So what now?

 Whatever the outcome of the current debate over gender reassignment, whatever laws we end up with, I will always believe that if someone wants to change their gender they should be allowed to do so, and they should be welcomed into the community of their adopted gender. 


Clearly there are some who don’t accept that view. 


If my beliefs became universal there wouldn’t be many questions left to answer. In fact I can’t think of one. Those societies who share my view are relaxed and ready to move on. 


But if you are of the view that trans people shouldn’t exist, or shouldn’t be treated according to their adopted gender, then there are lots of questions you need to answer. You can’t just move on. 


The Times published a letter from a doctor who suggested that gender disphoria is a mental illness. My first reaction was that I’m pleased he’s not my GP. But how does he propose to treat this “mental illness”. Conversion therapy, which seems to me to be just a renamed form of brainwashing and which parliament proposes to make illegal? Do you just say to a trans woman “snap out of it! Man up!” Or “go and play a bit of Rugby and have six pints of Guinness with the lads. You’ll soon come round.” 


Which loo do people use? When asked that question Falkner, the chair of the CEHR shrugged and said trans people should “use their powers of advocacy.” Really? So a trans person is outside the loos dying for a leek and they’re supposed to petition their local MP? 


What happens when someone who is obviously female like Angela Ponce rocks up to the border with a passport which says she’s male? 


Should we be like Russia and simply persecute trans people so they either suffer in silence or end up in jail? 


The questions are endless. 


I suspect most trans deniers don’t think about these things, or maybe they just believe trans people should just accept their natal gender and “suck it up.” The only problem with that is that you’re condemning hundreds of thousands of people to a lifetime of mental anguish. Some, like April Ashley before she transitioned, will try to kill themselves. 


If you, like me, are not ok with that then we should do what we can. As Falkner said “we should use our powers of advocacy”. 

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