The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word transgender as “being a person whose gender identity differs from the sex the person had or was identified as having at birth”. Simply put, it is a person who feels or thinks that the gender assigned on the birth certificate was somehow a case of mistaken identity by the medical staff and/or the parents at the time of birth. And although it is not often spoken aloud, it is implied that God, a supreme being that Christians believe is the only perfect being, has in the case of transgenders somehow made a mistake.
Whose rights matter most?
Recently on the “America Now’ radio talk show hosted by Buck Sexton, the topic of transgender rights came up and a lively discussion ensued. Some callers argued that to force someone to go to a certain bathroom because of the sexual organs they were born with is wrong and a violation of their rights. They pointed out that this could be emotionally damaging to someone to have to relieve themselves in a setting in which they are uncomfortable.
Other callers questioned where does protecting the rights of transgender individuals cross the Line into abusing the rights of people who do identify as the sex into which they were born. They argued that because a transgender person born a man might feel more comfortable using a woman’s bathroom, that should not mean they are then allowed to make the women in that bathroom uncomfortable.
I am what I say I am!
But by far one of the most interesting calls of the night was from a gentleman who pointed out that this type of thinking, if allowed with transgenders, can quickly get out of hand. He asked what would happen if he, age 34, decides that he is an old soul and identifies as being 70 years of age. Why shouldn’t he be able to receive his social security benefits?
After all it’s not what’s on his birth certificate, but what he identifies as that matters right?
Where does it end? What would it do to the census results? A person may look black, but choose to identify as white. Why not? It doesn’t matter what the birth certificate says, it’s how they identify and feel. Someone accused of being an illegal immigrant facing deportation can argue that they identify as an American citizen.
Why not? It’s not the paperwork that matters, but how they identify right?
Whatever becomes of the transgender bathroom debate, congress and the individual states had better beware that they don’t send the wrong message. Once a precedent is set, it opens the floodgates for a multitude of “I feels” and “I identify as” claims to tie up the court systems for years to come.
