex reassignment is never necessary, or defendable. He feels that “the surgeon is merely cooperating with delusional thinking”, and gives the analogy of providing liposuction treatment for “an anorexic who is extremely slender but believes themselves to be overweight”.
Anderson, Ryan. “Sex Reassignment Doesn't Work. Here Is the Evidence.” The Heritage Foundation, The Heritage Foundation, 9 Mar. 2018, www.heritage.org/gender/commentary/sex-reassignment-doesnt-work-here-the-evidence. Accessed 8 Oct. 2019.
“At What Age Is The Brain Fully Developed?” Mental Health Daily, Mental Health Daily, mentalhealthdaily.com/2015/02/18/at-what-age-is-the-brain-fully-developed/.
Barber, Nigel. “The Gender Reassignment Controversy.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 16 Mar. 2018, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-human-beast/201803/the-gender-reassignment-controversy. Accessed 8 Oct. 2019.
Frankel, Laurie. “From He to She in First Grade.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 Sept. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/fashion/modern-love-transgender-child-identity-parenting.html. Accessed 5 Oct. 2019.
Heyer, Walt. “Hormones, Surgery, Regret: I Was a Transgender Woman for 8 Years - Time I Can't Get Back.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 11 Feb. 2019, 9:05am, www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2019/02/11/transgender-debate-transitioning-sex-gender-column/1894076002/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2019.
Kansas Republican Party, Teetsel, Eric. “A Resolution Regarding Human Sexual Identity.” A Resolution Regarding Human Sexual Identity, 2018, https://issuu.com/tcj5/docs/resolution?e=15618686/58515320. Accessed 27 Oct. 2019.
Kar, Sujitakumar, et al. “Understanding Normal Development of Adolescent Sexuality: A Bumpy Ride.” Journal of Human Reproductive Sciences, vol. 8, no. 2, 2015, pp. 70–74., doi:10.4103/0974-1208.158594. Accessed 1 Nov. 2019.
Society likes to argue that sex and gender are two separate terms. They say that sex is determined by one’s biological genitalia, while gender is determined by what a person identifies as mentally. This would be true if gender was a social construct, however, it is not. Sex is determined by the design of your God-given body, and gender is decided by the chromosomes that make up your cells.
While it is illogical to believe that your gender and sex aren’t the same, it is also unreasonable to support a 6 year old, like Frankel’s son, that has made such a decision. Not only is he too young to understand the consequences of such a declaration, but his brain is not mature enough to make an educated, logical decision. According to Mental Health Daily (MHD), experts say that on average, the male brain isn’t fully developed until the age of 25. The MHD article titled “At What Age Is The Brain Fully Developed?” explains that people without a fully developed prefrontal cortex “may have major struggles with impulsive decisions”. During the maturing process, the brain improves its ability to handle emotions, solve problems, and to understand complex situations. The brain also gains better “executive functions”, as MHD calls them. These functions assist us in evaluating risks, thinking ahead, assessing ourselves, and regulating our emotions.
In addition, sexuality is also determined during puberty. The increase in hormone levels cause gender specific changes that determine one’s sexuality. The Journal of Human Reproductive Sciences published an article titled “Understanding normal development of adolescent sexuality: A bumpy ride” that states “puberty is reached during adolescence, which is a major landmark in the development of sexuality”. The authors explain that during puberty, biological factors such as genetic factors and neuro-endocrinal factors, are what determine the sex of a person. In men, the genitals become enlarged, the appearance of a beard and mustache begin to show, and their physique takes a typical masculine shape. In females, the development of breasts occurs, menstruation starts, the genitalia takes an adult shape, and their physique changes to a feminine type. While biological factors play a major role in sexual development, so do social factors. The article states that a major social factor is the parent’s attitude, parenting style, and relationship. What the adolescent sees and hears from the media and friends is also a large social factor.
Saying that your gender doesn’t align with your sex is a violation of our God given purpose on Earth. According to the resolution submitted by Eric Teetsel, a delegate for the Kansas Republican Party, “all persons are created in God’s image and, therefore, have inherent dignity and inalienable rights”. He also states that “God’s design was the creation of two distinct sexes, male and female”. He draws this argument from Genesis 1:27, which explains that God “created them [humans] male and female”. He concludes the resolution by explaining that “these cultural events run counter to God’s created order and violate the dignity of every human being”.
Biologically speaking, gender is determined by the paring of the sex chromosomes that encode each human cell. The two sex chromosomes for humans are ‘X’ and ‘Y’. Those that have a pair of two X’s become female, and those with an X and a Y become male. Since there are only two possible combinations for these chromosomes, there are only two possible genders. Additionally, as Eric Teetsel’s resolution states, the attempt to alter how your body was designed is a direct violation of the God given dignity of each human being.
It is perverse to believe that gender reassignment is the solution to all gender dysphoria problems. The article “New York Times Reveals Painful Truths About ‘Sex Change’ Surgery” mentions a recent transgender named Andrea Long Chu that acknowledges that sex reassignment surgery can’t truly reassign a person’s sex, because it was never “assigned” in the first place. The author of the article, Dr. Ryan Anderson, goes on to say that the reality is that “sex—maleness or femaleness—is established at a child’s conception, can be ascertained even at the earliest stages of human development by technological means, and can be observed visually well before birth with ultrasound imaging. Cosmetic surgery and cross-sex hormones don’t change biological reality”. Chu also recognizes that the process actually made things worse for him. He says that once he started the cross-sex hormones, he continually felt worse as time went on. He also mentions that his psychological state deteriorated once he started the transition. In addition, he realized that his sex reassignment resulted in suicidal tendencies. He revealed that before he began taking hormones, he was almost never suicidal, but once he started taking them, he was often contemplating suicide. Nigel Barber, the author of “The Gender Reassignment Controversy”, refers to a Swedish study of 324 patients, in which those that underwent surgery were associated with “considerably higher risks for mortality, suicidal behavior, and psychiatric morbidity than the general population”.
