[CONTENT WARNING: Ignorance and Transphobia]
The other
day, my oldest sister sent me a message on facebook with a video, asking if I
had heard of Dr. Gagnon. Given the nature of my discussions with her, I
immediately knew that the video would be about transgenderism. I wasn’t sure
how positive or negative it would be but I’m always open to listening to people
talk about the topic, even if I disagree. So, I clicked the video hoping it
might be something interesting, like someone that researched the topic and
such. Sadly, I was horribly disappointed, and instead head some back and forth
between two people that clearly have done no research and have no clue what
they’re talking about. And it’s not even just about opinions, he’s wrong on so
many things factually. Like, they say things that are literally objectively
wrong. So, I’m going to pull things throughout the video to respond to to give
you an idea.
“He[sic] wants to be known as Chelsea Manning even though he’s[sic] a
man.”
First of
all, oh no, media daring to respect someone’s identity and use “she?” They say
this like it’s some sort of sign of doomsday. And of course they continue to
misgender Chelsea as “he.” My only response here is, no dear radio host,
Chelsea is a woman. End of story. K? Moving on.
“Confused? Yeah, a lot of us are.”
Oh shut the
hell up. Could you at least try to
seem respectful when discussing this? “Something I don’t understand? Must be
evil and bad, let’s poke fun at it.” You know what might help you understand?
Actually researching and knowing what you’re talking about.
“What are we to think of transgenderism, these new forms of aberrant
sexuality…”
Whoa whoa
whoa, no one mentioned sexuality here. If you had even a fraction of
understanding of what transgenderism is, you would understand it’s not
sexuality. Who I see myself as has nothing to do with who I’m attracted to. It’s
not that hard to understand. I know people who are trans that like women, some
that like men, some that are bisexual, it has nothing to do with sexuality, who we’re attracted to. I’m not even
a minute in and I know you don’t know what you’re talking about.
They say we’re not in a good place because the media respects Chelsea
Manning’s wish to be called “she”
Oh no,
respecting people’s wishes and identities, we must be in a horrible place! Eyeroll
“Society sees sex and gender differences as inconsequential”
Absolutely
not. Of course they’re consequential!
They shape how our society views people! You know what makes them
consequential? The huge suicide and murder rates. A consequence of me being
trans is that I have a 1 in 12 chance of being murdered. Pretty big consequence
there. I know, that’s not what you meant by consequential, but the point being
no, we don’t view it as inconsequential, that would be impossible in a society
that labels us freaks.
“Transgenderism is essentially an extreme form of homosexuality.”
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO,
HOLY WHAT? NO, NO NO, NO NO NO NO NO. SAY IT WITH ME. NO, NOOOOOOO,
NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOO. Read this in the tune of a grandfather clock
NO NO NO NO
NO NO NO NO
NO NO NO NO
NO NO NO NO
NNNOOOOOO
NNNNOOOOOO
NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Seriously,
an expert? You think of yourself as an expert? This sentence is so wrong, I’m
not even sure where to begin. Repeat after me Dr. Gagnon.
YOUR GENDER AND YOUR SEXUALITY ARE TWO DIFFERENT THINGS, THEY ARE NOT
THE SAME, AT ALL, IN ANY WAY, NO, NOPE, NOTHING.
THEY
ARE
DIFFERENT
THEY
ARE
DIFFERENT
HOW CAN ONE PERSON BE SO WRONG?
It’s seriously
not hard to understand. How you see yourself as and who you’re attracted to are
different. Different. Diiiiiffferrrreeeeeent. SERIOUSLY, I CAN’T EMPHASIZE ENOUGH TIMES HOW WRONG THIS SENTENCE IS.
“It’s a complaint towards the creator for making one as male or
female.”
Now this
one is more complicated and I can’t speak for all trans people. However, I
don’t “blame God” for how he made me or anything like that. I see it as being
something that went wrong at birth, just like any other birth problem. Unless
you’re gonna say fixing a birth deformity is “complaining against the creator
for how he created you.” Oh, also, people that are gay don’t necessarily have
any problem with the gender they were assigned at birth. Unless they’re trans
and gay. Also this entirely leaves out the possibility of bisexuals. This is so
oversimplified you can’t have any rational discussion based on it.
“[Transgenderism] is a complete denial of the integrity of one’s sex or
gender.”
More ways I
can tell he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. See, gender and sex are
different things. And this isn’t some opinion, this is a well-established
scientific fact. See, sex is referring to your genitals, your chromosomes, the
sexually dimorphic parts of your body. Gender, however, is a socially
constructed issue. It is in how we identify with each other and groups and our
sex. This manifests in ways such as gender roles, gender expression, and gender
identity, the extent to which we identify with male or female. Most people
identify with their birth sex, but this isn’t always the case. And we end up
with many mixes with feminine guys, masculine girls, etc. Gender is a very
complicated social construction that shapes how we relate, where as sex is the
biology. Sex is a very complicated thing that isn’t a neat “male/female”
dichotomy. Even in people that we would very easily say “male” or “female”
their biological sex may not be that simple. This discussion oversimplifies it
all.
