Every human being ought to have the "right" to be free from harassment or persecution by other human beings due to their physical or demographic characteristics and their non-moral beliefs. So, for example regarding physical or demographic characteristics, a person should not be persecuted or harassed because of their skin color or what nation they were born in or for their ethnicity or other physical or demographic features . Or, for example regarding non-moral beliefs, a person should not be persecuted or harassed because they believe males are men and females are women.
If a person holds immoral beliefs and acts on those beliefs, then that person ought to be corrected or possibly incarcerated. People who hold immoral beliefs, which beliefs justify harm or violence towards others, ought to be stopped from engaging in perpetrating behavior consistent with those beliefs. So, for example, Islamic Jihadists using force to 'convert' people to Islam ought to be resisted or stopped. In like manner, pedophiles ought not to be able to act upon their beliefs regarding manipulating and using children for their own sexual pleasure.
Furthermore, if people want to live out some delusional view of themselves - say they want to believe they are an Elf instead of a human being - then they should not be persecuted for that. I would argue that people who care about the person believing they are an Elf would try and get them some mental health help. In like manner, if a man wants to believe he is a woman, we should not attempt to force him to believe otherwise, although kind persuasion should be attempted to correct his error.
It is NOT acceptable, however, for the person who believes they are an Elf to insist that other people share in their delusion, and thus insist others call them Elf or Elven-maid , for example. In like manner, it is NOT acceptable for the man who believes he is a woman to ask others to share in his delusion and thus call him by female pronouns or allow him to participate in activities designated for females or to use facilities where exposing genitalia happens. For example, it is NOT acceptable to allow the delusional man to compete against women in athletic events given the clear physical differences between men and women. Nor is it acceptable to allow males to use restrooms or locker rooms with females.
A sane, rational society should not make laws or rules that create or extend some legal right that "protects" that person's belief they are an Elf, and punish or alienate or ostracize those who will not affirm nor support the delusion(s) of that person. In like manner, a sane and rational society should not make rules or laws that create or extend some legal right that "protects" a man's belief he is a woman, and punish or alienate or ostracize those who will not affirm or support the delusion(s) of that man.
Here are the primary or first level dictionary definitions of the terms "gender" and "sex":
Merriam-Webster:
"Gender: Either the male or female division of a species, especially as differentiated by social and cultural roles and behavior: the feminine gender."
"Sex: Either the male or female division of a species, especially as differentiated with reference to the reproductive functions."
Cambridge:
"Gender: the male or female sex, or the state of being either male or female"
"Sex: the state of being either male or female, or all males or all females considered as a group; gender."
Dictionary.com:
"Gender: either the male or female division of a species, especially as differentiated by social and cultural roles and behavior."
"Sex: either the male or female division of a species, especially as differentiated with reference to the reproductive functions."
If you were to go back only about 20 years and look at English based dictionaries, there would be virtually no secondary or lower level definitions for the terms "gender" or "sex" - there would be only the above. What has changed? Human being physiology? Certainly not. Human nature? No. So, what has changed is the way the people of the U.S. think about gender and sex.
To summarize what we can learn from the definitions of the terms in the major dictionaries - which dictionaries are reflective of the vast majority of the people who speak the English language - is that the terms "gender" and "sex" are essentially synonymous in terms of referring to two kinds of human beings - male and female. The term "gender" encompasses more of the metaphysical or personality or communication trait-aspects of the sex - usually stated as masculine for males and feminine for females. While the term "sex" is restricted to the physiology of each gender and the physiological differences - males having male physiology and physical distinctions (more massive musculature, for example) to males and females having female physiology and physical distinctions unique to females.
So, for thousands of years in all global cultures, there has
been no confusion over these terms and what they represent.
This is simply a fact that is undeniable for the reasoning person
who cares to review the worlds cultural history. And no,
finding a few exceptions to the billions of stable gender
expressions does NOT constitute a refutation of the norm. Just
like finding .001% homosexual expressions in the animal kingdom
somehow invalidates the heterosexual view as the norm.
