From transgender athletes competing in sports, to transgender bathroom policies, to gender-affirming care, trans issues are hotbeds of debate in countries around the world.
Despite transgender people being a relatively small percentage of the population, these issues command a significant space in the headlines. And everyone has an opinion on the transgender community… including the world’s major religions.
When it comes to transgender people, gender transition, and gender identity, what do the world’s major faiths have to say?
Christianity
There is no universal religious stance on transgender identity across Christian denominations, and Christians are largely split on approval of gender transition.
For example, the Catholic Church recently declared that gender ideology and gender-affirming surgery are an existential threat to humanity.
Southern Baptists and non-denominational evangelicals are generally hostile to gender transition as well, sometimes pointing to Genesis, where God created “male and female” as proof that gender is not fungible and cannot be changed.
Still, some Christian denominations do affirm the transgender community to some extent, notably the Church of England, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and Presbyterians.
Islam
With almost 2 billion believers, Islam is the second-largest religion on the planet after Christianity. Among Muslims, there is similarly no global consensus on transgender people – though opinions towards gender transition do skew negative in highly traditional Muslim societies.
However, some Islamic leaders have shown support for gender transition. In 1987, the Shiite theocracy founder in Iran Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa allowing sex changes for transgender Muslims.
That fatwa was based on a belief that people are born transgender, but that homosexuality is a choice. Because of Ayatollah Khomeini’s fatwa, Iran performs more gender reassignment surgeries than any other country except Thailand.
Judaism
Broadly speaking, Judaism is more welcoming to the idea of gender transition and transgenderism than the other Abrahamic faiths.
Jewish scholars say that thousands of years ago, ancient Jewish law recognized at least eight different genders in the Talmud.
Both Reform Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism are generally accepting of transgender people and gender transition, and Reform Judaism even allows for the ordination of transgender rabbis.
Hasidic Jews are an exception – because they observe such rigid gender roles, gender transition is rarely discussed and goes unacknowledged.
Hinduism
Transgender people are generally accepted and even celebrated within Hinduism; in fact, Hindu holy texts frequently make reference to people of a third gender, somewhere in-between man and woman.
In many majority-Hindu countries, so-called "third gender people" are celebrated and sometimes even believed to have special powers – though this has sometimes led to stereotyping.
Transgender Hindus are known to worship deities who are believed to have changed their sex or died or were reincarnated as a different sex in scripture.
In that sense, Hindu societies do hold space for transgender members of the community. If there are anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments, some experts say, they are believed to have been imported by western imperialism – and not endemic to the Hindu countries themselves.
Buddhism
Buddhism is a fiercely individualistic religion focused on personal enlightenment, and there is no personal guidance on gender transition or same-sex relations in general within Buddhist philosophy.
The Buddha never spoke directly on transgender people or gender transition. One of Buddhism’s primary moral precepts is against sexual misconduct, but neither gender transition nor homosexuality are considered misconduct specifically.
Still, some Buddhist societies are patriarchal and observe traditional gender roles. Generally speaking, the Theravada tradition of Buddhism is the most conservative and traditional, and Tibetan Buddhism, the most progressive school, is the most accepting of transgender people.
Sikhism
Gender transition and homosexuality in general aren’t mentioned in the Guru Granth Sahib, so there is no formal guidance in Sikhism on these issues.
Sikhism as a faith advocates strongly for acceptance and equality of all people, so many progressive Sikhs believe the faith is affirming of LGBTQ+ people.
However, the Punjab region of India, where Sikhism originated and remains the majority faith, is a patriarchal society where homosexuality is still viewed questionably, and many transgender Sikhs fear coming out, lest they face reprisal and condemnation from friends and family.
85 comments
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Bishop William Dusenberry, DD
The more categories of people, that Christians abandon during their times of need, the more the ULC becomes a viable alternative to such objectionable prejudice and discrimination. Thanks for being what you are, FFRF.
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Laura McAllister
Transgender , gay people if they’re fine with their lives and their family and everybody else shouldn’t say anything. Just because they’re different doesn’t mean they’re mean or rotten. I know a few very nice. I had dinner with them. They come for barbecues and what the world is going through now. Do we really need to worry about what the world thinks about transgender people maybe that’s why the world’s a mess God said I love their neighbor how many who have something to say actually talk to a transgender or sat at dinner or them don’t judge.
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Mark Gilgen
i dont judge them thats GODS job and it clearly states what he thinks in the Bible.
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Brien
The bible is a man made construct, just like the mythical being. So your statement of what your mythical being thinks is simply a reflection of zealot ideology. But you are free to live your life as others are free to live theirs.
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Russel A. Kester
Yes, Mark, the Christian Bible does indeed read that God loves them. Everyone. And it says that if you're a Christian, then you are to love them too. If you don't, then you are not following the highest commandments in the Bible. So where's the love, Mark?
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Harvey Zeller
My only concern is transgender competition in female sports. If and until all genders can compete together, a future that is hard to see coming to fruition, I think it can skew results in unfair and obvious ways. A transgender female who has developed bigger, taller, stronger, etc. being previously male identified, will not compensate for this with gender affirming formulary. So she will always be a male competing with females in a female sport.
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ServantOfJudgement
It's a fair concern Harvey. I watched a couple fighting matches with a chic and a dude as a chic. OMG! It turned my stomach, the woman was pulverized. Just unthinkable that anybody could believe that's a fair fight. So much for woman's liberation, now if a guy wants to slap around a chic, he can do it legal in the ring.
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Rev. Klaire ThD, MA
Soj, that's about the most uninformed, uneducated, fear driven comment in this thread.
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Chris
Religion only pertains to those who follow that set of beliefs. It's not law and should never be law. If you want to discriminate and be hateful because of your religion, that's you. You have no right telling others what they can do, how they can dress, who they can love because of what you believe. Thinking you have that right is sheer arrogance and definitely not Christ-like.
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Matthew Mastrogiovanni
Well ... they left out paganism. Of course. We accept the LGBTQ+ community. One of my favorite and inspirational elders is trans and I have a trans coven sister.
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Phlan-Michelle Anne Phillipa Purss
Cool where do I join? As it's something this Sistergirl might be interested in.
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Lionheart
Has the word “Transvestite” now been replaced by the word “Transgender? I don’t seem to hear that word used very much anymore. I guess there are people that still like dressing up in other genders clothes, but don’t take claim to that gender.
Can a person be a transvestite, but not gay?
