Ideas have consequences, and bad ideas often lead to casualties. Over at First Things, Carl Trueman outlines what he calls “A New Pastoral Problem.”
The problem my pastor friend faces is how to counsel parents of teenage girls who will not drink anything before going to school lest they have to use the bathrooms that, thanks to the stroke of President Biden’s pen, are now open to teenage boys who think—or claim—to have been born in the wrong bodies. It seems that anxiety and physical discomfort caused by the new bathroom policy will now be the new normal for young high school girls. Trans activists like to use the language of “safety” as a way of playing to the aesthetics of our therapeutic culture and delegitimizing their critics. Well, these biological women no longer feel safe. Their spaces, like their gender, have been stolen from them by men and for men. They now feel themselves to be in such danger that they cannot even hydrate before school lest they have to use the restroom during the day. America has had a number of presidents whose appetites meant that they arguably posed a danger to many women who crossed their physical paths; but the current president has out-performed them all. His policies have made him a danger to all women everywhere, even in high school restrooms.
The OED defines intersectionality as “the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.” Theoretically, a person can count up the “groups” he is in (like checking off boxes: female, latino, bisexual, quadriplegic, etc.) to see how “marginalised” he is overall–like racking up coupons at the checkout. But what happens when the disparate groups have competing interests? Clearly, the #MeToo movement stressed the vulnerability of women, and highlighted how past trauma can create fresh tension when faced with a member of the abusers’ group, which inevitably comes into direct conflict with the discomfort of those men who wish to present themselves as women–and who also want to avoid male-only spaces. Who will prevail?
Not only will bathrooms, locker rooms, and dressing rooms prove challenging to girls who wish to have a male-free environment, but domestic abuse shelters will now force traumatised women (and their young children) to bunk l-i-t-e-r-a-l-l-y next to deeply confused men. Intersectionality is an abstract game that now forces victims of different groups to square off for safe spaces, set-asides, scholarships, and vaguely defined quotas. It is no surprise that feminists are deeply divided over the issue–with J.K.Rowling taking most of the heat for defending the vulnerable women! Think about that: one of the wealthiest and most popular women in the world spoke against this transgender madness on behalf of those with same-sex attraction (note: LGB is at odds with the T) and she has been vilified beyond measure. Why does she do it?
I’m concerned about the huge explosion in young women wishing to transition and also about the increasing numbers who seem to be detransitioning (returning to their original sex), because they regret taking steps that have, in some cases, altered their bodies irrevocably, and taken away their fertility. Some say they decided to transition after realising they were same-sex attracted, and that transitioning was partly driven by homophobia, either in society or in their families. Most people probably aren’t aware – I certainly wasn’t, until I started researching this issue properly – that ten years ago, the majority of people wanting to transition to the opposite sex were male. That ratio has now reversed. The UK has experienced a 4400% increase in girls being referred for transitioning treatment. Autistic girls are hugely overrepresented in their numbers. The same phenomenon has been seen in the US.
So clearly the science isn’t settled, the present trajectory is deeply troubling, massive regret comes after following the present party line, and a calm discussion must take place. In the meantime, everyone will pay the price for this madness, even the average schoolgirl who just wants to learn. Seven+ hours without a bathroom (180 days a year) is quite a price to pay in a first-world nation, when her parents’ tax dollars have paid for facilities just down the hall.
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