So, here we are today in American culture and if one word could be used to describe the newest, latest views of "gender" and "sex", it would be...
C O N F U S E D.
Here are the dictionary definitions of "confused":
Merriam-Webster:
a : being perplexed or disconcerted <the confused students>
b : disoriented with regard to one's sense of time, place, or identity <the patient became confused>
Cambridge:
Unable to think clearly or to understand something. Example 1: Grandpa gets pretty confused sometimes, and doesn't even know what day it is. Example 2: I'm a bit confused. Was that her husband or her son she was with?
Not clear and therefore difficult to understand: Example: Your essay gets a bit confused halfway through when you introduce too many ideas at once.
Dictionary.com:
1. To perplex or bewilder. Example: The flood of questions confused me. 2. to make unclear or indistinct. Example: The rumors and angry charges tended to confuse the issue. 3. to fail to distinguish between; associate by mistake; confound. Example 1: to confuse dates; Example 2: He always confuses the twins. 4. to disconcert or abash. Example: His candor confused her. 5. to combine without order; jumble; disorder. Example: Try not to confuse the papers on the desk. 6. Archaic. to bring to ruin or naught.
Dear reader, it is NOT GOOD to lack understanding about simple facts of reality, for that is what it means to be CONFUSED or worse, DELUDED OR DECEIVED.
Enter the concept of "transgender". Let us now enter into the C O N F U S I O N...
Here are the dictionary definitions of "transgender":
Merriam-Webster:
Of, relating to, or being a person (as a transsexual or transvestite) who identifies with or expresses a gender identity that differs from the one which corresponds to the person's sex at birth.
Cambridge:
Used to describe someone who feels that they are not the same gender (= sex) as the physical body they were born with, or who does not fit easily into being either a male or a female:
Dictionary.com:
Noting or relating to a person whose gender identity does not correspond to that person’s biological sex assigned at birth: the transgender movement; transgender rights. 2. noting or relating to a person who does not conform to societal gender norms or roles.
Here is Wiki's 'definition' of transgender:
"Transgender people are people who experience a mismatch between their gender identity or gender expression, and their assigned sex. Transgender people are sometimes called transsexual if they desire medical assistance to transition from one sex to another. Transgender is also an umbrella term: in addition to including people whose gender identity is the opposite of their assigned sex (trans men and trans women), it may include people who are not exclusively masculine or feminine (people who are gender queer, e.g. bi-gender, pan gender, gender fluid, or a-gender). Other definitions of transgender also include people who belong to a third gender, or conceptualize transgender people as a third gender. Infrequently, the term transgender is defined very broadly to include cross-dressers."
The term "gender dysphoria" until recently was considered a negative diagnosis of confusion over one's gender. Before "gender dysphoria" it was known as "gender identity disorder" - please note the term "disorder" which denotes wrongness needing to be fixed. So, the secular psychologists and psychiatrists have been changing their view of human sex and gender over the past mere 20 years or so to align with the cultures ever-changing views of human nature. Prior to 20 years ago or so, confusion over one's gender was virtually universally considered a pathology or a wrongness to understanding humanness and was treated like other psychological problems. Furthermore, in the majority of non-Western human cultures around the world, traditional views on maleness and femaleness have NOT changed over the past 20 years but have stayed consistent with human history over millennia. Only in wealthy, industrialized Western cultures do we see a strong push to normalize non-normative views on sexuality and gender.
The key question that must be answered is what exactly changed regarding human nature between all of human history and the last 20 years or so? What major discovery occurred to factually demonstrate the men can have vaginas and women can have penises, or that penises and vaginas are irrelevant to being a man or a woman? I would suggest what has changed is the abandonment of rational though, objective moral standards, and the reasonable observations of natural law.
To sum the whole issue up clearly and briefly, transgender people are confused about their gender. Stated another way, they reject their "assigned sex" and corresponding gender for confusion. (By the way, Wiki authors, exactly who does the "assigning"? If you say the person(s) who determine the content of the birth certificate, then how did they make that judgment? Did they flip a coin, or did they look at the new baby?)
