I have not been getting enough information about this topic. What about intersex people who are born differently than male or female? I’m confused and told there are two genders. What does the word ‘gender’ mean? Which gender can an intersex person choose? Aren’t there actually three genders, with intersex having a subcategory of a mixed genitals ratio?
Just yesterday I had someone tell me there must only be 2 genders because after you filter out all the ones that don’t fit, you can easily sort the remainder into 2 categories. 
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I have a lot to say about this, as I’ve worked in healthcare for over 30 years . . . and questions about gender are relevant in the politics of Florida.
The politicians believe that they know more than the doctors and biologists who work with such people, so we have bans on gender-affirming care . . . and this means that we have higher rates of suicide among certain categories of LGBTQ young people because they don’t get this care.
The politicians say that there are only two genders, and that this is a black and white issue, which isn’t true.
As an example, consider Kleinfelter Syndrome. A man will usually have an X chromosome and an Y chromosome, which determines male gender. A kid with a Y chromosome and two X chromosomes will still have a penis and testicles, yet he may have many feminine traits. It is also possible for a person to have a Y chromosome and three X chromosomes, which causes even more feminine traits.
The 80s era supermodel (and smoking hot James Bond girl) Tula has a Y chromosome and three X chromosomes. Please see below:
Tula was also born with a penis and testicles, yet plainly meets all other criteria for being a woman.
The point in me bringing up Tula is that gender is obviously a grey area in her case, and if we acknowledge that Tula’s gender is a grey area, then why isn’t it possible that we may encounter other people whose gender may also be a grey area for other reasons?
Such people are often bullied, they are ostracized, and subjected to violence and bigotry simply because of the way that they were born. The politicians and religious leaders use social ignorance on this issue to play on peoples’ fears to get elected and/or to enlarge their congregations, which creates the widespread belief that such people are paedophiles who can’t be trusted around children. See below:
I’m extremely sympathetic toward the social struggles of trans people, as I was born with high-functioning autism, and I was often bullied, subjected to violence, and sexually assaulted (when I was much younger) because of who I am. My parents sent me away to a “special school” when I was a teen, and when my autism didn’t “get better,” it was because I “wasn’t trying hard enough” and/or “doing the work” to fix myself.
In short, I was no different than an alcoholic or drug addict who keeps relapsing after my parents spent all of this time and resources to help me . . . so I’m also selfish and ungrateful.
So, my struggles with my autism mirror the struggles that a lot of LGBTQ people go through, which is a part of why I’m very sympathetic and supportive of them.
It was even believed that screaming in a child’s face and slapping could cure autism. See below:
I had several teachers who screamed at me and slapped me in the face to treat me when I “refused” to act “normal” . . . and–in one instance–I waited until we we were going to another class, and I “accidentally” shoved a teacher down a flight of stairs in retaliation when his back was turned toward me. I didn’t get called out on this because everyone thought it was an accident.
LGBTQ people go through similar situations today when they are sent to conversion therapy, and are deprived of privacy, beaten, and occasionally subjected to electricity in an effort to cure them.
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Gender
noun
1.the male sex or the female sex, especially when considered with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones, or one of a range of other identities that do not correspond to established ideas of male and female.
Our notions about gender are undergoing something of a transition, no pun intended.
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This is quite true; trans individuals are often bullied. In my neighborhood lives a person who appears to be a man visually but is more feminine. People don’t understand and often stare and talk negatively about the way he walks.
It’s like getting bullied without being aware.
That’s why I have respect for intersex people. I am amazed to see that nobody cares about them, from going to the grocery store to getting a visa; it’s just a living hell for them. Though some countries maybe excluded but from where am I , things are not good man!
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What you want to say exactly?
It looks like a robotic, dictionary accurate - response.
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It was in response to your question? I also added a qualifier.
I guess it will be confusing for a while, and then settle down again. I don’t have a problem with people identifying as a gender that differs from their biological sex at birth, only with thought police and people who are pushing an agenda to play the victim when someone makes an innocent mistake, and of course the bigots who want their own views to be the only ones that matter, and will keep causing offence just to prove a point.
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I think this is the actual problem: those who run the world don’t understand it, and the world gets into more trouble.
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Yeah, I also blame social media for this, and they make LGBTQ look like low IQ people , like painting streets with rainbow colour for no reason or gay people dancing to a DJ beat as if they’re auditioning for God’s wrath.
Total manipulation.
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Well it’s not necessarily trans people themselves who push an aggressive and intolerant agenda about policing use of gender pronouns, but if someone makes a mistake which can easily happen, I see no real harm or drama. It’s intolerance from extremists on either side of the debate that is the problem. Especially since we are trying to find our way through these new notions of what gender means in different circumstances.
The demands have to be realistic, and the opposition framed in an objective and reasonable fashion. It’s a doddle, we’ll smash this right out of the park no doubt…that was irony in case it missed its mark…
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Do these people who have a Y chromosome and more than one X chromosome have a uterus, or just male genitalia?
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They do not have a uterus.
They do have male genitalia, but the penis, testicles, and scrotum are often very small and/or underdeveloped, and they have low or absent sperm, and low testosterone.
And these men often develop breasts.
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Here’s an interesting video by Forrest Valkai, a biologist, about sex and gender.
