Top Doctors Issue Petition Supporting Trump's Traditional Gender Definitions
Almost 6,400 people have signed onto an on-line petition showing support for the Trump administration’s definition of gender.
The petition is accompanied by a letter from about 35 medical, legal, and policy professionals. Those signing the letter said they “applaud the Trump Administration’s intention to uphold the scientific definition of sex in federal law and policy, such that girls and women will regain their sex-based legal protections, and the human rights of all will be preserved.”
The letter notes that the Trump administration has indicated that gender identity is not considered the same as biological sex in applying civil rights and other laws.
The goal of the petition and letter is to be inclusive, said one medical professional.
“What I like about the document is that it can appeal to a broad range of views,” said endocrinologist Dr. Michael Laidlaw, according to Breitbart. “So, I’m hoping that it gets broad support from right, left and center who recognize the importance of using biological sex in law rather than gender identity.”
Hey Twitter Tots! Here is the petition which supports females as women. I strongly encourage you to add your name to it, We must stand together on this issue. This is what bipartisan means. https://t.co/d2yutKfOJe
— Jax Rene (@jax_rene) December 6, 2018
“Not only is an expanded definition of sex unscientific, but it has also proven harmful,” the letter said.
The letter makes the point that gender identity is not the same as the biological sex of an individual, and that biology cannot be altered by political constructs.
“Sex is a biological trait that defines living things as male and female based on the complement of sex chromosomes and the presence of reproductive organs,” the letter said, citing a definition used by the Institute of Medicine.
The letter notes that sex differences are not minor, but that there are more than “6500 shared genes that are expressed differently in human males and females.”
Biological sex is NOT a spectrum. Acknowledging this doesn’t prohibit equal rights for transgender & intersex people.
Please sign if you agree: https://t.co/hoQYUKp4yd
— Dr. Debra Soh (@DrDebraSoh) December 7, 2018
“Sex is not a spectrum,” the letter said, contrasting it with gender identify, which “may be factually correct or factually incorrect, and, unlike sex, may change.”
In discussing the concept that failure to allow individuals who are transgender to express the gender they prefer will lead to increased suicide rates, the professionals signing the letter reject the claim.
“Individuals who identify as transgender may have mistaken beliefs about themselves and their bodies. They suffer real emotional distress and are at a higher risk for mental illness, including suicidal ideation, as compared to the general population. Social and medical ‘gender transition and affirmation,’ however, is not proven to decrease suicide rates,” the letter said.
The letter said the rights of women cannot be properly protected by substituting another standard for that of biological reality.
“When gender identity is erroneously treated as equivalent to sex in law and policy, then a male may at any time demand the rights, protections and access afforded to females. This automatically strips girls and women of their right to sex-based privacy, protection, and a proper playing field to compete equally. Transgender ideology thereby transforms all that was once reserved for females alone into another male prerogative,” the letter said.
The letter raised the concern that “gender identity has been used to allow biological males in spaces previously reserved for women. As a result, girls and women are suffering sexual assaults at the hands of biological men in women’s shelters, women’s prisons and even elementary school girls’ bathrooms.
The letter’s conclusion is that law must be based on reality.
“For the law to respect the human dignity of all Americans, including those who identify as transgender, it must be based on biological truth; not on ideological falsehoods at the expense of children and women’s rights, health and well-being,” it said.
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