There is NO confusion among clear thinking people what "gender" means. Gender is the non-physical or non-reproductive characteristics associated with a person's sex of either male or female. The terms "masculine" and "feminine" are suitable terms that describe the non-physical or the physical but non-reproductive physical characteristics of men and women. The terms "sex" and "gender" are essentially synonymous as the dictionary definitions above prove. (Note: Recently (2022), the major publishers of Western English dictionaries have CHANGED their long-held definitions of "man" and "woman" to align with the new transgender ideologues. In other words, the publishers of these dictionaries are afraid of being cancelled by the transgender ideologues.)
Just because a woman might have masculine traits does not mean she is not a female - her gender is still "female". And just because a man might have feminine traits does not mean he is a female - his gender is still "male". Trying to change one's gender is not a natural process, but rather is normally someone being persuaded by voices offering something the person wants, typically acceptance and friendship.
It has become popular, recently, for people to claim that men can get pregnant. Unfortunately, this just proves that the level and scope of delusion on this issue is increasing. By definition, natural law, and normal biological principles, males cannot get pregnant, period. To claim or hold otherwise demonstrates delusional thinking. Of course a male can CHOOSE TO HAVE A SURGEON CHANGE HIS BODY by making or implanting the womb of a woman thus enabling him to carry a baby, but that does not make him a female any more than a male having a surgeon put breast implants in his chest make's him a female. Changing or manipulating or mutilating one's body using surgery does NOT change that person's sex and gender. Rather, it is merely the man or woman's attempt to make their body align with their delusional view of themselves. Almost every cell in the human body has male chromosomes if one is male, and female chromosomes if one is female. Surgery does not change that, nor does it change all of the other physiological and psychological or personality characteristics associated with maleness or femaleness.
It should be a crime for surgeon's who encourage, enable or perform such surgery, but of that would be rational and objective and thus not in line with the current irrational and subjective 'thinking' that is currently so popular.
This delusional thinking and associated self-harmful behavior will have significant negative consequences for many people engaged in this delusion. The suicide rate for people playing out this delusion will only continue to increase, and shame on those who support this delusional belief and thus by extension the associated self-harmful behavior. As we shall see in a moment, those who are utterly lost in an existential and moral sense simply cannot see these simple truths. And for those who deny truth, please see Relativism: The Enemy of Truth.
Now let's pivot from physical and psychological facts to the concept of legal "rights". Just because a person does not like being a particular gender and thus chooses to attempt to not-be that gender, does not provide them "rights" that other people - who cannot change some characteristic which causes them to be discriminated against - should be granted.
The 'transgender movement' is just another manifestation of relativism - the worldview that there are NO standards against which to judge right or wrong, true from false, or in this case, male from female. Apparently for many even one's own eyes are not a good enough standard to judge a naked person as male from female today!
In short, once people let go of all objective standards - which is where truth or moral relativism leads - it produces delusional wrongness which is leading to - using the older dictionary definition of confusion - "ruin". Just try to build anything - physical or conceptual or organizational while those who are trying to do so are CONFUSED - and you will see what "ruin" means. In like manner, just try and build or maintain a 'society' when those who are 'leading' are CONFUSED, and you will soon see what "ruin" means...the U.S.A. is being ruined.
So, now those who are CONFUSED about their gender want the "right" to use facilities intended by non-confused people to be used by one gender. Or they want the "right" to compete in athletics against those who are the other gender - typically males wanting to compete against female athletes. Or, worst of all, adults want the right to push their transgender ideas on children who are not yet capable of understanding the issues.
Does this make sense? Of course their are many people who are not confused about their gender who support 'non-discrimination' against gender-confused people, but that does not change the facts, it just means they are confused as well. By definition, a gender-confused person is not certain about which gender they are so how can one 'discriminate' against them? In April, the gender confused person thinks they are a male, and then in May they believe they are a female. So, if you 'discriminate' against them by saying they should use facilities for females in April when they believe they are a male, and you just wait a month until they change their mind, then the 'discrimination' will expire when in May they believe they are a female!