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I think it’s genuinely a spectrum of a sort.
This is a first of a three part series, I think. It’s a good watch.
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Interesting video thx for sharing this.
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There is much confusion and misinformation about the terms sex, sexual orientation, and gender. If by “sex” people are referring to biologic “sex” based upon chromosomal status (genotype), there are several: XX = “normal” female, XY = “normal” male, X0 = Turner .Syndrome XXY = Klinefelter Syndrome, XXXY = Triple X Syndrome. There is no Y0 because it cannot survive or develop because of an absent X chromosome.
Statistically XX and XY are the most common. XXY occurs in about 1/500 boys and XXXY 1/50000 boys. X0 is 1/2000 in girls. Notice I used the terms “boys” and “girls” which are the usual genders assigned at birth that are based upon the physical appearance of the genitals. This is the person’s phenotype. There are instances when the newborn has “ambiguous genitals” or there is an undetected mismatch between the Genotype and Phenotype. In the development of the human embryo and fetus Female genitalia are the “default” phenotype. There are persons who are genetic males.(XY) who have female phenotype. They have testicular feminization or androgen insensitivity syndrome due to a defect in the X chromosome. Despite being XY “biologic male sex” (term used by non-medical persons) they have female appearance (phenotype) and most I assume have female gender and are raised as girls. They don’t have ovaries or a uterus and are sterile. Others may be true hermaphrodites, having both testicular tissue and ovaries (ovotestes) or pseudohermaphrodites. These “intersex” persons are very rare… Because they have ambiguous genitalia they may be assigned either female or male gender at birth. Their genotypes are variable and sometimes don’t match the phenotype. Although genotype and phenotype are present at birth, and can be verified by visual inspection and chromosome analysis, gender identity and sexual orientation become manifest later in life. Again, these traits are not dualities, simple either / or. The persons who claim there are just two “genders” shows a lack of knowledge of history and anthropology. Historically, in every culture there have been persons who identify with a gender that doesn’t match their genotype. In North American indigenous cultures they are called “two spirit” and they often hold certain positions in society. In SE Asia this “third gender” is the kathoey and in India they are called hijra. I have lived near a Blackfoot reservation in the past and lived in SE Asia. In SE Asia and India these persons are officially recognized as a "third gender’ and they do not have “dysphoria”. That medical condition exists in the US because of the fundamentalist religious doctrines and denial of the reality of transsexuality. This denial of the existence of reality was expressed today when the governor of Florida proposed a law that all ID documents would have to only indicate the “biologic sex” (genomic?) not the gender identity of the person. In other words he wants to legalize transgender persons of existence. This is Christofascism. What will follow are moves to put this minority out of physical existence. BTW since I’m an MD, Atheist / Buddhist and Gay I’m on a triple hit list of the so-called “Conservatives”…
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They are only bullied and attacked in the US fundamentalist Christofascists. In North America the indigenous persons recognize “two spirit” persons such as the berdache who hold special positions in society. They still exist despite suppression and religious indoctrination by Christian missionaries. In SE Asia the kathoey is a third gender and they are treated like anyone else… Some schools in Thailand have a separate toilet for them. In India, the hijra have legal status. I have a friend in Cambodia whom I have known since he was an 18 year “male” high school student. When he was 21 I saw him at a gay bar in drag. He asked me about taking BC pills to make himself female. Several years ago he went to Thailand and had complete surgical transformation. “He” is now a very beautiful female model and “she” is referred to by female pronouns. No gender dysphoria because in this country where 90% practice a non-theistic religion (Theravada Buddhism) they recognize various genders and sexual orientations as realities.
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I’m very glad that there are places where people can be themselves without suffering for it, so thank you for making those points.
I was a paramedic in the late 80’s to 2000 in South Florida, and bigotry toward all varieties of LGBTQ people was rampant, as was violence and job discrimination . . . and it made me sick.
As a person with Jewish heritage, I was taught:
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The phrase “I was only following orders” is not an excuse to do things that are wrong.
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Just because other people do things that are wrong is not an excuse for me to do things that are wrong.
I would often get into trouble and held back from promotion because I refused to be a fucking asshole toward LGBTQ people, and I could tell you stories that would make you cringe.
A very famous, multi-millionaire preacher named Pat Robertson (who also ran for President) used his fame and platform to teach that gay people have rings with sharp edges that are deliberately contaminated with tainted blood so that they could intentionally spread HIV by shaking hands.
He also (along with other religious assholes) started the moral panic about “blood terrorism,” and how gay people with AIDS were deliberately donating blood to intentionally spread the disease.
I knew religious groups who would go into drug stores and deliberately pierce boxes of condoms with pins as a way of protesting safe sex practices, as condoms interfere with “God’s just consequences” toward the “homosexual deviants who violate His laws.”
I still get angry even thinking about this shit.
I know that my points may be hard to believe, so please see below:
The above like is a scholarly review of “Jack Chick” tracts . . . which pushed the idea that most gay people are paedohiles, and that gay people deliberately spread AIDS by lying about HIV status before donating blood, and such accusations were commonly believed.
This bullshit reminded me of the “blood libel” that was believed of Jews in the early 20th Century (and before). See below: