Transgender: Oxymoron

On January 13th the Supreme Court of the United States spent hours hearing from attorneys about so-called transgender athletes in sports. This was a total waste of the Court’s time and money. When the day was done, we learned any judgment would be forthcoming in June. So, it will take 5 months for these learned Justices to make a decision about whether what is being called “transgender girls” can play in women’s sports. What a total travesty.

In the first place, the word “transgender” is a fictitious word with no meaning. It is an oxymoron. The parts of that word, “Trans” and “Gender”, simply do not go together under any circumstances. Impossible. Gender cannot be changed and is fixed at conception.
So, the issue is whether genetic boys can participate in genetic girls’ sports. It is biologically certain to be able to determine a boy (male) from a girl (woman). There are two terms used in genetics: phenotype and genotype. The former is the outward appearance of a organism and the latter is the genetic makeup of the same organism.

In the case of human beings, the genotype, I repeat, is determined at the moment of conception and cannot be changed, ever. A simple look at the chromosomes of an individual tells the tale. There are 46 chromosomes in humans: 23 are from the father and 23 from the mother. The chromosomes indicating gender are in fact called the gender or sex chromosomes. A male has one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. A female has two X chromosomes and no Y chromosome. Easy, don’t you think. And that cannot be changed. The chromosomes can be seen easily with a simple laboratory procedure called karyotyping.

About every cell in one’s body contains a full set of genes. There are a few exceptions of cells that carry no genes like red blood cells. No chemical (drug) treatment or surgery can change the underlying genotype. One is either male or female. No switch is possible.
A person can adopt behavior of one gender or another. One can dress however one wants. One can get drug (hormone) treatments until the cows come home. One can get body modification surgery galore. Nothing changes the genotype. Nothing changes gender. I repeat again, it is fixed at conception.

And the fact is there are significant biological differences between a genetic male and a genetic female. The differences that would affect athletic performance are huge. A genetic male has more muscle mass, more bone mass, endurance difference, and more. All of which give genetic males an advantage when participating in genetic female athletics.

So, it should take the Supreme Court about 5 minutes to come forth with a decision, if that long. Boys (males) — call them what you would like — should never be allowed to compete in girls (female) sports. It is ridiculous no ruling will be available until June.

The entire Court hearing was a joke. Even the advocates of transgender athletes could not say what a woman is.