An important battleground gender identity ideology is that involving children. To what extent can they consent to social or medical transition? And what rights, if any, do parents have to object?
There is no such thing as "gender identity." There is no such thing as "trans." Adults cannot "transition" because sex is binary and immutable. Nobody gives 70 pound anorexics liposuction, and nobody should give men estrogen due to their mental delusions. That is the only conclusion that can be reached here, and that is the only approach that will work.
"There's a tiny percentage of REAL trannies!" or "Adults can do what they want!" will not work. Because neither statements are true.
Likewise, children obviously cannot consent to any of this. Children engage in magical and imaginative thinking, and that's all this is. As adults do not have "gender identity" because nobody does, neither do children. Children say that they are Superman or horses as well--it's the same thing.
A study was done where doctors found and interviewed children who had insisted they were the opposite sex while they were young, but ultimately they grew out of it and never engaged in mutilation surgeries or opposite sex hormones. The vast majority of them didn't even remember any of their statements--they literally forgot they had even said any of it. Thank goodness they didn't ruin their bodies and lives.
Ask any boy who says he's actually a girl and it will boil down to two things--clothing and toys. That's all children understand. Boys who want to play with dolls and wear skirts literally think they're girls. They're not. They need to be told that they can wear and play with what they like, but they're male and always will be. Children would also eat ice cream for every meal if they could. They need to be told no.
Furthermore, the short-term goal of the "trans" lie is normalization of pedophilia. That is explicitly its goal, ever since John Money's "work." If children can consent to "gender transition" they can consent to sex. There are plenty of adult males waiting to take advantage of this. Do I really need to explain this?
So, the answer is no. To all of it. Children, adults, everyone. There is just no such thing since "gender" is a linguistics term that only applies to words and cannot apply to humans, and pedophiles should be shamed.
Thank you so much Sarah for your clarity and simplicity. As a nurse I have been horrified at the wilful misinterpretation of Gillick competency to wave through abominations against children by parents I consider to be abusers (however well intentioned)
"To what extent can [children] consent to social or medical transition?"
"Transition" to what? If someone -- anyone of any age -- wants to change their gender then presumably they have some right to do so. As long as it's understood by everyone -- including the transitioners themselves -- that they're not changing their sex. Which probably speaks to your point about "gender identity superseding sex".
But a big part of the problem there is that most everyone hasn't a clue what they or anyone else means by "gender identity", even when it is more or less "steelmanned". Best case scenario for the latter seems to be analogous to personal identity. Paraphrasing the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy [SEP] on that topic, one might say:
SEP (paraphrased): "Outside of philosophy, the term [‘gender identity’] commonly refers to [sexually dimorphic personality traits and] properties to which we feel a special sense of attachment or ownership. My [gender identity] in this sense consists of those [masculine and feminine] properties I take to 'define me as a person' or 'make me the person I am'."
A more or less clear differentiation between sex -- i.e., reproductive abilities -- and gender -- i.e., those sexually dimorphic personality and behavioural traits that correlate, to a greater or lesser extent, with our sexes. ICYMI, my post "A Multi-Dimensional Gender Spectrum" elaborating on the theme:
There is no such thing as "gender identity." There is no such thing as "trans." Adults cannot "transition" because sex is binary and immutable. Nobody gives 70 pound anorexics liposuction, and nobody should give men estrogen due to their mental delusions. That is the only conclusion that can be reached here, and that is the only approach that will work.
"There's a tiny percentage of REAL trannies!" or "Adults can do what they want!" will not work. Because neither statements are true.
Likewise, children obviously cannot consent to any of this. Children engage in magical and imaginative thinking, and that's all this is. As adults do not have "gender identity" because nobody does, neither do children. Children say that they are Superman or horses as well--it's the same thing.
A study was done where doctors found and interviewed children who had insisted they were the opposite sex while they were young, but ultimately they grew out of it and never engaged in mutilation surgeries or opposite sex hormones. The vast majority of them didn't even remember any of their statements--they literally forgot they had even said any of it. Thank goodness they didn't ruin their bodies and lives.
Ask any boy who says he's actually a girl and it will boil down to two things--clothing and toys. That's all children understand. Boys who want to play with dolls and wear skirts literally think they're girls. They're not. They need to be told that they can wear and play with what they like, but they're male and always will be. Children would also eat ice cream for every meal if they could. They need to be told no.
Furthermore, the short-term goal of the "trans" lie is normalization of pedophilia. That is explicitly its goal, ever since John Money's "work." If children can consent to "gender transition" they can consent to sex. There are plenty of adult males waiting to take advantage of this. Do I really need to explain this?
So, the answer is no. To all of it. Children, adults, everyone. There is just no such thing since "gender" is a linguistics term that only applies to words and cannot apply to humans, and pedophiles should be shamed.
End of story.
Thanks once more for your excellent exposition of the law around this!
Thank you so much Sarah for your clarity and simplicity. As a nurse I have been horrified at the wilful misinterpretation of Gillick competency to wave through abominations against children by parents I consider to be abusers (however well intentioned)
Excellent 👌🏻
"To what extent can [children] consent to social or medical transition?"
"Transition" to what? If someone -- anyone of any age -- wants to change their gender then presumably they have some right to do so. As long as it's understood by everyone -- including the transitioners themselves -- that they're not changing their sex. Which probably speaks to your point about "gender identity superseding sex".
But a big part of the problem there is that most everyone hasn't a clue what they or anyone else means by "gender identity", even when it is more or less "steelmanned". Best case scenario for the latter seems to be analogous to personal identity. Paraphrasing the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy [SEP] on that topic, one might say:
SEP (paraphrased): "Outside of philosophy, the term [‘gender identity’] commonly refers to [sexually dimorphic personality traits and] properties to which we feel a special sense of attachment or ownership. My [gender identity] in this sense consists of those [masculine and feminine] properties I take to 'define me as a person' or 'make me the person I am'."
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/identity-personal/
A more or less clear differentiation between sex -- i.e., reproductive abilities -- and gender -- i.e., those sexually dimorphic personality and behavioural traits that correlate, to a greater or lesser extent, with our sexes. ICYMI, my post "A Multi-Dimensional Gender Spectrum" elaborating on the theme:
https://humanuseofhumanbeings.substack.com/p/a-multi-dimensional-gender-spectrum
BTW, thanks for the archive link to The Telegraph article.