I wonder if religions are softer with Transvestites than they are with Transgender? 🤷🏼
🦁❤️
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Stephanie A Willey
Transgender is the accepted term in medical world today and for nearly 40 years to identify a wide spectrum of the community of individuals who experience and come to understand that their physical body does not align with their innate internal identity. Gender and sexuality are not the same and are not connected or relative to each other in any way. These are the current scientific and medically understood and accepted facts.
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Russel A. Kester
Stephanie, while gender and sexuality might not be the same thing, gender and one's sex are. Whereas gender dysphoria, aka transgenderism, is a psychological issue, it is a mental health issue which has a slightly different connotation that simply calling it a medical issue as the latter would lead to thinking surgery is the proper response and the former to counseling. And there are NO hard scientific facts supporting transgenderism. None that I found anywhere. No transgender gene. Not even studies that would indicate that transgender persons process information in their brains differently as can be shown between how men and women process information in different parts of their brains. The Cass Report from the UK and others from Denmark dispute that these are facts accepted by more than medical practitioners who are specifically dedicated to providing so-called gender affirming care for a price.
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Robert James Ruhnke
Kester, Gender and sex aren’t the same thing. Stop pushing your religious agenda where it isn’t welcome. Sex is defined by biology, gender is defined by psychology, sociology, anthropology. No two cultures have exactly the same gender roles or define gender the same way. The Cass Report does question the validity of the research done, but that doesn’t mean it completely invalidates the existence of trans people. Gender Dysphoria isn’t a mental illness. Your covert narcissism is though. Do get help for it. As alway, we don’t agree, we will never agree. I’m too busy trying to help our community, while you’re busy railroading part of it to keep yourself safe, coward.
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Russel A. Kester
Robert, stating that sex and gender are two separate things doesn't make it true. They are a package deal based in biology. That is why boys have similar ways of understanding and living in the world which is different from girls. Thanks to another study by Stanford, science backs this up by showing that males and females process percepts in different parts of the brain which results in completely different perceptions of reality.
I didn't call gender dysphoria a mental illness. YOU DID. I said it was a mental health issue. Which it is. Perhaps that was just a Freudian slip on your part.
You also spoke of gender roles in societies not being the same. Actually, the historical record is crystal clear that gender roles have been consistently the same around the world. Men performed activities which provided for the welfare and safety of the family and society as fathers and men while women were housewives, mothers, and tended to domestic matters. Your statement is not well informed by history.
I am curious why you felt entitled to say to me, "Stop pushing your religious agenda where it isn’t welcome." I think we discussed this before. You are not authorized to speak on anyone's behalf but your own. And you may note that my above discussion didn't include one religious quote or reference. I did reference actual science and the social norms of societies since recorded history.
So, gender is not defined by psychology, it, like sex, is defined by biology. Gender or Queer theory is based in ideology which is simply wrong. Gender is not a social construct it is the expression of one's biological sex.
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Robert James Ruhnke
Bull. Kester. I never did. I’ve always known it was never a mental illness, some other fool here did say that. There’s a lot of Roberts here. Gagnon has said such things. Mental Health Issue is just a nicer way of saying mental illness. Your tone always betrays what you really mean, Kester. Always. It’s why I wish you’d stop being a pearl clutching savior wannabe and just mean what you say. You gaslighting me doesnt change that.
The problem with your assessment? You’re not basing your claims on actual biology. I learned in college that sex and gender are not the same thing. Gender is based on sex, yes, but it’s projected behavior that men and women are taught to do. It’s not something in born. We are not born men and women. We grow into them Through experiences. Even then. No two genders are entirely alike.
What one cultures wants people to do, another wants the opposite, with varying degrees. Sex and gender and separate, but they do synchronize. So understand why it’s so tough for you. You’ve been brainwashed to think a specific way about anything and everything around you before you could learn to think. I used to think like.
While yes, there universalities, there are also heavy divergences. We don’t see as many today because Christian’s have spent the past 500 years butchering them and wiping them out for their false sense of superiority. Natives respected and cherished their two spirit. Hindus recognize the Hijra as a third gender. The aborigines of Australia also recognize genders outside the binary you push. All of these cultures have been so terribly damaged by European Christianity. Many pre Christian religions and cultures respected and recognized them. You talk about your faith often, you don’t go full biblical quotes, but it’s there, just beneath the surface.
I see you’re a student of Jordan Peterson, Kester. Another man who likes to spice up his rants with terms that he doesn’t fully understand. Science is the just study of reality. That’s it. You’re pushing philosophy off as science. When it’s not. They may synchronize. But alas, they’re separate concepts. Who do I have backing my corner? Actual biologists and scientists who’ve spent years studying these topics.
I find it amusing that you buy into “born this way” as being scientific, when it’s just metaphor. lol. You’ll buy into all the anecdotal hype that surrounds gay behavior, but then buy into all this anti trans garbage that was pushed by the Gay and Lesbian Community back in the 60’s. Back when it was all about y’all.
“Men performed activities which provided for the welfare and safety of the family and society as fathers and men while women were housewives, mothers, and tended to domestic matters. Your statement is not well informed by history.”
Men forced women into those roles. Men have been forcing women with violence to do their bidding in the west for 8 thousand years. Men forced women to do many things in the west. Women in many cultures were hunters, medicinal practitioners, generals, fighters, warriors, leaders, not just mothers. Men have been limiting what women can and can’t do for a very long time it seems normal. My minor was history, my major was social science. Gender is a matter of psychology, anthropology, biology, and several sciences that you’re ignoring. It’s the reason why it’s not just a matter of biology. Gender is how we shape biology. We shape it with our ideals. It’s why no two cultures have exactly the same beauty standards. You’d know if you weren’t pontificating gender essentialism and gate keeping against trans and queer people.
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Russel A. Kester
Robert James, I was heartened to hear you say, "Gender is based on sex, yes ...." We agree on that. And we're getting to the root issue too. You said, "I learned in college that sex and gender are not the same thing." Your professors were likely sociologists pushing a woke gender queering ideology. They were missionaries peddling their dogma to impressionable youth.
I have referenced scientific findings on gender and sex. I've quoted my sources as well. I don't recall your ever having actually done so. But your statement that, "Gender is how we shape biology." Is a doozy. No, gender does not shape biology, biology shapes gender. So, yes, gender is just a matter of biology.
At one point you said that historically women had been warriors, leaders, hunters, and generals. But in another you said that men forced women into the roles of mother and housewife. So which was it? Were they forced to be bound to domestic matters or were they out in the forefront fighting Attila the Hun? What were the names of great female generals in the Roman or Greek or Arabian armies?