Dr. Anderson wrote another article titled “Sex Reassignment Doesn’t Work. Here Is the Evidence” that talks about how sex reassignment doesn’t address the psychological struggles that those with gender dysphoria face. He states that, “Transgendered men do not become women, nor do transgendered women become men. All (including Bruce Jenner) become feminized men or masculinized women, counterfeits or impersonators of the sex with which they ‘identify.’ In that lies their problematic future”. According to a 30 year-long study done in Sweden, the suicide rate of those that had gender reassignment surgery rose to 20 times higher than their comparable peers. McHugh also argues that the idea of gender shouldn’t be as controversial as it is. He relates it to identifying the genders of other species. He says, “No one finds it particularly difficult—let alone controversial—to identify male and female members of the bovine species or the canine species. Farmers and breeders rely on this easy distinction for their livelihoods. It’s only recently, and only with respect to the human species, that the very concept of sex has become controversial”.
Even those that have undergone reassignment surgery argue that the transition created more problems than it solved. In his article “Hormones, surgery, regret: I was a transgender woman for 8 years — time I can't get back”, Walt Heyer says his gender dysphoria started at the age of 4 because his grandma would repeatedly crossdress him and tell him that he was a beautiful girl. At the age of 42, he decided to transition into a female because he thought it would solve his gender dysphoria, but he later realizes that transitioning doesn’t fix the underlying ailments. Studies show that most people who want to undergo gender reassignment have other psychological issues, such as depression or anxiety. He says for him, he was diagnosed at age 40 with gender dysphoria and at age 50 with psychological issues due to childhood trauma. Heyer says the situation with his grandma led to sexual abuse from his uncle, before he was even 10 years old. He said that the abuse is mainly what caused him to no longer want to be a male. At the time, he thought that his family and the adults he looked up to would accept him. After dealing with the stress of living a double life, at the age of 40, he was told by Dr. Paul Walker that gender reassignment was the only option to relieve him of these problems. This change devastated his marriage, his children, and his career, and the reassignment provoked suicidal tendencies in his life. By the age of 55, he realized the mistake he had made, and decided to return to being a male. If an adult with over 40 years of experience in dealing with struggles can’t properly decide on their “assigned” gender, a 6 year old child is nowhere near capable of such a decision.
Sex reassignment is unnecessary. This society’s misconception of what is true is what leads to the sexual controversy of this generation. It goes against the intent for males and females, and creates significant problems rather than solutions. Even Dr. Paul McHugh argues that sex reassignment is never necessary, or defendable. He feels that “the surgeon is merely cooperating with delusional thinking”, and gives the analogy of providing liposuction treatment for “an anorexic who is extremely slender but believes themselves to be overweight”.
Works Cited
Anderson, Ryan. “New York Times Reveals Painful Truths About ‘Sex Change’ Surgery.” The Heritage Foundation, The Heritage Foundation, 26 Nov. 2018, www.heritage.org/gender/commentary/new-york-times-reveals-painful-truths-about-sex-change-surgery. Accessed 14 Oct. 2019.Anderson, Ryan. “Sex Reassignment Doesn't Work. Here Is the Evidence.” The Heritage Foundation, The Heritage Foundation, 9 Mar. 2018, www.heritage.org/gender/commentary/sex-reassignment-doesnt-work-here-the-evidence. Accessed 8 Oct. 2019.
“At What Age Is The Brain Fully Developed?” Mental Health Daily, Mental Health Daily, mentalhealthdaily.com/2015/02/18/at-what-age-is-the-brain-fully-developed/.
Barber, Nigel. “The Gender Reassignment Controversy.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 16 Mar. 2018, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-human-beast/201803/the-gender-reassignment-controversy. Accessed 8 Oct. 2019.
Frankel, Laurie. “From He to She in First Grade.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 16 Sept. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/fashion/modern-love-transgender-child-identity-parenting.html. Accessed 5 Oct. 2019.
Heyer, Walt. “Hormones, Surgery, Regret: I Was a Transgender Woman for 8 Years - Time I Can't Get Back.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 11 Feb. 2019, 9:05am, www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2019/02/11/transgender-debate-transitioning-sex-gender-column/1894076002/. Accessed 8 Oct. 2019.
Kansas Republican Party, Teetsel, Eric. “A Resolution Regarding Human Sexual Identity.” A Resolution Regarding Human Sexual Identity, 2018, https://issuu.com/tcj5/docs/resolution?e=15618686/58515320. Accessed 27 Oct. 2019.
Kar, Sujitakumar, et al. “Understanding Normal Development of Adolescent Sexuality: A Bumpy Ride.” Journal of Human Reproductive Sciences, vol. 8, no. 2, 2015, pp. 70–74., doi:10.4103/0974-1208.158594. Accessed 1 Nov. 2019.
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