Regarding your recent column regarding non-binary gender controversies:
An aspect of this subject that is virtually never acknowledged is that gender identity likely has a physical origin, and this origin is not derived from the ‘X’ and ‘Y’ chromosomes and/or body type.
Perhaps the best example of this point is demonstrated by children born with ambiguous genitalia (congenital adrenal hyperplasia, for instance). Until they reach puberty, it is not necessarily clear whether the child in question is a “boy” or “girl”. At puberty, the child in question then confidently clarifies their correct gender. And my understanding is that the lack of clear physical characteristics has little bearing on their certainty about their correct gender.
So if gender identity is not linked necessarily linked to phenotype , then it is important to acknowledge that some individuals have a physical disconnect between their gender identity and their physical characterstics.
If the discussion were to start from this point, then it is no longer a simple minded shouting match about one opinion versus another. Some people are, literally, born into the wrong body. Then the issue becomes more practical. How are these unfortunate people identified? At what age is it appropriate to introduce appropriate
accommodations to help them navigate the transition to their correct gender?
If you become interested in this subject and choose to investigate it further, I believe you will find very little objective information regarding where gender identity is located. That is, which chromosomes carry this information? Where in the brain is gender identity is stored, etc?
But whatever the answer to these questions, it is known with absolute certainty that gender identity is much more complicated than simply the presence of ‘X’ and ‘Y’ chromosomes, and whether there person has ovaries or testes.
AUTHOR: Tim Howland
AUTHOR EMAIL: Knight5351@gmail.com
AUTHOR URL:
SUBJECT: [Kate Cohen] About
IP: 74.65.70.90
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