This is true insanity.
There are major inconsistencies, contradictions and self-defeating beliefs with whose who believe transgender concepts. For example, many who hold to transgender doctrine also are pro-abortion, and march with their signs saying, "Keep your hands off of women's bodies" - these folks make a bid deal about the concept of "women" in their beliefs and protests, and yet when asked to define a "woman", they cannot!!! At the same time, they claim that men can get pregnant and have abortions. So, why are they discriminating against men by eliminating men from their call for abortion rights? These folks generally get very upset when they perceive that someone is being denied some perceived right. So, how could they leave men off of their signs calling for abortion rights, for example? Shouldn't their abortion signs say, "Keep your hands off of women's and men's bodies"? Unfortunately, they typically cannot even define what a "man" or a "woman" is! This is very inconsistent behavior. So, these current observations point out the irrational nature of their positions but unfortunately, the response will not be to correct their beliefs. Instead, they will start adding the word "men" to their abortion rights signs, or they will make up new terms like "pregnant person" to avoid the obvious contradictions, inconsistencies or implausible claims!
Those who 'fight against discrimination' make the case that gender-confused people - those who have either male or female anatomy but who want to deny the gender associated with their sex - have the right to choose to use a bathroom or shower facility that is intended for either males or females even though their sex might be wrong for the intended bathroom. In other words, a man who is 'feeling like' a woman today has the 'right' to enter into the woman's bathroom, locker room or shower facility and use it. If the reader is so naive as to the problems caused by many men's sexual drive, then you need to wake up and look at the sexual problem statistics! To think that some men will not use the gender confusion to fulfill their predatory sexual desires or fantasies is to be not just confused, but deluded.
Those who defend transgender 'rights' will object to this characterization, "a man who is 'feeling like' a woman today...'. They will make the argument that 'truly changing one's gender is a long process that involves psychologists and medical doctors and thus is carefully validated, embarked upon and documented'. Really? Is that a true claim? Not according to a Harvard study that came up in the Spring of 2017. According to Harvard 'gender experts', transgender-ism is a condition that is fluid and can change "daily". See http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/04/21/harvard-officials-release-guide-claiming-that-gender-can-change-daily/ Soon, it will fall to hourly and they by the minute and second.
So, at what point in time does a transgender person actually change their gender or self-identify as the gender opposite their sex? It would seem that the most reasonable position would be that until a transgender person commits to actual surgery to change their sex, they should be considered their birth sex and not be able to use public facilities designed for people the opposite of their birth sex.
Furthermore, how is this 'long validated process' (now refuted by the Spring 2017 Harvard Study) verified in the woman's locker room when the male 'woman' walks in and looks at the naked females? Does the man-who-believes-he-is-a-woman show a card or something that says, "I am really a woman as validated by so-and-so expert on such and such a date"? If a transgender person does not have that card, then how will the women in the locker room know the male is really a woman and not a sexually predatory man wanting to look at naked women? Will any such cards be easily counterfeited?
Perhaps the most publicly noticeable aspect of the wrongness of trans rights is athletics. For example, there is a currently a male swimmer who claims to be a woman - Lia Thomas. He just recently won a national championship in WOMEN'S swimming. He is perhaps the most prominent example of what is going on in women's sports. All throughout the United States at all levels, boys and men and claiming to be girls and women and are dominating the female athletic events they are allowed to compete in. The reason is obvious - men are physically stronger than women - it is a biological fact associated with the biological fact of maleness. And most athletics have strength as the primary factor for success. So, you have males defeating females in athletic events and thus taking the rewards away from females that they would have otherwise garnered - rewards like scholarships, awards an other positively affirming consequences of being a successful athlete. This is simply wrong, and perhaps there is not a better example of the confused state of U.S. citizens at this time since it is the confused adults who run the athletic events who are primarily at fault, NOT the confused trans people.
