For most people, their sex (based on their private parts)
matches their gender (whether they feel or “identify” as a boy or girl). But for one
in 100 people, there is a mismatch. They may anatomically look like a girl
(their sex), but inside they feel like a boy (their gender).
This is not a weak or fleeting feeling to belittle – gender
identity can be as strong a feeling in transgender persons as it is in
non-transgender persons. The gender the brain assigns overrides whatever
genitalia the body possesses.
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| Gender identity is the brain’s sense of being male or female, regardless of physical appearance. |
A transgender boy is born with female parts, but his brain does not identify with that sex. He likes hanging out with the boys and doing typical “boy” things like eating worms off a dare and getting into heated discussions about the quantity and quality of explosions in the latest Michael Bay movie. Despite female genitalia, these children adamantly feel that they are one of the guys.
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| In a high-profile 2015 interview, Jenner came out as a transgender woman. In Jenner’s own words, “My brain is much more female than male…For all intents and purposes I am a woman…that female side is part of me. It's who I am." Many transgender individuals feel they were born into the wrong body and seek to align it with their gender identity through surgery. |
How can this happen? A 2013 study of twins showed that there is a strong genetic component driving transsexuality. Identical twins, who share the same exact DNA, are up to 3x more likely to both be transgender than fraternal (non-identical) twins. This finding argues that genes play a major role in gender identity.
Studies in mice show that disruption
of just a single gene can cause females to act like males. Female mice
lacking a gene called TRPC2, which is present in brain cells and aids in
pheromone recognition, displayed typical sex-crazed male behavior – these
females engaged in masculine courtship rituals, pelvic thrusting, and mounting
of mates. These female mice also enjoyed burping loudly and watching football
with one paw down their pants.
Gender identity may also be under epigenetic control, which
means the genes themselves haven’t changed but their expression levels did. One
way to dampen a gene’s expression is through a chemical modification called
methylation – when DNA is methylated, it represses that gene’s activity.
DNA methylation in certain parts of the brain appears to
play an important role in the development of gender identity. A remarkable 2015
study showed that a drug that inhibits
DNA methylation can make female rats behave like male rats.
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| Scientists can easily make Minnie Mouse behave more like Mickey by altering genes or gene expression. |
Finally, a sophisticated array of hormones influence sexual development and impact the brain. Variations in the genes that manufacture these hormones, or their receptors, could lead to mismatches between sex and gender identity.
This is just a small sampling of the studies confirming that gender
and sex are clearly separate - gene variations or changes in gene expression can
make the brain assume a gender that is not consistent with the equipment down
below. You cannot pick your gender identity any more than you can pick your
nose. Wait, let’s rephrase that! You cannot control your gender identity any
more than you can control the size of your nose.
Critics have also asserted that children who haven’t hit puberty
can’t know that they are transgender. Again, science does not support such a
claim. A
2015 study on transgender children has shown that gender identity emerges at
a very young age (as early as two years old), and toddlers align with this
gender with great conviction. To tell the child otherwise or, worse, to punish
the child for acting like the gender they feel they are, can do profound
psychological damage to the child’s well-being. In some cases, this has led to
debilitating depression and even suicide.
Parents of transgender children are also unjustifiably
persecuted, often accused of providing the child with the “wrong” environment
or not raising the child the “right” way. However, as we outlined for the
children above, no one is at fault here. Experts recommend that parents provide
an environment that is consistent with the gender the child feels.
Just like any child, transgender kids deserve an inclusive
and nurturing environment, and kudos to the BSA for living up to the Boy Scout
Oath “to help other people at all times”, and to be friendly, courteous, and
kind.
Contributed by: Bill
Sullivan