I'm not gate keeping anyone. I am keeping my eye on reality and am not accepting made up social theories without foundations. That's all.
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Robert Gagnon
You can't use reason and facts on the unreasonable
and disillusioned. When your only accomplishment in life is opening a closet door 20 years ago it kind of explains the name calling and childish innuendos evident in Ruhnkes' statements. I was taught that in conversation or debate, the need to insert accusatory remarks displays a lack of character. Thank- you for always being factual and on the mark. -
Russel A. Kester
Robert, thank you for your kind comment.
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Robert James Ruhnke
lol only you Kester would say that Gags is Kind. How easily influenced and gullible you are. lol. He’s the one who pushes you in a mass grave after he makes you dig it after his ilk have dealt with me just for existing not on their foolish terms. The Brownshirts did it it Germany 80 years ago, they’ll do it again whilst wearing a cross and American flag.
Oh Gags, the only thing you’ve ever done of note was be born. An even that’s not your own accomplishment. You saying all that about character and debate from a person who has done nothing but be accusatory and rude to others as they’ve expressed facts and not opinions, is why I think you and Kester here are hypocrites of the highest order.
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Russel A. Kester
Robert, was there anything resembling an philosophical idea or argument in your above comment? If so, I didn't find it.
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Robert James Ruhnke
No, my professor was a biology Teacher with a penchant for over all LGBTQ-Phobias on his bad days, and a general tolerance of them on his hood days. He and I both agree that “Born this Way,” is just a metaphor for orientation in general, straight or not straight, as it is not a completely biological process, but also an environmental and social one. An so what if people choose to be LTBTQ+, people like yourself choose to be religious fanatics who cloud their ability to cipher logic with superstition.
My sociology professor at HCC voted for Bush Twice, and Obama once. lol He’s Liberal, but hes middling at best. He and I both agree that Woke is just another incarnation of cool from the 60s, and hip from the 70’s as a term to scapegoat the young, non conservative, or both. Both of these professors and I have had our amicable disagreements. They didn’t manipulate, gaslight, or be falsely sincere in their arguments as you’ve been doing. Which is why I do vehemently disagree with you on everything. Because what you stand for is the erasure of people I love just to protect your own skin from people Gagnon.
After HCC I graduated from Kansas State University which is not a hugely Liberal school. I also went to college before Woke became a buzzword for y’all. Missionaries peddling dogma? Hah! Thats you just telling on yourself. Again.
For every Artemisia, Joan of Arc (who was murdered for her out braving men and called a witch for her bravery) and Boudicca, there are thousands of stories of women who fought or resisted their male counterparts influences, did not succeed, and were killed in the attempt. There are entire historical records on ancient Europe where matrifocal cultures were all over the place. With the last of them being The Minoans of Crete. Starting in 7500 BCE wave after wave of Kurgan and Yamnaya peolples invaded Europe with their war gods and patriarchal values. Waves stopped around 3500 BCE.
Artemisia ruled during the overlordship of the Persian king Xerxes. Despite her able command of five ships in the major naval battle with the Greeks off the island of Salamis near Athens, the Persian fleet suffered a severe defeat. Herodotus, a historian who is believed to have been born in Halicarnassus about 484 BCE, claimed that Xerxes acted on her advice when he retreated from Greece at once rather than risk another engagement.
Khawla bint al-Azwar was an Arab Muslim warrior in the service of the Rashidun Caliphate. SHE played a major role in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, and fought alongside her brother Dhiraar. She has been described as one of the greatest female soldiers in history.
Fulvia lived in the last days of the Roman Republic and moved in influential circles. She married Mark Antony and was seen as a partner in his political career. Fulvia defended her husband from Cicero’s brutal linguistic attacks. When Cicero was killed we are told that Fulvia stabbed the tongue of his decapitated head with her hairpin to get revenge on the vile things he had said about her. When Mark Antony and Octavian left Rome to pursue Caesar’s assassins Fulvia was thought to be the one running the city in their absence.
Meanwhile you ignore cultures like the Scythians who trained women to be Calvary and for a time Rome even employed Scythian Lady Calvary to be a police force of sorts.
Nope, gender shapes biology, though to be fair, they shape each other. We took biology into our hands thousands of years ago when began shaping wolves, and small forest cats to domesticated pets. Then 10’000 years ago when we began shaping it further as we’ve Developed agriculture.
Another 3000 year process where we would start it, then abandon it. This process of trial and error which started with women planting gardens in the river deltas across the ancient world. This was also occurring as the Patriarchal cultures were really invading Europe. There is now evidence to show that women in those ages were physically more robust, and through the millennia attempts to curtail that strength have been implemented. Women and anyone who has defended their fair treatment and autonomy were the first systemically exploited groups of people in our history.
Yes, you’re gatekeeping, and no, due to your religious fanaticism clouding your logic. You believe in fairy stories, such as gender essentialism and Christianity. Both have foundations of blood, cruelty, and oppression. I don’t trust conservative Christian gay men because they let their addiction and cult like worship of the phallus and all things surrounding the concept of man cloud their better moral judgement to reality.
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Russel A. Kester
Robert, Joan of Arc is well known, and was treated wrongly. As for Boudicca and Artemisia they lost their battles. The Scythian army was composed almost entirely of men. As a nomadic peoples, yes, women could ride horses and use bows for hunting. Any evidence of their roles in warfare is scant. This doesn't detract from the accomplishments of the females in the examples you cited, but they also point to the millions of men who served their counties, and we remember still these men of renown who were great military commanders.
You asked so what if, I'm paraphrasing, gays and lesbians just choose to be thus. That is a crucial point. We don't choose to be. It is our innate sexuality, not a choice. If you don't see that theories advocating that being male or female or gay or straight is just a choice created by performative acts, then you fail to understand why the gay community fought so hard to disprove this way of thinking. That was how the true religious right attacked us by saying we'd made a lifestyle choice. All of these theories that say these things are all choices and that people can change from one to the other willy- nilly because they are nothing more than social constructions are daft. The truth is that we are born this way and it is not a metaphor. It is determined by biology. And that is why these queer theories are both wrong and harmful to gay people.
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Robert James Ruhnke
Transvestite is a dated word that has fallen out of favor for the more poppy Drag. They’re two separate things. To Wong Foo, Thank You For Everything, Julie Newmar. Covered this up very nicely I thought. There’s a few drag dudes running around who are straight, not many, but a few. Heck even Reagan did drag way back when.