They actually mention intersex individuals!
So I mean,
they have that going for them.
The refer to Chelsea Manning receiving hormone therapy as “It’s turning
into bizzaro world.”
Really?
Really? You’re gonna be that ridiculous about it? Hey, hostess, us learning
about things and adjusting our approach and thoughts on them, just cause they
disagree with you, doesn’t make it “bizzaro world.” We have a TON of research
on this topic to back up our views. It’s not like this is a sudden IGNORE
EVERYTHING approach. This may be shocking to you but people that hold views
different than yours probably have just as much of a nuanced view and approach
as you do.
They claim someone may be trans because of social influence, child
rearing or peer relations.
Yeah,
here’s the thing… you need to back that up with evidence. You can’t just say it
like it’s some objective truth. In fact, we studied this and looked at possible
influences. Boys that were born with a rare defect were once given surgery to
be female and raised as female… and they still identified as male and insister
they were boys. So, just saying this probably isn’t related to things like
that. Since apparently even when they have LITERALLY NO REASON TO BELIEVE THEY
ARE MALE, they still realize they’re male. Also, we have a ton of research that
says it’s simply a part of who we are.
Brawaeys, A. & Gijs, L. (2007). Surgical Treatment of
Gender Dysphoria in Adults and
Adolescents:
Recent Developments, Effectiveness, and Challenges. Annual Review of Sex Research 18 (178–224).
Chung, W. C., De Vries, G. J., & Swaab,
D. F. (2002). Sexual differentiation of the bed nucleus
of the stria terminalis in humans may extend into
adulthood [Abstract]. The journal of
neuroscience, 22(3), 1027-1033. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11826131
Coolidge, F., Thede, L., & Young, S. (2002). The
Heritability of Gender Identity
Disorder
in a Child and Adolescent Twin Sample [Abstract]. Behavior Genetics 32(4): 251–257 Retrieved from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12211624
Garcia-Falgueras, A.,
& Swaab, D. F. (2008). A
sex difference in the hypothalamic uncinate
nucleus: relationship to gender identity [Abstract]. Brain: A
journal of neurology, 131(12), 3132-3146. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18980961
Gaser, C., Hamilton, L. S., Luders, E., Narr, K. L., Sanchez, F. J.,
Toga, A. W., & Vilain, E.
(2009). Regional gray matter variation in
male-to-female transsexualism [Abstract]. Neuroimage,
46(4), 904-907. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2754583/
Gooren, L. (2006). The biology of human psychosexual
differentiation [Abstract]. Hormones
and behavior, 50(4), 589-601.
Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16870186
Gooren, L. J., Hofman,
M. A., Kruijver, F. P., Pool, C. W., Swaab, D.
F., & Zhou, J. N. (2000).
Male-to-female transsexuals have female neuron
numbers in a limbic nucleus [Abstract]. The
Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 85(5), 2034-2041. Retrieved from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10843193
Gooren, L. J., Hofman, M. A., Swaab,
D. F., & Zhou, J. N. (1995). A sex difference in the
human brain and its relation to transsexuality
[Abstract]. Nature, 378(6552), 68-70. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7477289
Grant, J. M., Mottet, L. A., & Tanis J. (2011). Injustice at every turn: A report of the
national transgender discrimination survey. http://endtransdiscrimination.org/PDFs/NTDS_Report.pdf
Greist, J. H., Jefferson, J. W., & Spitzer, R. L.
(Eds.). (1982). Treatment of mental
disorders.
Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press.
Solomon, A. (2012). Far
from the tree: Parents, children, and the search for identity. New York,
NY: Simon & Schuster, Inc.
They claim we don’t think hormones, bodies, or brain structure matter.
Fun fact,
they do matter, and we definitely think that. If I didn’t think hormones
mattered, I wouldn’t be on hormone replacement therapy. If I didn’t think the
body mattered, I wouldn’t hate my body being male so much. Oh, and you point to
sexually dimorphic parts of the brain? Uhhhhh
Brawaeys, A. & Gijs, L. (2007). Surgical Treatment of
Gender Dysphoria in Adults and
Adolescents:
Recent Developments, Effectiveness, and Challenges. Annual Review of Sex Research 18 (178–224).
