Politics likes simple slogans in these days of social media – “Trans Rights are Human Rights” has to be the most fatuous – Duh, obviously – but TWAW, Punch a TERF, Just Stop Oil, you name it. They all suffer from over-simplifying – reducing – something complex to a simple object in a wishfully “scientific” logical “debate” or fist-fight, BUT the real world isn’t like that.
Yes, gender and sex are both real I keep responding on Twitter, but they’re different – as Germaine Greer has re-iterated every decade for as long as I’ve lived. This post just to capture my re-usable thought on that, starting with national treasure Peter Tatchell today:
Gender identity is just as real as biological sex
Both are equally valid
And now scientific studies show that trans brain structures & processes are different from those of non-trans people
This means that trans identity has a material, biological basis#StandWithTrans https://t.co/RCeV0A5u0l
— Peter Tatchell (@PeterTatchell) July 10, 2023
Working backwards through Peter’s snappy claims:
“trans identity has a material, biological basis”
True – Our minds are our identity. Even every fleeting semi-conscious thought has a biological BASIS in our material, biological brain at some level.
“trans brain structures & processes are different”
Almost certainly true at some level. True of males and females too, but there are a myriad of “so what?” questions and consequences to consider – at all levels .
“both are equally valid”
Both are valid at some level, that’s true. How equally / differently is about the “so what?” – a political question.
“gender identity is just as real as biological sex”
Both are real, that’s true. But at different levels, with different “so what’s?”. But “just”? It helps no-one to reduce the gender-sex debate to mere science. Both have a basis in physical science – the whole world does – but they’re many layered with different development histories and consequences.
#IStandWithTQI+
#IStandWithLGB
#IStandWithWomen
I stand with all human rights, but I care about their differences too.
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