LETTER: Male or female?
Male or female?
Over two thousand years ago, the historian Livy wrote about a child that was born in a Roman village with the genitalia of both a boy and a girl. “They sealed it in an iron chest and cast it into the sea lest it pollute the earth.” We learned a lot since then, or have we?
Thirty years ago, I read about the medical secret of the several thousand babies born in the U.S. each year with “gender nonconformity.” These unfortunate children were born with both male and female genitalia or with the external genitalia of one sex and the internal organs of the other. In a few cases, their doctors were quietly performing gender corrective surgery. In most cases, the parents and doctors simply secreted the condition lest they and the child face the disapprobation of nearly everyone.
Unfortunately, this anomaly has always been occurring in a very small percentage of all childbirths. Only recently has it become common knowledge. Now, intersex, sexual nonconformity, transsexual, bi-sexual, sexual confirmation and sexual affirmation have all entered the arena of public discourse. You would think this might make people more understanding and empathetic about this natural phenomenon.
Instead, it has been appropriated by politicians, conspiracy theorists and religious zealots to further their own agendas. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas have each used the issue to pass restrictive legislation that hampers both parents and doctors from acting in the best interest for their own child. I recently read that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene proposed to introduce legislation making all gender confirmation surgery illegal.
This rare but perfectly natural phenomenon has always existed and will probably continue into the future. It is something that should be accepted with compassion, sympathy and understanding for the affected family. The parents should be allowed to act according to their own judgment along with the advice of their own medical and spiritual advisers. The last thing they need is political or legislative interference.
Mike Leco
McMurray