Chung, W. C., De Vries, G. J., & Swaab,
D. F. (2002). Sexual differentiation of the bed nucleus
of the stria terminalis in humans may extend into
adulthood [Abstract]. The journal of
neuroscience, 22(3), 1027-1033. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11826131
Coolidge, F., Thede, L., & Young, S. (2002). The
Heritability of Gender Identity
Disorder
in a Child and Adolescent Twin Sample [Abstract]. Behavior Genetics 32(4): 251–257 Retrieved from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12211624
Garcia-Falgueras, A.,
& Swaab, D. F. (2008). A
sex difference in the hypothalamic uncinate
nucleus: relationship to gender identity [Abstract]. Brain: A
journal of neurology, 131(12), 3132-3146. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18980961
Gaser, C., Hamilton, L. S., Luders, E., Narr, K. L., Sanchez, F. J.,
Toga, A. W., & Vilain, E.
(2009). Regional gray matter variation in
male-to-female transsexualism [Abstract]. Neuroimage,
46(4), 904-907. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2754583/
Gooren, L. (2006). The biology of human psychosexual
differentiation [Abstract]. Hormones
and behavior, 50(4), 589-601.
Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16870186
Gooren, L. J., Hofman,
M. A., Kruijver, F. P., Pool, C. W., Swaab, D.
F., & Zhou, J. N. (2000).
Male-to-female transsexuals have female neuron
numbers in a limbic nucleus [Abstract]. The
Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 85(5), 2034-2041. Retrieved from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10843193
Gooren, L. J., Hofman, M. A., Swaab,
D. F., & Zhou, J. N. (1995). A sex difference in the
human brain and its relation to transsexuality
[Abstract]. Nature, 378(6552), 68-70. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7477289
Grant, J. M., Mottet, L. A., & Tanis J. (2011). Injustice at every turn: A report of the
national transgender discrimination survey. http://endtransdiscrimination.org/PDFs/NTDS_Report.pdf
Greist, J. H., Jefferson, J. W., & Spitzer, R. L.
(Eds.). (1982). Treatment of mental
disorders.
Oxford, NY: Oxford University Press.
Solomon, A. (2012). Far
from the tree: Parents, children, and the search for identity. New York,
NY: Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Huh, well
whaddya know, trans people’s brains match their gender identity rather than
their birth sex so uhh… WE REALIZE IT MATTERS.
Gnosticism
No, this is
nothing to do with Gnosticism. And as mentioned above, we’re not “anti-body” or
ignoring the body or saying it’s no consequence.
“Studies have been done on male-to-female transsexuals and their views
of casual sex.”
Aside from
the citation needed, that has way more to do with what we’re taught as a
society and how society views male and female sexuality. That’s not a hard
ingrained biological truth. And you would agree I hope that men aren’t just
“hardwired to like casual sex.” (Afterall, then you’d need to blame God for
doing that.) That’s a social issue that has nothing to do with someone’s
biological sex.
“To transgenders”
Transgender
is an adjective, not a noun. Learn grammar.
“Malakoi, Greek term for ‘soft male’”
Well for
one, good thing I’m not male J Also this leaves out people that are female-to-male.
But even ignoring that, this word is more complicated than he makes it sound.
This word and “arsenokoitai” are debated because… Paul’s writings are literally
the only place we see them. So it’s hard to determine what exactly is meant by
them. A common understanding is that these two words pair to mean the “active”
and “passive” partners in homosexual intercourse. But even ignoring that, it’s
what he says after that gets me.
“Men who
actively feminize themselves to become partners for other men.” Well for one,
gay people don’t necessarily feminize themselves. They don’t even need to
necessarily be feminine at all. Also, trans people aren’t necessarily going to
have those attraction patterns. There are people that are male-to-female that
are attracted to women. Are you going to say they’re feminizing themselves to
become partners with women?
IT’S NOT ABOUT WHO WE’RE ATTRACTED TO, IT’S
ABOUT HOW WE SEE OURSELVES. WHY DO YOU NOT GET THIS? Who I’m attracted to
has nothing Nothing NOTHING to do with me being trans. Got it? Got it.
Deuteronomy 22
Ok,
apparently you actually even suck at teaching the Bible. Because you should
know full well that the Deuteronomic law was given specifically to the Israelites at a time in which it was essential
to separate themselves from pagan cultures. It is not something given to the
people of today. But that’s just the beginning of the problem.
Another
problem is that cross-dressing has nothing to do with transgenderism. There are
guys that like to cross-dress that are completely heterosexual. I view myself
as female and I like cargo pants. What someone wears has nothing to do with
their gender identity. Wearing a dress doesn’t make someone a woman, just like
me wearing cargo pants doesn’t make me a man.
Also, what
“cross-dressing” is is totally socially arbitrary. What we view as “male” and
“female” clothes is socially made up. It doesn’t actually mean anything. And
cross-dressing then would be different than cross-dressing now cause… they’re
clothes. They don’t have an objective gender, it’s fabric. But please, do go on
you supposed “expert”
“Jesus’s statement on eunuchs”
Do you
uhhh… not remember what that statement is? Jesus praises eunuchs. He says there are those born that way, those who were made eunuchs by others, and those who
make themselves that way for the
kingdom of God. The one who can accept it
SHOULD accept it. So umm… if
anything, this would support trans
people. I personally, however, don’t think this is talking about trans people
at all and is talking about literally people that are asexual or castrated for
slavery or servitude in general.
