Enough is Enough

 

So, this is an article about the transgender issue and trans ideology. A lot of my friends advised me not to touch this issue with a bargepole, because it has become so toxic that rational discussion between people of different viewpoints has become extremely difficult.

The issue of how to treat transgender customers in hospitality venues is not a new one, but has come to prominence again recently with the Scottish Parliament voting in favour of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill. This Bill enables anyone aged 18 or older to change their legal sex by self-declaration provided they have lived in their preferred gender for three months or more (six months or more if you are 16 or 17), and without a diagnosis of gender dysphoria. This Bill has yet to receive Royal Assent. The UK Conservative government has said it might block this legislation, although the Labour opposition supports this reform and would introduce it, if elected to government.

It is startling how much public discourse is being driven by trans activism and trans issues and those managing licensed premises may well feel they are treading on eggshells when dealing with emotive issues such as the access of ‘trans women’ to female toilets. I’m not qualified to give detailed legal advice on such access, but I set out here my general viewpoint on the whole trans issue:

So, to help you navigate the sexual politics of this, here are 10 trans myths: 

Myth #1: Sex is a spectrum – we’re all a mix of male and female.

Fact: Sex is not a spectrum. Like all mammals, reproduction is predicated on a binary model where males impregnate females. Humans cannot change sex. There are:

·         2 sexes

·         3 sexualities, and

·         7.9 billion personalities

You get one from each row. Anyone who suggests otherwise has been sold a lie or is selling you one.

Myth #2: Intersex people are a third sex.

Fact: Sex is binary. There are two sexes. There are atypical anomalies to this model and ‘intersex’ is an umbrella term for over 150 disorders of sexual development all of which are atypical anomalies of male or female.

Myth #3: Some people are born in the wrong body and need surgical correction.

Fact: Everyone is born in a body that developed in the womb of a female after fertilisation by a male. You may not fit a societal stereotype as you grow up, but you were not born in the wrong body – no one is. To suggest otherwise to children or young people is a toxic lie that has led to a form of gay conversion therapy that ‘transes away the gay’ by convincing gay youth they need corrective surgery. The rendering of gay youth in gender abattoirs, particularly in the United States, is a monstrous medical scandal that future generations will view with utter disbelief.

Myth #4: Gender is assigned at birth.

Fact: No one is assigned gender or sex at birth. Sex is identified and recorded by medical professionals and this process starts with the 20-week scan and ends with the arrival of a male or female child.

Myth #5: Gender dysphoria is not a mental health disorder – we should refer to it as gender diversity.

Fact: Gender dysphoria is a mental health disorder as listed in DSM-V. As such, any expressions of gender dysphoria should be assessed by a mental health practitioner, and not just nodded through. This is to ensure the patient receives the right treatment.

Myth #6: It is okay to give puberty blockers to ‘trans children’ because their effects are reversible.

Fact: Puberty blockers are a controversial, experimental treatment. They interrupt a biological process that occurs for everyone. The preponderance of evidence is that they cause irreversible changes and are a risk to health. And there is no such thing as a ‘trans-toddler’ and claims to the contrary are a giant red flag and should be a matter for the safeguarding authorities.

Myth #7: “Non-binary” is a gender.

Fact: Non-binary is not a gender it is a rejection of gender. The genders match the sexes male/man, female/woman.

Myth #8: The biological advantages of males over females have been exaggerated and can be countered by taking drugs that reduce testosterone.

Fact: Women are more vulnerable than men not only because they experience greater reproductive risks, particularly in childbirth, but because men are, on average, taller and larger than women, with bigger hearts and lungs, and heavier bones. The average male has 41% more non-fat body mass than the average woman, his legs are 65% stronger and his upper body 90% stronger. And rape is a male pattern behaviour. This is why women need separate toilets, shower and changing room facilities in public places like pubs and bars – and why we have male and female sports categories.

Myth #9: Sex change hormones and surgery can change a man into a woman.

Fact: The proposition that a man can change into a woman via a process of chemistry, surgery and cosmetics is a delusion. Denying the binary nature of sex categories is science denial.

Myth #10: If you deny that Trans Women are Women you are ‘transphobic’.

Fact: A woman is an adult human female. A ‘trans woman’ is not a real woman, he’s a man engaged in live action role play - regardless of whether this happens as a result of a mental health disorder, such as gender dysphoria, or a fetish such as transvestism or autogynephilia. Imputing hateful motives to those who disagree with you, or pathologising dissent, is the hallmark of an extremist. If you’re happy pretending to be a woman, I’m happy for you. You don’t need to resort to science-denial to justify your self-presentation.

As the trans issue builds up political steam operators should beware of the possibility that activists will want to test their diversity policies by demanding use of the ‘right pronouns’ and access to women’s only spaces like toilets and changing rooms.

As if you don’t have enough to contend with. Enough is enough.

 

Paul Chase