Sex Differences and Gender Dysphoria
Babette Francis
The journal BMC(BioMedCentral) Biology published a study in its February 2017 issue by Israeli scientists who have uncovered 1,559 genetic differences between males and
females that relate not only to the sexual organs, but surprisingly
to other organs such as the brain, skin, and heart. "Overall,
sex-specific genes are mainly expressed in the reproductive
system, emphasizing the notable physiological distinction
between men and women," the scientists found. "However,
scores of genes that are not known to directly associate
with reproduction were also found to have sex-specific expression
(e.g., the men-specific skin genes)," they added.The findings suggest that there is much more involved in the notion of changing one's gender to the opposite sex than simply surgery and hormonal treatment. "Our results can facilitate the understanding of diverse biological characteristics in the context of [the male and female] sex," the researchers stated in their conclusion. The study is titled "The landscape of sex-differential transcriptome and its consequent selection in human adults".
Researchers Moran Gershoni and Shmuel Pietrokovski of the Weizmann Institute's Molecular Genetics Department mapped out thousands of genes - the biological databases of all the information that makes every person unique - from 53 tissues that are similar to males and females, such as the skin, muscle, and brain. The study was conducted to examine the extent to which genes determine how certain diseases target males and females differently.
Men and women differ in obvious and less obvious ways - for example, in the prevalence of certain diseases or reactions to drugs. How are these connected to one’s sex? Thousands of human genes that are expressed - copied out to make proteins - differently in the two sexes," according to the report from the Weizmann Institute researchers.
Tony Perkins of Family Research Council in his May 10 Washington Update comments: Scientists have found 1,559 genetic differences between boys and girls - but try telling that to Oregon officials! The radicals in the Beaver State are doing everything they can to gloss over those distinctions in their latest push to wipe gender off drivers' licences. In what ought to make all Americans shake their heads, Transgender Oregonians are lobbying for the change, which would let residents identify as "nonbinary" (neither male nor female) on their most significant form of identification. State leaders hosted a public hearing on the idea, which would let people choose between three options: M, F, and X.
Amazingly, in every mainstream article about the proposal, not one person brought up the obvious -- which is that this isn't about sensitivity; it's about safety. It's fine if you're a kid playing make-believe, but if you're a society in the age of terrorism, security, not to mention reality, should be the top consideration. Drivers' licences are meant to be the most dependable form of ID that our country offers. How can the people working to keep us safe do so when a possible suspect could be described as either a man or a woman -- or neither -- depending on how they feel at that particular time? Let's face it: This kind of political correctness can kill you!
However the issues raised by studies on sex differences go beyond the issue of identification, drivers' licences and public safety. These studies highlight the tragedy of the promotion of "gender dysphoria" and of parents, health agencies and Family Law Courts promoting the concept that a girl or a boy who "identifies" as the opposite sex can "transition" by first taking puberty blockers, followed by heavy doses of hormones which relate to the desired sex, and finally surgery which judges have permitted even when the child is well below the age of 18. Much of this medical intervention is irreversible, and I wonder if those parents who gush that "my child is so wonderful to be transitioning (to the opposite sex)" realise that they are condemning that child to a lifetime of infertility, sexual dysfunction and the taking of powerful hormones which may have serious consequences such as a greater risk of cancer?
Hormones act not only on the reproductive system but also on the brain and may cause loss of cognitive function when used for the wrong sex. Western Sydney University Professor Dr. John Whitehall, a pediatrician with more than 50 years experience treatimg children, has expressed concern that the long term consequences of puberty blockers have been propounding the cerebral safety of hormonal and cross-sex hormones are not fully understood. He said that a majority of children who identify as the opposite sex revert to their natal sex by puberty.
In an article in the May 2017 issue of Quadrant, Professor Whitehall cites several studies overseas that have found that hormone deprivation can impact on the brain affecting memory, executive function and cerebral function. He questions the sharp increase in youths seeking treatment. "I think it is a dangerous fad, a dangerous behavioural fashion fuelled by ideologues and programs such as Safe Schools which promote gender fluidity and provide schools with resources to assist students who want to transition....while these experts treatment, international research has been proving otherwise."
Another opinion offered by an endocrinologist in a recent Family Law Court case of a 17-year old seeking hormonal treatment to affirm a decision to live as a male, pointed to lifelong irreversible risks including breast or uterine cancer and severe liver dysfunction.
Once a child is started on "transition", it is trapped. After
all the plaudits he/she has received for his/her courage in
transitioning, plus the affirmation of therapists, how can the
hapless child or teenager come out and say "I think I made a
terrible mistake?" And it may be too late anyway...