Transgenderism: Mutilating the Reproductive Function

Austin Ruse rightly praises Ryan Anderson’s new book, When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Movement, due out February 20. The book is an authoritative compendium of arguments on transgenderism, exposing much of the “science” and “medicine” that pretends sex is a state of mind. My favorite argument from Anderson’s forthcoming book is, however, what I would call “medicine, form, and function.” The popular press, which wants to make transgenderism no big deal, rarely discusses the sometimes multiyear process of “transitioning” (and never discusses, as Ruse points out, those who regret it). “Transitioning” involves both social and medical steps. It usually begins with cross-dressing (which society is supposed to approve by playing along and celebrate with neo-pronouns. It then moves into medical phases, starting with hormonal treatment (and, in the case of children, “puberty blockers” to inhibit normal biological sexual development; treatments that raise ethical questions about medical experimentation on kids). Finally, “transition” ends by outright mutilation: amputation of a healthy penis, mastectomy of healthy breasts. (The politically correct term now is “gender confirmation surgery” in order to affirm that “gender identity is not a choice.”) Finally, in the medical equivalent of a Weimar Cabaret, surgeons attempt to create faux sexual organs, “penises” or “vaginas” according to the “proper” sex. -- More...