He recommends people that already have surgery detransition and have
more surgery
THIS IS A
BAD IDEA, A HORRIBLE IDEA. These surgeries are complicated for one, but also
doing this could be literally dangerous for the persons well-being, including
their psychological well-being. THIS IS A BAD IDEA, DON’T LISTEN TO HIM, THIS
IS A HORRIBLE IDEA THAT WOULD DAMAGE MANY PEOPLE.
“The person has denied the way that God has made them.”
“If you
have surgery to fix a congenital defect or abnormality, you are denying the way
God has made you. Now shut up and deal with that clubbed foot.”
She mentions bigender and pangender and such and then says “How can we
have a conversation about sexuality”
Well first
of all, ya don’t. Because this has nothing to do with sexuality. I don’t get
how you don’t understand that. As for non-binary gender identities, that’s a
whole other ball game that I don’t have the time to go into right now. But
uhhh, it’s not sexuality. Get that through your thick skull.
He admits that birth abnormalities exist but denies fixing them?
Wat?
“These laws are going to be used to persecute Christians”
This is
going to be shocking to you, I know but… who I am, my identity and my gender,
they have nothing to do with you. Me being allowed to be who I am is not going
to “persecute” you. Me living my life is not “persecuting you.” It has
absolutely nothing to even do with you. Are you such a narcissist that nothing
you don’t agree with can happen without you crying persecution?
It’s going to harm children.
He points
to a trans boy (female to male) using the boy’s locker room in California as
“hurting children.” (Cause… reasons? I dunno.) But I’m going to get very very
serious here. I’ve been responding in somewhat sarcastic ways, but if I were
speaking this it would be in a very serious tone with a serious face.
Do you know
what’s harming children, Dr. Gagnon? What’s harming children is being denied by
their families. What’s harming children is the 41% suicide attempt rate among
trans people. What’s harming children is that almost have of homless people are
some form of LGBT because people reject them. What’s harming children is
bullying so merciless they feel they have no choice but to end their own life
than to try to live through it another day. What’s harming children is the
father that stabbed his own child for
coming out as transgender. What’s harming children is that once you come
out as trans, you have a 1 in 12 chance of being murdered. And that number
jumps to 1 in 8 if you’re not white.
And you
have the audacity to say that to help children we need to be rejected more? Here’s a news flash, society isn’t
as accepting of us as you think. It’s not sunshine and rainbows for us. We are
literally dying because of who we are. If you think the problem with society is
that it’s too accepting of us, you’re
not just ignorant, you’re a bad person.
“Concerns about the restroom facilities people use”
You know
what the concerns are, really? People play it off as “Well I’m scared a man is
going to come into the woman’s restroom and assault me” or something like that.
For one, that’s not a measure of whether or not trans people should be allowed
to use certain bathrooms. Two, if a man is going to assault a woman, he’s not
gonna care about the laws. And three, I can guarantee
you that I am infinitely more
terrified of using a public restroom than you are of letting me do that. You
know how many times trans people have gone into public bathrooms and assaulted
someone?.... none. We literally have no record of it happening. It’s not a
rational fear. You know how many times trans people are the ones being
assaulted in the bathroom? All the time. ALL. THE. TIME. It is a very real
constant fear for me. I HAVE WAY MORE TO BE AFRAID OF THAN YOU DO.
He talks about incest and lowering the age of consent
What the
actual fuck does this have to do with my gender identity? What does who I see
myself as have to do with incest and raping children? It’s not a logical leap,
it’s ridiculous. It’s totally unrelated. Guess what? I don’t support lowering
the age of consent. This may seem difficult to understand but SEEING MYSELF AS A WOMAN DOESN’T MEAN I’M
OK WITH CHILDREN BEING RAPED, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU? THIS ISN’T ABOUT
THROWING AWAY SEXUAL ETHICS. HOW ARE YOU THIS STUPID?
And finally, in your
last part, this isn’t about denying God. Trans people have varying ideas of
God. It is nothing to do with how we view God.
After the message, my
sister said he’s an “expert in the field.” My response to that is to be an
expert, you need to know what you’re talking about. This guy has no damn clue
what he’s talking about. He’s not an “expert” he’s a biased idiot that has no
understanding of the topic at hand, has done no research, and can’t even look
at topics in the Bible correctly. He’s not an expert, I wouldn’t even call him
knowledgeable. He’s just plain wrong. In other words, unless you want your
brain to hurt from the ignorance, don’t watch that video.
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