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Jeffrey Peoples's avatar

Recognizing a person's "gender identity" in law would be akin to recognizing a person's "spirit animal" in law. It would be an endorsement of a religious idea. People should have their gender identity beliefs treated like religious beliefs, and accorded the same protection that people receive for their religious beliefs and practices (at least in the US). Likewise, people who don't share those beliefs should be protected from coercion by government to affirm those beliefs.

And marriage, heterosexual or homosexual, shouldn't be a concern of the government at all. The government should simply enforce contracts among individuals and groups. "Marriage" should be the province of priests, pastors, monks, and shamans.

I do hope more voices who are opposed to the dominant trans ideology yet sympathetic toward trans people in general acquire a greater audience, rather than those voices that seem to be opposed and not particularly sympathetic, like Matt Walsh.

I see no moral problem with an adult making the decision to use hormones or perform surgeries to align their bodies to appear more like they desire them to be, but I am very wary of the encouragement of children and teenagers to adopt a particular perspective on their dysphoria which could more likely lead to potentially dangerous and life-altering choices. Jordan Peterson is wrong to suggest that a doctor performing re-assignment surgery on an adult is criminal, or immoral, but I do think it would be immoral to do so on a child or a teenager, when "identity" formation is at its most chaotic beginnings and risk assessment is generally immature.

Somewhere between California and Florida there is a reasonable and virtuous perspective that can be reached about trans issues.

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