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Russel A. Kester
Robert, for once we are pretty much in agreement. We'd better check the temperature in hell quickly! 😉
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Rev. Klaire ThD, MA
Lol! I just blew coffee out of my nose! Those aren't even the same thing. They were never interchangeable words for the same thing. If you thought they were, it gives us some great insight into how shallow you likely look at many issues that you don't understand. As well, if you don't understand how a spectrum is constructed as it relates to any topic, you likely can't comprehend the depth of this topic. It's a topic that is managed, controlled, and described by science; not by myth, belief, or faith, all of which have no ability to describe or define issues of science.
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Danny D. Maynard
Transvestite == Drag queen == Female Impersonator. Transexual == Person where brain's sex/sexuality does not match his/her physical sex/sexuality.
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Lionheart
I guess the same can be said for those who want to identify as a Pony. Personally, I think we should feed them hay, and put them all out to grass. 🤭
I know someone who identifies herself as a pup, but for some unknown reason, she refuses to eat out of the dog bowl. I don’t get it.🤷🏼
🦁❤️
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Robert Gagnon
Original definition of transvestite is fetish fulfilled by wearing clothes of the opposite sex. It is separate from sexual attraction. Trans gender Is the process imitating the opposite sex through actions and alterations of appearance and behavior. This also is separate from sexual attraction in theory.
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Robert James Ruhnke
Gags don’t talk about things you don’t know anything about.
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Robert Gagnon
You're not the expert. Probably not good at what you do.
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Robert James Ruhnke
I’m more an expert on many of the topics discussed than you, Gags. You just provide half baked anecdotes based on superstitious nonsense that was debunked 50 years ago.
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Robert Gagnon
In a simpletons mind he is king.
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Robert James Ruhnke
No Kings, no masters, Gags. I am no King. Another relic concept of the past, much like your gender essentialist beliefs.
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Carol M. Anaski-Figurski
Interesting article. God loves all people. All are welcome. We are all children of the same universe. I like to think ok the Kenny Chesney song American Kids " a little messed up but all alright."
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Morgan Lewis Williams
it's ok with me
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Mountainsage
I love you all. God doesn’t make mistakes.
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Lionheart
Well, to name just one of your gods mistakes, there’s the parasitic worm called Loa loa, it’s a filarial (arthropod-borne) nematode (roundworm) that causes Loa loa filariasis. It bores itself into human eyes and causes blindness. More commonly known as the "eye worm", which is where it thrives to survive. It localizes to the conjunctiva of the eye, and it’s commonly found in Africa. I’m sure your particular god meant well when he created it. 🤭
🦁❤️
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Steven Ferrell
My own view is there are only two genders and the push on kids is wrong.
There was a time when a girl could be a tomboy and climb trees, play with boy toys, etc. and no one thought anything about it. Now if a girl does that, they want to say that child is trans and start pushing that child to become a boy. STOP with the push to make them something that they are not.
My wife was considered a tomboy growing up, yet also liked dressing up in fancy dresses. She can be tough as nails and was a Master Drill Sgt, but she is also all female and is absolutely beautiful when she is dressed for going out.
Our granddaughter was pushed to be trans, be a boy. Her parents went into debt getting her put on male hormones, having breasts removed at 16, changing name and calling her him and he.
I would not get on that bandwagon. I didn’t refer to her as she or her, but also would not call her him or he.
She is now 22, has met a man that she cares about deeply and now is back to wearing dresses, makeup and told me privately that she does not know how to tell her mom, but she has stopped the male hormones and is looking to have breast implants put in.-
ServantOfJudgement
That's quite the testimony Steven. It's good that you kept the channel open for her to confide in you these things.
The wisdom of a good grandfather is hard to beat.
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J E Del Rio
Biologically there are only two, When biologists speak of human sexes we mean something very straightforward. There exist only two sexes, which are fundamentally rooted in the binary classification between sperm and ova. Males have the function of producing small gametes (sperm), and females large gametes (ova). the female is XX and the male is XY. Every individual must have at least one X chromosome. Since the female is XX, each of her eggs has a single X chromosome. The male, being XY, can generate two types of sperm: half bear the X chromosome, half the Y, this FACT is not a social construct! A social construct is any category or thing that is made real by convention or collective agreement. Socially constructed realities are contrasted with natural kinds, which exist independently of human behavior or beliefs. Simple examples of social constructs are the meaning of words and the value of paper money. Social construct in World Of Make Believe things that are made real by collective agreement between idiots who seek change at all cost That are still Make Believe things, calling human gender variants!, and According to analysis, the average person has around 400 defects in his or her genes So we humans are defective!
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Russel A. Kester
Excellent 👍
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Robert James Ruhnke
Gross Kester.
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Russel A. Kester
Robert, everything J E said was based on facts and science or linguistics so why the negative comment directed at me for simply agreeing with him? If you disagreed with J E's comment you should've directed your response to him, not me. I can't see how your comment to me furthered the discussion.
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Robert James Ruhnke
Nope, it’s cherry picked and missing a lot. Making it all wrong. Let me break it down for you.
“There exist only two sexes, which are fundamentally rooted in the binary classification between sperm and ova. Males have the function of producing small gametes (sperm), and females large gametes (ova). the female is XX and the male is XY. Every individual must have at least one X chromosome. Since the female is XX, each of her eggs has a single X chromosome. The male, being XY, can generate two types of sperm: half bear the X chromosome, half the Y,“” whilst yes there are two main sexes for humans, it’s still a spectrum and not a binary. Calling it a binary is just outdated lazy thinking. This statement is made under the assumption that all people are born like this, and no anomalies occur. When too many people are born with genetic anomalies that show it’s not just an XX or XY every time. By defining it this way you’re ignoring the entire story behind our biology and genetics. Yall talk about how people who accept the science behind Trans and Queer Existences are trying to change things at all costs, whilst wanna keep an outdated set of ideas at all costs. Again y’all project the worst on others, but then are far more guilty of the behavior.
“A social construct is any category or thing that is made real by convention or collective agreement. Socially constructed realities are contrasted with natural kinds, which exist independently of human behavior or beliefs. Simple examples of social constructs are the meaning of words and the value of paper money. Social construct in World Of Make Believe things that are made real by collective agreement between idiots who seek change at all cost That are still Make Believe things, calling human gender variants!, and According to analysis, the average person has around 400 defects in his or her genes So we humans are defective!“ this is just gas lighting BS. Y’all push a made up religion like Christianity, that borrows or steals from all the myths of the surrounding area to form one murderous cult that’s been bothering and butchering other cultures since Charlemagne founded it as state religion. But then ignore the mountains of non anecdotal evidence which supports the existence of trans people. The irony of ironies is he wants say fairy stories aren’t make believe.
