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 		Transgender symbol Transgender

Transgender acceptance is now politically correct and I welcome this.
However, as I say here, its political correctness (PC) may have gone too far:-
  • When research into reverse-transgender people was blocked as not PC - see here.
  • If we are being ordered to accept the definition of woman must include transgender women. I see the intensity of the debate here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here. Can people choose for themselves? 
It is this second point that I want to look at here.

I accept trans women see themselves as 'real' women.
I also see it okay if a woman (or anyone) wants to make a distinction between a trans woman and a lifelong female or 'real' woman.
What is not okay is to persecute the other's reality, whichever viewpoint you have.

However, I do think all this makes life far more complex or chaotic in many ways, as we have to adjust a binary society (males and females) to something else. Nevertheless, I do support this societal transition, but not in the exact way transgender advocates ask.

Toilets
For example, the issue of transgender toilets - see here, here, here.
As much as we respect transgender people, I think we need to respect those women that do not want to share a toilet with transgender people. We also must value the safety of transgender people disallowed to use the female toilet, who are then forced to use the male toilet where they are likely to receive abuse.

"When you throw open the doors of bathrooms and changing rooms to any man who believes or feels he's a woman... then you open the door to any and all men who wish to come inside." (JK Rowling cited at BBC, posted and accessed 11 June 2020)
"...if women’s spaces are open to trans women on any basis, women lose the right to say no to any man." (Jacqui Lewis, The Guardian, posted 13, accessed 14 April 2023)

Perhaps three toilet types (or four if disabled is included) are the way, with the third/fourth option being trans-friendly or gender-neutral toilets (which mirror the toilets in many homes)?
In any case, toilets in cities need to be redesigned to be fair to women (1m11s-2m1s), so why not also be fair to transgender people at the same time?

Refuges
The argument for more than two categories becomes even more critical with women's refuges or shelters - for women fleeing domestic violence. I'd prioritise the needs of the non-transgender here.

"We have female-only spaces to protect women and help them participate in public life. It's taken a long time to establish women-only services."
(Sarah Ditum cited at BBC, posted 31 July 2017, accessed 11 June 2020)

Prisons
Prisons require similar sensitivity. In 2017, a transgender prisoner in the UK - Karen White (born male, identifies as female) - sexually assaulted two women in a women's prison. So I feel it is right that the UK's first transgender prison unit was opened in 2019, within a women's prison, but without allowing access to the other women. Also, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here.

Rhona Hotchkiss, former governor of Cornton Vale women's prison, Stirling, UK (BBC excerpts, posted and accessed 11 February 2020):-
  • She is concerned that a current Scottish consultation may give a trans woman a legal right to insist on being placed in a women's prison.
  • "My experience is that it is always an issue to have trans women in with female prisoners."
  • This is not only due to the occasional "physical or sexual threat" but also because "the very fact of the presence of a male-bodied person" among vulnerable women causes "distress and consternation".
  • Most trans prisoners "have done nothing to change their physical appearance, or very little".
  • "The vast majority of women in prison have been traumatised by male violence, and they are threatened by having a male-bodied person in what is quite an intimate living space."
  • She has witnessed aggression from trans prisoners including threats to rape female staff and prisoners, but is not aware of anyone actually being attacked by a trans prisoner in Scotland.
Island Refuge

Competitive Sport
Another case where a transgender woman entering the woman's world is dubious is in competitive sport.

Rugby Union - 'In 2020 World Rugby became the first international sports body to ban transgender women from the women’s game after an eight-month review. It concluded that it was not possible to balance inclusivity with safety and fairness given that those who had gone through male puberty are “stronger by 25% to 50%, are 30% more powerful, 40% heavier, and about 15% faster than biological females” and warned of a greater risk of injuries if transgender women were not banned.' (Sean Ingle, The Guardian, posted 22 July 2022, accessed 23 July 2022)

MMA - David Avellan (posted and accessed 23 October 2018) argues that male-to-female transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete against women. In MMA, it not only gives the transgender athlete a massive advantage in many physical attributes, but is also far more dangerous for the opponent. Just like martial arts already have many weight categories, perhaps there needs to be further categories for transgender athletes.

General - Professor John Brewer, professor of applied sport science at St Mary's University (cited at BBC, posted 4 March 2019, accessed 5 March 2019) says:-
  • "Whether we like it or not, genetically the very best males will nearly always beat the very best females in most sports where physicality is critical."
  • "If you have those physical and physiological characteristics of a male athlete and you are competing in a female environment, then you will inevitably do extremely well and have an advantage."
  • Males "tend to have more testosterone" that stimulates muscle growth.
  • Male "legacy physiology" (larger heart and lungs) does not necessarily change despite the transgender transition process.
  • "So, inevitably, when you go into high-performance sport, where the difference between success and failure is quite small, that 'legacy physiology' alongside the muscle growth testosterone creates will give, almost inevitably, transgender athletes/individuals a physiological and indeed a performance advantage."
Olympics - International Olympic Committee guidelines state that transgender women must suppress testosterone levels for at least 12 months before competition.
But Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies and other female athletes believe that reducing testosterone for 12 months before competition does not represent a level playing field for female athletes. She says that despite those guidelines, transgender female athletes retain biological advantages gained in puberty. This is not fair and not safe. 
Indeed:-
  • A 2020 study found only a 5% reduction in strength after one year of testosterone blockers, which is by far insufficient to compensate for the muscular advantage of transgender women and inadequate to create safe, fair competition in many sports.
  • "Lowering of testosterone is almost completely ineffective in taking away the biological differences between males and females." (Ross Tucker, a sports scientist and expert on testosterone advantage in sport) There is just no proof that reducing testosterone takes away the advantage of muscle mass, strength, lean body mass, muscle size or bone density. (See The Guardian, 22 June 2021)
Conclusion - Is it human arrogance to think that surgery and chemistry are enough to change gender, something that has taken nature millions of years to differentiate and maintain?
Perhaps competitive transgender athletes need their own category, similar to the toilets issue? So we have male, female, disabled and transgender? There could even be an open/mixed category (as sometimes in chess), free for all to participate in, if it is deemed safe enough.
If it’s social sport, these divisions may not be essential. For example, in BJJ grappling, females routinely roll with males. But safety is still a major consideration...

