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Jun 8, 2023·edited Jun 8, 2023

Outstanding! You're too humble, Peter. The reason this conversation went so well is because you know when to ask for clarification and when to stop talking and move on. There were moments when, if I had had the microphone, I would have wanted to dissect the assertions of the older gentleman in particular. But you didn't go there. You switched back to the other participant and kept the back-and-forth going. You weren't looking to validate either of them, but simply to allow them both to say their piece without censor or judgment so that you could understand their POVs.

Full disclosure, I believe it's impossible to change ones sex, that gender is a social construct, that nobody under the age of 18 should be allowed to ingest blockers or hormones or have a surgical intervention, and that trans-identified males should never be allowed in women's prisons, sports or changing rooms, etc. However, of the two participants, I thought the trans-identified man was smarter, less rigid, more thoughtful, and remarkably objective. I agree that the absence of rancor was heartening and, in fact, quite moving.

Again, Peter, your ability to mediate this conversation and to know exactly when to press and when to back off, made it work. Not easy to do! Congratulations.

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Of course we should get rid of gender, or if we do not, exclude it from anything related to science and policy.

Why?

Because you cannot measure it in any way and arguing about it is arguing about what a human, prone to lying and deceit, is telling you they feel.

We can measure sex. Use that instead.

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Yes, yes, yes! SEX has worked very well; "gender" just confuses, which it is meant to do. Matti H.V. is correct; it's a linguistic/grammatical word in Germanic languages, including mine, Icelandic. F.ex., "the window [glugginn]" the dog [hundur}" are "masculine" (hann) words; the "clock [klukkan]" the "sweater [peysan]" are "feminine" [hún] you'll notice the 2-NNs and 1 -N]: "the ship [skipið]" "the house húsið"] [-IÐ ending are "neutral" words]. Yes, not an easy language!

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The answer is yes. "Gender" is a word that belongs to grammar in some Germanic languages, and better keep it there. In some happier languages one word is enough, like "sukupuoli" in Finnish. If you want to discuss dysphoria, the relevant concept is "sukupuoli-identiteetti", which would be "sexual identity" in English. Much of the confusion disappears.

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Agree with ridding the language of the word. Transsexualism makes far more sense. Transsexualism is real but unbelievably rare. It has nothing to do with sexual orientation, except that both settle when the brain reaches full maturity around the age of 25. There are two sexes, defined by XX and XY chromosomes. This is basic biology.

Under no conditions should we be offering puberty blovkers or any other form of somatic medical intervention until after age 25.

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