My comment was a precursor for my analysis, Kester. lol you just came here like Gagnon to be a troll and you don’t like the fact you’re being trolled. lol. The difference between you and I? I’m actually honest about it. Instead of hiding it behind false compassion of the religious kind.
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Russel A. Kester
Robert, there are only two sexes. That is science. The belief in more than two sexes is not science. Such a belief might be based on bad sociological theories, but they are not based on science. There is no science behind trans and queer theories. None. There are self-reporting anecdotes, but not any hard science. When J E goes on to describe social construction you veer off into another diatribe against Christianity. Perhaps a mere tactic of deflection?
But your last paragraph is most telling. You projected your own motives onto J E and me. That was wrong of you. I am quite sincere in my religious beliefs, my sexuality, and my obligations as a ULC minister to continue my theological studies as well as increasing my general knowledge. I have every reason to believe that J E does the same. You, however, admitted that you are here to troll. Those are acts of a trans activist who doesn't engage in discussions to further knowledge and understand but only to push a predetermined narrative. ULC ministers and the monastery deserve better.
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Phlan-Michelle Anne Phillipa Purss
Ah, It's times like these that I'm glad that I follow my peoples Dreaming. For those that don't know Aboriginal Australian People who are the WORLDS OLDEST Continual Culture have our own belifes which is known as the Dreamtimes. When it comes to Trans People were known as Sistergirls in our culture. Yes I'm a very strong & proud Sistergirl Elder.
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Colleen McAllister
Wonderful article with good information.
My thoughts on the issue are simple. Religiously, we live on a fallen world and therefore many things that might be considered sins are just part of the fallen state. Don't do things that you feel are wrong and let others make their own decisions.
Secularly, unless you intend to have sex with that person it is none of your business.
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Nicholas J Page
There is so much in the news and social media I'm a straight man and have never considered changing gender just accept what and who you are.
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ServantOfJudgement
Religion is not a requirement but logic and basic observation is.
Dudes going into girls bathrooms leads to rape and sneak pics. It's dumb.
Dudes in girls shower rooms leads to rape. It's dumb.
Dudes participating in woman's sports leads to broken bones, lost scholarships and missing teeth. It's dumb.
Dudes going to the bar in a dress looking for love is dangerous, it leads to murder, it's dumb.
All theses things are in the headlines regularly, they happen all too often.
Brother wants to wear a dress? Go for it. Use your favorite lipstick and eyeliner, who cares. If the brother's a Christian, unhand the dress pronto.
Please don't attempt to pass as a legit woman though.
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Michael Hunt
Transgender women are not "dudes" going into women's spaces. They are women who want the same privacy and decency given to them that cisgender women are provided.
No transwoman is going into a woman's bathroom to rape or photograph other women. No transwoman is going into a woman's shower looking to rape another woman.
If you're a man and you murder a transwoman for being transgender, you're the problem, not the transwoman.
Your so-called "Christian morality" lacks the morals of basic human decency.
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William Lewis Vass
Such a varied and lively batch of comments. Religion is a man-made construct that relies on biased views to control the thoughts and actions of it's followers through fear and intimidation. If someone processes who they believe they are verses who they currently are have every right to make the necessary changes to become who they are. Stop using archaic beliefs to justify the true underlying cause of your opinion. It's called prejudice. This is a widespread issue brought on by religion and fueled by their hatred for anything outside of their tiny little system of flawed thinking.
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Russel A. Kester
William, I disagree with your characterization of religion. I see it in a more positive light as man's search for ultimate meaning in a being greater than himself. The archaic beliefs you refer to are reflections of the many ways mankind has tried to understand himself, his interactions with society, and his creator(s). Some have misused it as they have misused government. I see our goal as continuing to understand our those beliefs and to improve upon them as they will ultimately have a greater affect on society and thus individuals than anything else in the future as they have the past. Finding our way as a species has been rough, but that doesn't mean we give up. We've made mistakes, but we have also learned from them. But our species seems highly unlikely to give up its religious leanings. They seem to be a part of us. Perhaps even a divine part calling us to discover our Creator and thus know ourselves and our place in this vast cosmic reality.
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Robert James Ruhnke
We’ve had 10’000 years to get religion right, Kester. Our ancestors were not stupid. The current popular cults of Christianity have been the bloodiest and most evil so far against their fellow humans. Those archaic beliefs are what are poisoning your mind against your own Community of Peers, all so you can face some fragile sense of normalcy. It’s why even when we agree, we still aren’t because of your poisonous perspective.
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Russel A. Kester
Robert, you simply hate Christianity. Fair enough. There's no law saying otherwise. It is a virtue to be tolerant and kind. Those are Christian values. And good ones too. And hardly a poisonous perspective. Wouldn't it be wonderful if everyone, no matter what there beliefs, held to those values? By the way, in my response to William, I didn't mention Christianity once. I responded to the innate yearnings of humans for religious beliefs. So why the tirade against Christianity?
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Robert James Ruhnke
Nope, that’s another projection. I cannot hate a series of outdated bronze myths.Thats just you being manipulative. Again. I can however detest and despise the cruel and insane actions that Christian’s have been pushing on their neighbors since its inception as a popular cult. To be fair other religions have also had it murderous follower, but they usually hide their malice behind a war or underworld god. The most insidious thing about Christianity is that it claims to be about peace, but has unleashed more war than Ares, Sobek, Freya, Odin, Sekmet, or any other old world War god could hope to inspire. So no, y’all have had 1800 years since the council of Nicea to get your values in order and it seems like death and destruction prevail over life and creation. Almost like Yaweh or your God of the Bible was closet War God or something. My “tirade” (just another gaslit descriptor of yours) was simply reminding you that you downplaying atrocity doesn’t give you a winning argument.
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Russel A. Kester
Robert, no one that I know of ignores sins committed in the name of Christianity. Those were the actions of people, not the teachings or doctrines of Christianity. And it would be wrong to conflate wars fought for many reasons by kings and queens in the name of Christianity with being actual Christian wars. You rightly say that other religions have murderous followers. From the Old Testament to today's church the crimes of leaders both religious and secular are recorded and taught as warnings. That is a strength of the Christian faith. And it is a record that is over 3,500 years in length. By comparison, it took secular leaders like Mao, Pol Pot, Stalin, and Hitler less than 100 years to kill as many if not more people. That's not down playing anything, those are harsh realities. The tragedy is that those killed in the name of Christianity were not following its beliefs and teachings whereas those secular and Islamic leaders did so in accordance with their ideologies and beliefs.