Also see: here; 2018 here; 2019 here, here, here, here, here, here, here; 2020 here; 2021 here; 2022 here, here; 2023 here, here.
Silhouetted Sport

'Real' Man or Woman
I also want to ask, is there such a thing as a 'real' man or 'real' woman?
I once watched a TV show where a woman had an orgasm for the first time and she said she now felt like a 'real' woman. I suppose everyone has their own thoughts about what is a 'real' man or woman.
Attempts to do so based on sex characteristics, gender or socialisation are unclear (see here, here). But it seems very important to have women as a political and legal group distinct from trans women (see here, here).
Anyway, for me, the safety of females and girls is vital.
"The idea that a predatory male can just decree by personal fiat he is now female and can now access any female-only space is simply horrifying."
(Mumsnet commentator cited at BBC, posted 31 July 2017, accessed 11 June 2020)
"But, as many women have said before me, ‘woman’ is not a costume. ‘Woman’ is not an idea in a man’s head. ‘Woman’ is not a pink brain, a liking for Jimmy Choos or any of the other sexist ideas now somehow touted as progressive. Moreover, the ‘inclusive’ language that calls female people ‘menstruators’ and ‘people with vulvas’ strikes many women as dehumanising and demeaning. I understand why trans activists consider this language to be appropriate and kind, but for those of us who’ve had degrading slurs spat at us by violent men, it’s not neutral, it’s hostile and alienating." (JK Rowling, posted 10, accessed 11 June 2020)
Fuchsia Yin-Yang symbol

Animal/Human/Angel
Finally I want to look at transgender people from the angle of Animal/Human/Angel, and with reference to personality from a spiritual viewpoint.
The trans person identifies with a gender different from the animal level, the anatomical sex. Science tells us this may be caused by genetic, environmental, cultural, or psychological factors. Current research suggests that like anatomical sex, this gender identity is almost entirely determined in the womb (see here, here, here).
However, one factor rarely mentioned is the spiritual...
  • At an animal level, we are born into a body that is male or female or intersex. This is our anatomical sex. A transgender person can influence this with hormone supplements, and even genital reassignment.
  • At a human level we have the influence of culture and environment. 
  • At a spiritual level, it is taught that our soul has had many lives in male and female bodies. Some souls may have had many more past lives in one body sex than the other. Or recent past lives of the soul were all in the same body sex, and today the soul is incarnated in the other body sex. These spiritual influences can create a gender identity different from the animal/body level. 
Also, if we go deep enough into the spiritual level, we may realise that we are spirits or angels with no gender. We are incarnated in gendered bodies and typically in gendered identities, but we are all essentially angelic beings. So, love one another! 

Heart & Angel Wings with display of light & colour
Keep women and girls safe.
Keep trans people safe.
Love is the Way.

Further Quotes

[Transgender Woman:] "Let’s be up front about this: I don’t have a vagina. I would describe mine as a neo-vagina. I’m not a real woman. I’d have loved to have been one, but that didn’t happen for me and I have to make do. I can’t claim womanhood. I have a different body to women, I have different biology, different needs, I grew up differently. I don’t think it should be something to feel embarrassed or shamed about. I’m a transwoman, and that’s fine by me.
I didn’t have a girlhood, I wasn’t socialised as a girl. I have some similar experiences to other women. I deal with everyday, casual sexism now. The world can be a challenging place for a woman, but I’m certainly far more comfortable in it now, as a transwoman, and can contribute more than I could as a man."
(The Guardian, posted 9 February 2019, accessed 6 October 2020)

Trans women are trans women.
(Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, cited at The Guardian, posted and accessed 26 June 2021)

Two-Spirit (trans) people predate Texas by thousands of years — They held an important status within Indigenous communities— and the Lakota considered them sacred beings.
Many Indigenous cultures believe in a third gender. The Lakota believe this third gender harbors an amalgamation of both female and male souls — what makes Two-Spirit people so incredibly unique —  is their ability to perceive the world from two distinct spiritual lenses.
(Lakota Man, 23 February 2022 tweets)

Two-spirit (trans) people were highly respected and held a prominence within the tribe, playing an important role in Lakota society. They named babies and settled disputes. They were blessed with the unique ability to perceive the world — from two distinct spiritual lenses. (Lakota Man, 31 March 2023 tweet excerpt)

At the heart of these debates – and not just in sports – is the distinction between sex and gender. Sex refers to an individual’s biological traits, such as their chromosomes, hormones and reproductive organs; gender to social ideas about “masculinity” and “femininity” and of male and female roles. Transgender people have a sense of their gender identity being at odds with their biological sex and resolve it by changing gender. (Kenan Malik, The Guardian, posted and accessed 3 April 2022)

…studies suggest that gender dysphoria resolves itself naturally in many children; is often associated with other underlying factors, including young people processing their own same-sex attraction, neurodiversity, childhood trauma, fear of puberty (especially in girls), and mental health issues; and that a childhood diagnosis of gender dysphoria is not predictive of a lasting trans identity in adulthood. In other words, there is a real risk that putting children on to a medical pathway [puberty blockers] could cement a temporary distress into something more permanent.
(Sonia Sodha, The Guardian, posted and accessed 4 August 2024)
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Page last updated: 20 April 2025.