The transgender insanity had its way paved as soon as the "discrimination classes" defined by the U.S. governments moved from natural aspects of a person and from things one cannot control - race, color, age, national origin, and yes, sex - to things that can be changed or controlled via a person's choices, they left the arena of sound reason and rational thought and entered relativisms area of C O N F U S I O N and moral wrongness.
The very basis of the concept of 'discrimination' should be founded on the principle that people are adversely treated for non-behavioral aspects about their person as they were born, or non-behavioral things that they cannot change. Stated another way, a person should not be discriminated against due to birth PHYSICAL OR DEMOGRAPHIC aspects of their person that they cannot change. However, to make 'discrimination' judgments based on a person's chosen behavior or wrong beliefs (in the case of gender confusion) is clearly error and should be rejected by people who want reason and rational thought to play the primary role in sorting our right or wrong human behavior. A key part of what makes us human beings is our ability to modify our behavior through our will...we don't have to behave a certain way. Another key aspect of what makes us human beings and not animals is that we have a mind to reason and thus engage in rational evaluations of reality and a conscience to engage is rational discussions of right versus wrong.
In terms of a proper understanding of discrimination, if I have dark skin, or I was born in North Korea, I should not be discriminated against on the basis of those aspects of my person that I cannot control. If, however, a person is C O N F U S E D and even though they are a man, 'feels like' a women for the moment - it is NOT DISCRIMINATION to tell that man, 'no, you are not a woman, you are a man'. That is just a simple observation of fact. To deny that simple truth is to be one of the C O N F U S E D ones who are bringing things to ruin.
Or, as another example, let's say a young person is applying for college and the college has an affirmative action program. Let's say the applicant is considered a "white" person, but they decide they really feel like a "black" person, so they put their race as "black" on the application. People who hold to the ideology of transgenderism have no leg to stand on to say that that young person is doing something wrong. Penis or vagina, dark or light colored skin - biology does not matter to trans advocates. So, why can't I be a black person (woman/vagina) caught in a white person's body, even though my skin color is white (male/penis)?
Again, it is irrational to allow people to claim, for example, that today 'I feel like a black person', thus I should enjoy anti-discrimination protections for black people even though my skin is not black! This same principle applies to gender confusion. No one should support the delusion of a man who claims he is a woman, or a woman who claims she is a man. Not supporting the delusion does NOT mean treating confused people wrongly. Confused people should be treated with compassion like every other person.
With the current transgender discrimination system, anyone can claim anything in order to take advantage of 'discrimination' laws. So, it should not surprise anyone to see boys claiming to be girls (for athletic advantage) or white people claiming to be black people or European decent people claiming to be native Americans to get certain State benefits.
It is simply not discrimination for a woman to say to a male sexed person, 'please leave the rest room', since it is morally justifiable for women to want same-sex privacy when having to remove their clothes, expose private parts of their bodies, or engage in personal or intimate behavior like relieving one's self of body wastes. Only people who are massively C O N F U S E D will deny that simple truth.
It is reasonable, ethical and encouraging safety to restrict rest rooms and locker rooms to same sexed people. To deny that there are males who will use transgender claims to gain access to women for sexual interests is thoroughly implausible. It is to deny both the sexual nature of men as well as the millions of sexual 'offenses' committed each day in the U.S. Not just the legally defined 'sexual offenses' but the increasing behavior of no-self-control people who allow sexual lust to drive them to do things that negatively impact others, even thought there is no law against it.
In regard to sexual C O N F U S I O N ushering in RUIN in the U. S. culture, would not the reader agree that if an individual chooses sexual behavior that leads that individual to be 50 times more likely do die - that that is a fair description of a person bringing ruin upon themselves and likely others?