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Miriam Gates
I know that unless a human tells you they are this and that, you can’t know. If a human walks into a church and sits through a service then decides to continue to come and becomes part of this community. No one has Xray eyes to see through their body, unless said human walks in naked. If you get to know this human and said human is genuinely there for the right reasons why would said human not be accepted. Church truly is there for the hurting and healing should be available. But sadly more humans are hurt by some religious humans who decide to be some authority. These are the humans Jesus pointed out as snakes in sheep’s clothing. I was raised in a small baptist church in South Louisiana. All to my knowledge were accepted but a small community has fewer humans than the larger churches.
A humans motives determine being accepted or rejected or ignored. This includes both sides. Having a need to be seen and heard is human. Desiring to be accepted is human. Desiring to be loved is human. It’s sad but a criminal will take advantage of human they see as weak and do harm. Hurt humans will hurt humans. Distorted Parental humans will hurt or kill their own children…
All humans answer to someone whether they like it or not. It’s a choice to accept or reject. It’s really sad that we have become so caught up in having a title! It’s chaos! This has become a world of what’s your title not who are you! This hyper focus on said titles has caused consequences and forcing opinions on all humans!!! There’s an avalanche of voices screaming, getting louder and louder as to who has the loudest. This solves nothing and is like a huge rumble of snow or mud or lava or floods coming and nowhere to run or hide.
I shake my head at even the different opinions on here, some with facts or truth, respect and disrespect poured out.
Love thy neighbor….doesn’t mean leave your doors unlocked.
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Daniel Gray
Funny isnt it, that out of all the religions the author used in this thread, ALL of them do not seem to care as much as the author does about Transgendered. And then the author tries to use a debunked story about Judaism saying there are 8 genders when not one site about Judaism says that, and then the link goes right back to a debunked story on the Monastery, and was shown to be a bunch of rubbish so much that it has been removed as when you try and click on it it says server not found.
One now has to wonder if the whole fake story was written by a transgendered trying to justify themselves especially in the SCOTUS decision upholding Idahos decision to ban all transgendered treatment and medication for any person under the age of 18 unless the parent wants to take the child to another state and pay for it themselves as medicade and medicare are legally bound not to pay for it. And I also guess the author is scared as over 30 states have laws like this with another 12 to 15 more waiting in the state assemblies to be passed into law.
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Robert James Ruhnke
Transgendered? Gods you’re a hateful human Grey.
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Ari Joseph Bertine
It is interesting to see how various religions weigh in on a medical condition. We don't see an overwhelming number of religions weighing in on most other medical conditions unless there is a proscription against a specific treatment, like the sects that forbid blood transfusions. It feels odd to think about someone having a religious opinion on a life-saving medical treatment, as if their opinion should influence someone else's health.
It's also odd that any religions would react so negatively to something that isn't even a religious issue. No one says, "God never makes mistakes" when a child is born with visible birth defects that require surgical reconstruction to give that child a good quality of life. Nobody says it when a kid has a cleft palate and needs cosmetic repairs to go along with their functional repairs so that they can feel better in their own skin. Nobody has been saying it for the past 70 years when intersex children's parents choose which sex to make that child and surgical intervention is done to lock them into that sex for the rest of their life, and nobody says "God made them male or female and nothing else" when that happens, either. It's almost like some people are unable to understand the concept that physical structure of the brain is directly connected to gender, despite medical researchers very clearly explaining that since at least the 1980s.
People will always find a way to make their religion about what THEY believe rather than making what they believe be about their religion. That's the bottom line. And humans are fearful primates that dislike anything they don't understand, and often refuse to understand things they don't personally experience. It's a vicious cycle that leads to religions that start out very comforting and inspirational turning into tools for the powerful to use to use people as their political pawns.
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Harvey Warshaw
Thank you all for a thought provoking discussion. v/r Harvey
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Kathleen Margaret Guilmette
Why,in all of our discussions of different religions, is Unitarian Universalism never discussed?
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Lisbeth Kieran Bushey
In Paganism and Wicca, we believe that a person has any one or more of spiritual gender - or even none at all. Feminine, masculine, and combinations of gender are all divine. Within my own historical Indigenous Canadian culture, we believed that Two-Spirited persons were sacred people in deep touch with the Great Spirit before Europeans arrived. We also believe in “If it harms none, do as ye will”, which is a version of the Golden Rule of “Do unto others as you would have done to you”. Being transphobic, homophobic, or racist is harmful to others, so we consider it a sin. We also believe in a form of Karma, “whatsoever you put out into the world, be it good or bad, shall be returned to you times three”. Basically, being unkind or uncharitable to others will come back and bite you on the keister later. Being Trans or otherwise LGBTQ+ doesn’t harm anyone. It’s not a sin. Being hateful towards others is harmful. Harming others with our words and actions is the real sin.
For those claiming there are only TWO genders and that being LGBTQIA+ is "unnatural", "evil", that kids are being "forced to be it", etc. WRONG.
Genetically speaking, there are over 50 human gender variants, though outwardly, a person's gender can be born to show one of four physical appearances.
1) Born appearing to be male.
2) Born appearing to be female.
3) Born hermaphroditic, i.e. showing both gender traits.
4) Born genderless, showing no gender traits.
Now, that being said, it's not unusual for the PARENTS to choose their children's gender if they are born hermaphrodite or genderless. However, what the parents choose may NOT be what the gender of the child actually is. Nor does their outward appearance always show their true gender as well.
Allow me to explain.
You see, genetically speaking, as I stated earlier, there are multiple human genders, and there are many, many MORE gender variants. You can appear to be female by birth, and yet, genetically, be male. Internally, at the genetic level, your DNA shows that you are actually "wired" to be male, as it were.
You can appear to be male, by birth, and yet, genetically, be female. Internally, at the genetic level, your DNA shows you are actually "wired" to be female.
So, despite what some individuals may espouse and claim, there are FAR more than two human genders. Hell, even by birth, you can physically be one of four outward appearances. And it is, I assure you, all completely natural. There is no "god" factor with this, or a "devil" factor, or anything supernatural involved. For those who believe in such a thing.
It all comes down to how your DNA came together before you were ever born. So for those saying individuals who are LGBTQ+ are "unnatural", and those disparaging Trans individuals as "refusing their birth-right", you're wrong. It's completely natural. And, in fact, an individual transitioning to the other gender may, in fact, be simply gaining the physical appearance they were meant to have all along.
https://genetic.org/variations/
Thank you for your kind and intelligent response. ♥️🏳️⚧️
I have been preaching this since I first read about a baby born without any sex organs (Asex) in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio in the mid-1990s. (1.) Asex. (2.) Male. (3.) Female. (4.) Intersex.
