Transgender and Intersex Irrationality

 I would never have thought that the UK supreme court would act irrationally. Their decision to say that a woman can only be classified as a woman unless it says so on her birth certificate is irrational and just plain wrong It did not recognise that a woman who possesses a Gender Recognition Certificate is a "real" woman. The court decided that sex based protections, derived from the Equalities Act, only apply to women who are seen to be born as women because they are registered as such on their birth certificate. They did not take into account the possibility that some people who are born with XX chromosomes, and who are genotypically women, can be phenotypically men. Some XX children are born with male genitals and grow up to be men, albeit sterile, and they may not know that they are genetically women. Likewise some male children who have XY chromosomes are born with female genitalia and grow up to be women, albeit sterile , and they may not know that genetically they are men. Some children are born with a mix of male and female genitalia and it is uncertain what sex they are from their physical appearance. Nature is not as clear cut as supreme court judges would like it to be.   Some of the people born with an Intersex  condition  have surgery to assert their gender. Only a very small proportion of children are born with indeterminate sex, the figure is around 1%. Most people will therefore never meet an intersex individual or a transgender person for that matter.

Probably there is a some femininity in all men from a genetic and hormonal point of view, and likewise there is  probably some masculinity in all women from a genetic and hormonal point of view. However sometimes nature cannot give us a clear cut phenotype, but this is perfectly normal.  Every person is slightly different to another person, but in general we are all from the same species and thus, genetically, extremely similar to one another. 

Only the most ignorant right wing populist  politician would argue that there is a clear cut difference between a man  and a woman: they have got it wrong, and now, so it seems, have the supreme court judges even though their lordships mostly have  liberal attitudes. The transgender issue should not be seen as a black or white decision as intersex conditions apply equally to these unfortunate individuals, who feel that they are living in the wrong phenotypical body, despite their genetic make up.

I was disturbed by the actions of  some the vehement feminists who celebrated the ruling outside the supreme court in a frenzy of triumphalism. For centuries women have been denied some of the most basic rights by chauvinistic men; and they have still not achieved full equality. I think that they should show some sympathy for their fellow human beings and some tolerance.

Some men who were recorded as being males on their birth certificate want to re-assign their gender by having medical and surgical procedures to change their bodies from being a phenotypical man to  woman. The decision to do this could not be an easy one and it is probably filled with anguish. Once the medical procedures are over, surely they are entitled to official recognition by obtaining a Gender Recognition Certificate, and from then on be treated as if they were born a woman. Likewise the same reasoning should apply to transgender men who feel that they are men trapped in a woman's body. All of the problems faced by men or women that want to change gender are also faced by intersex people who are born with genitals not related to their genetic sex. 

A transgender woman is highly unlikely to ever want to sexually assault or rape any other  woman and would not be a danger to society in general. What is the problem of transgender women being allowed to share single sex changing rooms, toilets, hospital wards, women's refuges or prison cells with other so called normal women.  It would impinge upon the rights of transgender women to be be forced to share men only facilities as there would be a danger of them being assaulted  by full on brutal and  "red blooded" males.

What is wrong with transgender women being allowed to compete in women's sports as they would have been treated to reduce the  testosterone in their blood. Intersex athletes who are recognised as women are unable to challenge full bodied men on an equal footing, regarding strength or times.. There are too few transgender and intersex athletes to support a separate category of competitors.

Whilst most of the problems related to transgender people concern "transgender women", there are transgender men, who undergone surgical and hormone treatment to change their gender. Should transgender men be forced to use woman only facilities such as toilets, changing rooms and hospital wards etc? All of the problems faced by men or women that want to change gender are also faced by intersex people who are born with genitals not related to their genetic sex. 

Everything surrounding gender changes is fraught with difficulty. What would happen if a transgender "man" asserted his right to use women's changing facilities or toilets because his birth certificate says that he was born a woman. How would the real women react if an individual who looked a bit like a man used their space or even violated a real woman.

Most facilities cater for people on the basis of whether you are a man or woman, so should there be facilities for transgender people alone which they are forced to use? Some people may be embarrassed to be exposed as being transgender, so why should they suffer being outed? This would be an expensive and unnecessary option given the small numbers of transgender and intersex people.

I feel that the supreme court decision has opened a can of legal and social worms. There is no doubt in my mind that someone somewhere will resort to the law to make single sex facilities exclude transgender and intersex people. Thus hospitals, hotels, prisons and gymnasiums  etc.  may ask their clients to prove their birth sex: this might be interpreted as an abuse of privacy and may force transgender people to use the law to try to assert their rights to privacy and equality. Women's rights advocates might start demonstrating on the streets with transgender advocates counter demonstrating. Some chauvinistic men might start demonstrating to exclude transgender and intersex men form male only facilities. What a mess: probably cases will end up in the European Court of Human Rights!

The law should now be changed to give transgender people the same rights as so called normal people. There is no reason why an individual should not be given a Gender Recognition Certificate provided two doctors approve it along with a magistrate. Gender Recognition Certificates should then allow holders to change their passports and  birth certificates."Real men" who disguise themselves as women  to gain access to women only facilities for the purposes of assaulting or violating occupants should be charged with impersonation  and imprisoned if found guilty. This social mess can be resolved by appropriate legislation and then politicians would not be frightened to reveal their true opinions.

I asked my wife what she thought of this issue . She said that like me she had hardly ever met a recognisable  transgender woman. My wife believes in human rights for all especially women but she won't go out on the streets to support feminist triumphalism over the supreme court ruling. She believes that no-one should be traduced because they have changed gender. When I suggested that some of the triumphant feminists, who demonstrated outside the courts, could be genetic men without realising it, she smiled in agreement. When I suggested that some of the lesbians might be involved with genetic men without realising it her smile broadened  - but so what.

None of this is really a laughing matter,  so spare a thought for the intersex individuals who have grown up with both male and female exterior genitals, and are still debating whether they go for surgery and hormone treatment or not. This issue is not so simple and deserves sensitive consideration, without prejudice, rather than just  shouting slogans. What happened to tolerance, can't we bring it back please.