In a recent article published on a major cable news outlet, the following was said, "In Egypt’s letter, a reason for the OIC’s rejection of the groups was not specified, but Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the groups appeared to have been blocked for their role in LGBT advocacy. "Given that transgender people are 49 times more likely to be living with HIV than the general population, their exclusion from the high-level meeting will only impede global progress in combating the HIV/AIDS pandemic," Power wrote in a letter to General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft." (Spring 2016)
So, transgender people - those who are unified with those who make up the rest of those who identify as LG-T-B - due to the CHOICES THEY MAKE REGARDING THINGS SEXUAL, are 50 times more likely to have the HIV virus than the non-LGTB people.
And yet LGBT and Trans advocates claim it is 'wrong', 'discriminatory', 'mean spirited', 'hateful' etc. to point out the fact that transgender people are 50 times more likely to carry, spread, or die from, one of the most deadly sexually transmitted diseases on the planet; AND that the sexual choices (or lack of self-control) associated with their sexuality and gender C O N F U S I O N most likely contributed to their contracting or spreading that horrible disease???
As disciples of the Light of the world, we do not hate other people...in fact we care about them and want what is best for them. And dear reader, what is best for a person is for that person to NOT BE CONFUSED about anything, especially their gender, because as we have established, confusion often brings RUIN if the confusion is persisted in and advocated. It is foolishness of the highest order for people who want to be guided by reason in evaluating the reality we exist in, to deny or bring harmful confusion to something so clear and simple as a human being's sex/gender. If someone is confused about their gender, they only need to look between their legs and let rational thinking prevail and their confusion will end and the beauty of simple truth will push away the confusion. I suspect for most people experiencing gender dysphoria, the underlying issue is unhappiness or discontent with some aspect of their life, and they think they will solve some problem by changing their sex/gender.
(By the way, this author does not deny that there are people born with unclear or mixed sexual organs - hermaphrodites, for example - and those VERY FEW EXCEPTIONS would have legitimate cause for gender confusion. But those exceptions - less than 0.05 percent of the population - do not make a case, for example, for a male to be free to use the girls locker room because he says that he 'feels like' a female today.)
Transgenderism is a manifestation of a core belief of relativism. Relativism is the existential view that there is no objective or universal reality (no true or false) - known as truth relativism; or that there are no moral standards for the human race - no right or wrong - except those which an individual (subjective relativism) or group of individuals (cultural relativism) choose for themselves - known as moral relativism. Relativism is a false or wrong world view, and is proved as false since it is self-defeating or self-contradictory. Please allow me to prove this:
Relativism's core belief statement that "all things are relative" is proved false by the response to the question, "is your statement - 'all things are relative' - absolutely true?" To answer 'yes', proves there is at least one absolute belief that is true thus proving the assertion is false. To answer 'no', demonstrates the statement is false.
C O N F U S I O N in any realm will bring ruin...this is especially true regarding human sexuality and sexual practices. Transgenderism seeks to bring confusion and ruin to groups of people who would adopt their wrong or immoral or confused beliefs and/or behavior regarding human sexuality. Worse, they are hypocritical in condemning we who disagree with their beliefs or behavior. It is one thing to simply fight for what you believe is right...it is another altogether to proclaim that you are a 'tolerant' human being while at the same time condemning those who disagree with you...and that, dear reader - their practicing hypocrisy regarding tolerance - is a great example of moral relativism's error and the confused ruin that the sad gender-confused people (and those who support their efforts to push their view) are leading themselves and others into.
We who are disciples of The Light condemn no one. We don't hate anyone. We do, however, believe their are universal ethics and things that are true and right as given by the Creator that, if adopted and applied, will lead to peace and harmony, a lack of confusion and thus a meaningful life for people. In other words, there are things that are true (God created male and female) and their are things that are right (accept that part of who you are and use it for good) - it is best to make peace with your given sex/gender. If a person cannot make peace with their birth sex/gender, then go ahead and seek to change but don't start preaching that changing one's gender is good and normal, for it is not - or that it will bring peace, for it will not. Physical changes will NEVER bring meaningful spiritual change to a person. And don't force or try and 'shame' others to share in your delusion, because forcing others to affirm your delusion is morally wrong and truly intolerant.