Bridget, your post is incorrect. According to Nature magazine, "[I]n birds and mammals, differences in development between the sexes arise from the differential actions of genes that are encoded on the sex chromosomes. These genes are differentially represented in the cells of males and females, and have been selected for sex-specific roles. The brain is a sexually dimorphic organ and is also shaped by sex-specific selection pressures. Genes on the sex chromosomes probably determine the gender (sexually dimorphic phenotype) of the brain in two ways: by acting on the gonads to induce sex differences in levels of gonadal secretions that have sex-specific effects on the brain, and by acting in the brain itself to differentiate XX and XY brain cells. https://www.nature.com/articles/nrn1494
The only way the study was able to get anything different was to REPLACE the Y chromosome with an autosome. They interfered, it didn't happen naturally.
The website you referenced is about Sex Chromosome Aneuploidy (SCA) said nothing about gender other than to say that a Y-chromosomes would not be viable without the presence of an X-chromosome. It wrote about male Y and female X chromosomes not about any genetic causes for gender dysphoria. The website supports the traditional male/female dichotomy.
So, if it all comes down to DNA there are only two expressions which correspond to the presence or absence of a Y-chromosome.
I asked Google's if a person could have both a penis and a vagina (a true hermaphrodite) and it came back with, "No, it's not possible for a person to have both a fully developed vagina and penis. Intersex is an older term for differences of sex development (DSD), which is a group of conditions where the genitals are different from each other. For example, someone with 46,XY/46,XX mosaic has some cells with the male chromosomal complement (XY) and some cells with the female chromosomal complement (XX)." Note the reference to cells not sex organs. In short, what is called hermaphroditism is actually a sexual deformity during fetal development.
No true hermaphrodites.No 50 different gender genes. No third sex. Just the traditional male/female and heterosexual/homosexual dichotomies.
And alligators and some other reptiles have their reproductive organs determined by the temperature of their eggs. Most people who have differences in their 23rd chromosome will never realize it without genetic testing. There’s also the matter of Trans people having the same brain structure/activity patterns as their stated gender identity - which is different from their assigned gender at birth.
Lisbeth, that's because alligators don't have sex chromosomes, but humans do which results in dimorphic development into either male or female. So what your really saying is that those persons who believe they're transgender have the same brains as gay men. To wit, "The results showed that straight men had asymmetric brains, with the right hemisphere slightly larger – and the gay women also had this asymmetry. Gay men, meanwhile, had symmetrical brains like those of straight women." https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Technology/story?id=5176866&page=1
Even the brain size of gay men and women were smaller than straight men with lesbians having the same size as straight men. So a brain similar to a female in men does not cause a person to perceive himself to be trans or all gay men would so identify, but we don't. And vise verse for women. In fact, a Wall Street Journal article had this headline about trans youth and being gay, "Most ‘Transgender’ Kids Turn Out to Be Gay" Subjecting them to medical interventions is the modern-day version of ‘conversion therapy.’ https://www.wsj.com/articles/most-transgender-kids-turn-out-to-be-gay-gender-affirming-care-conversion-therapy-58111b2e
It seems trans people just have gay or lesbian brains. No separate trans brain. We're still left with chromosomes and the uncomfortable truth that if left alone most kids who are confused about their gender are actually gay or lesbian.
Think about it. This makes total sense. Boys are always having to prove their masculinity. It's innate for them to engage in rough and tumble play to prove their boys and to measure their development against other boys. But the gay kid doesn't necessarily feel that way and feels attracted to boys so he begins to wonder if God made a mistake and he's really a girl. Add bullying where he's called many things including being a girl and he's absolutely damned if some virtue signaling doctor tells him he's trans. OMG he cries even the doctor says I'm really a girl. Bad, bad, bad.
Until science can understand this, we need to pump the breaks and stop gender affirming care in children and be sure that adults who suffer gender dysphoria get psychological counseling as a very high percentage of these persons have comorbidities.
Once again Russel, you’re projecting philosophical arguments where there are none. Science understands the process of how gender, orientation, and sex synchronize better than you do. And those they’re all separate concepts. You keep proving you’re no science expert. Your grasp of biology is no better than the straight men who push this outdated gender essentialist nonsense.
“Think about it. This makes total sense. Boys are always having to prove their masculinity. It's innate for them to engage in rough and tumble play to prove their boys and to measure their development against other boys. But the gay kid doesn't necessarily feel that way and feels attracted to boys so he begins to wonder if God made a mistake and he's really a girl. Add bullying where he's called many things including being a girl and he's absolutely damned if some virtue signaling doctor tells him he's trans. OMG he cries even the doctor says I'm really a girl. Bad, bad, bad.“ No, this is just more gender essentialist rhetoric that has nothing to do with biology and everything to do with brainwashed ways of thinking where one is taught what to think, and not how to think. The characteristics that define masculinity aren’t solely innate to men. Aggression, roughhousing, competition, women also have these, but once again, people like yoga try to limit one sex this behavior, whilst encouraging it for another. Not only are you transphobic, but misogynistic as well. That’s bad bad bad of you. Bringing god into it to guilt trip them into being a boy or gay? Yikes. That reeks of grooming.
“It seems trans people just have gay or lesbian brains. No separate trans brain. We're still left with chromosomes and the uncomfortable truth that if left alone most kids who are confused about their gender are actually gay or lesbian.” Wrong, good gods on so many levels, this is wrong, this is the same thinking Anti LGBTQ+ Christian fanatic straight people have been using against LGBTQ+ for centuries now. So now you’re weaponizing this way of think against the vulnerable of our community? Shame on you.
Robert, once again you engaged in fruitless ad hominem attacks and bullying. I refer to websites and articles written by scientists in support of those things I said in reference to science. So argue with the scientists. Yes, my example is based on the experience of many gay men and women as they struggled to understand themselves and their sexual orientation. Don't denigrate such lived experiences. You said that science understands gender. Great, provide your source for that information.
Your supposed critique of my comment were filled with woke, post modernist terms. It's clear that you truly want to believe in a world where no one is male or female and everyone believes in the bad sociological theories you imbibed in college. You drank the Kool-Aid. But that is not the real world, the world where science informs us of objective reality. The idea of men and women having different genders which correlate with one's sex has been observed and accepted since time immemorial. These are valid observations the truth of which science continues to prove. Gender is based on biological traits, chromosomes, and sex. Period. You call it gender essentialism. I call is objective reality.
