Julia Beck, writer and former member of the Law and Policy Committee of Baltimore City’s LGBTQ Commission, was one of the panelists at the event called “The Inequality of the Equality Act: Concerns from the Left,” hosted by the Heritage Foundation on January 28, 2019. Part one explained her frustration with the degradation of gender to arbitrary feelings and stereotypes by those claiming to feel like the opposite gender. She also discusses the reality that there are serious reasons that lead individuals to feel like they are in the wrong body, such as underlying internalization of injustice. Speaking of the girls who undergo gender-“changing” procedures, Beck explains, “many of these girls decide it’s easier to move through the world seen as a boy than as a girl.” And fellow panelist Hacsi Horvath, lecturer in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco – who formerly identified as a transgender woman – echoes the seriousness of underlying issues leading one to identify as the opposite gender. He discusses the possibility of girls having “internalized misogyny…or trauma,” leading them to subconsciously believe they could be safer as male. He also discusses the possibility of boys having the beginnings of “autogynephilia…a paraphilia encouraged in society through…the sexualization of everything,” which they internalize as time passes, causing them to think that they could be female. And instead of trying to get to the root of the issue, medical professionals encourage the self-disparaging confusion of these young individuals.
He goes onto explain the lack of legitimate scientific research into the concept of having a mind or brain that can identify as another gender, as well as of the long-term effects of the puberty-blocking and gender-changing treatments that children and teenagers are undergoing. He shares the danger of undergoing these medical treatments at young ages, explaining that “it’s a one-way trip. You don’t go off [these puberty-blockers and hormones], and if you do, what happens? The boy is three inches shorter, his voice hasn’t broken. The girl hasn’t developed, she hasn’t had menstruation – all of her peers have. They don’t change back.” Therefore, the fact that parents are forcing their children into these procedures at such a young age at the recommendation of doctors and therapists – or that young teenagers are allowed to undergo said procedures without their parent’s permission – is severely concerning. This is especially true considering the lack of follow-up with about thirty percent of individuals who undergo gender-changing medical treatments – a significant portion of data is missing, which could be very telling about the long-term effects of such methods.
Ultimately, what the Heritage Foundation panel demonstrates are the dangers of the relaxing of the definitions of sex and gender. The rapid growth and popularity of the transgender movement is endangering generations of children and young adults, and confusing contemporary society about the meaning and dignity of the two distinct and valuable genders that are naturally endowed by biology. Instead of encouraging individuals to hate their bodies and identities, we should focus on embracing and empowering them to accept themselves for who they are.
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