Finally, you would berate me for philosophical arguments in my comments when in fact I repeatedly refer to information provided by scientists, but the only bases for your egregious statements are all deeply founded in philosophical theories and arguments, not science. They derived from feminist and queer studies in universities not from the laboratories of a actual scientists. Review the Cass Report from which I took my stance on not providing gender affirming care as currently practiced. So your argument is with the eminent pediatrician and her teams of doctors and scientists. Or are you claiming to be smarter then all of them combined?
Gender (masculine/feminine) and sex (male/female) are two different things and do not necessarily align. Gender is a continuum and it's quite possible sex is too. See Dr Anne Fausto-Sterling's work for a more detailed explanation.
Mike, everything one needs to know about Anne Fausto-Sterling is within the first sentence on Wikipedia, "Anne Fausto-Sterling (née Sterling; born July 30, 1944) is an American sexologist who has written extensively on the social construction of gender ...." Note that she believes that gender is a social construction. That is an idealogical position not based on facts but in perceptions of reality. Wikipedia described it as follows, " social constructionism rejects the notion that empirical facts can be known about reality, where as objectivism is defined by it." She is a lesbian feminist who specializes in women's studies. I believe her motives, as were the motives of many of the early feminists, was not based on science (objective reality) but we're based on her need to find a place in society for lesbians who clearly were not going to get married to a man, be a housewife, and have five kids. So she needed a theory for women like her that they would say the traditional roles of male or female in society were just made up and not true expressions of a gender based in biology. But gender expression is based in biology. Little boys are attracted to things and little girls are not. A recent study from Stanford was yet another study that showed the sex of our body determined our perception of reality because men and women literally, physically process percepts in different parts of the brain. Sex and gender are based in objective biology and are not mere social constructions. Sex and gender go together as a single package of either male or female.
there are ONLY 2 Genders the rest are made up. Just read the Bible it will tell you. Now it also says not to hate or abuse the people that think other wise butn too help them instead.
Your bible is not a science book. It's a collection of stories written by men and curated by men to promote one particular set of ideas. Basing your knowledge of science off this ancient text is ludicrous.
Yes, your bible does say to love one another as Jesus loves you. Too bad so many who wave the book around can't seem to follow what it says.
Chris, while the Bible is not a science book it does give us lots of information about how those who wrote it understood what it meant to be a male or female and the roles in society that accompanied that understanding. It tells us how they ordered their lives and society. That's good stuff.
The Bible is wrong on many topics. This is one of those. The Bible was written by uneducated grimey superstitious goat herders who were a patriarchal society.
Mark, your bible (the christian bible), regardless of your attempt to make it so, is NOT an authority on pretty much any topic. If you use it as such, you are leaving yourself open to being wrong about so many things.
Here's the problem. On order to use something as evidence in support of any argument, the thing you use has to be corroborated by at least another independent source. While there are some other independent sources that corroborate some of the historical details of your bible, there are NO independent sources that corroborate the divinity of the divine being described in it. Without that, the authority that you ascribe to your religious text falls apart and consequently, in any argument, you can't use the thing you're trying to prove as evidence for the thing you're trying to prove.
So, NO, there are NOT "only 2 Genders". Gender is an innate, self-identified presentation of how we show ourselves to the world around us. It runs from almost entirely feminine presentations on one end to almost entirely masculine presentations on the other with virtually any variation throughout to include, near the middle, those who do not identify with either direction of the spectrum.
And again, your bible isn't going to be of much help working your way through this topic but, in the spirit of the last sentence of your comment, I'm helping you instead.
Klair,
I'm reading from you and many others here the same thing.
Like the belief in the Bible is in ones head, so is gender, incapable of being proved.
The belief in the bible was joined by the belief in evolution and now the two are joined by the belief in gender. None can be proven.
Three of many religions, each with their own priests, puppets and penalties.
Long live (insert belief here)
It's clear that you make the mistake of not understanding the difference between 'belief' and empirical analysis.
For instance, understanding evolution or more appropriately, understanding "any net directional change or any cumulative change in the characteristics of organisms or populations over many generations", is not a 'belief' but an understanding of our physical world based on empirical evidence and data. As well, the study of the relationship of gender to physical sex is also a similarly, empirically defined, evidence based relationship which is well documented in numerous medical and scientific studies and peer reviewed articles. Your failure to have made yourself aware of the evidence does not justify ignorance.
On the other hand. Each myth, religion, or spiritual philosophy is understood separately based on the details of its origin, construction, etc. in the case of the so-called and various Christian sects, there is NO corroborating empirical evidence to support the divinity of a grand spirit or spirits. Without this support, all other historical events that may be separately corroborated fall apart.
A shallow understanding of how one gets from 'a' to 'b' to 'c' is never going to serve you well if you are going to attempt to actually understand the details of a topic.
Klaire, the Cass Report found that the supposed science behind gender and gender affirming care is not well researched or documented. It said the evidence was thin. Also science is based in objective reality not subjective feelings. Asking if a person feels like the opposite sex is not scientific. And how would anyone born of one sex with all of the biological developments that accompany it have any idea what the opposite sex feels like. It's like believing a cat can know what it feels like to be a dog. Nonsense.
As for religious beliefs, they are based on subjective feelings which is why they are called religious beliefs and not science. Those feelings are called faith. To require faith to meet scientific standards is a categorical mistake.
By starting your comment "the Cass Report found"... You have stated the equivalent of "the National Enquirer found..."
If you don't know how to read and digest the things you 'found on the Internet', you might as well be prepared to be laughed out of every conversation you enter. More importantly, if you don't understand how to determine if a source is legitimate or not; empirically sound or unfounded opinion, you're nothing but wasting people's time.
Klaire, your response was disappointing. I thought better of you.
The Cass Report was requested by NHS England, headed by Dr. Hilary Cass, an eminent pediatrician, which included other highly qualified professionals with research of the underlying studies and data done by a group established by the University of York. Your simply dismissing it by comparing it to the National Inquirer was disingenuous. The Cass Report is most certainly a legitimate source. Your comment about my reading and comprehension skills was a childish ad hominem attack. As someone here who is a much better and smarter person than me has said, such responses are desperate tactics used by those who know they've lost the argument.
For those who are interested in the report the following is the homepage with a summary of its key findings and recommendations as well as a PDF version of the report itself.
https://cass.independent-review.uk/home/publications/final-report/