Boys in the Girls Locker Room?

Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times 

Last week in California, a news article reported that state legislation was passed to enable “students in California schools to compete on sports teams and use facilities, including restrooms, based on their gender identity, regardless of whether they are listed as male or female in official campus records.”

This basically means that if a boy believes he is a girl, despite his physical and genetic biology being male, he will be allowed to play basketball on the girls varsity team and then shower with them in the locker room after the game.

As fictitious as this sounds, Evan Westrup, a spokesman for the governor, said, “All students should have the opportunity to fully participate and succeed in school.” Huh?!?

Recently I wrote an article on a transgender situation in Australia about the use of bathrooms in schools. One thing I learnt through feedback was of the intersex communities in New Zealand and the US. To clarify, "intersex is a socially constructed category that reflects real biological variation." From my understanding, I want to clearly distinguish between (i) an intersex person who is born with multiple reproductive organs and physical evidences that do not give a clear indication of gender, and (ii) a person who is clearly born with the physical evidences of a specific gender yet \later choose of their own accord to live as the opposite gender. I believe that the first situation is one that needs much compassion and understanding on the Christian’s our part.

This article, however, is focused on the second situation concerning what I believe is a transgender person.

One of the clearest distinctions in the natural world is gender. Male and female. These two words need no introduction, explanation, or definition. These two words cross language and cultural boundaries. For the Christian, it is through both male and female that God proclaimed the world be populated—twice (Gen 1:22, 9:7).

Maybe I should I say that this view or understanding was the case in a pre-postmodern world. How things are changing in a relative world…

A transgender person is one who identifies with a gender other than the one derived from their biological sex. While I understand there are potentially metaphysical factors at play, allow me to examine the simple logic of sex identification from a physical perspective.

Premise A – All people exclusively with male reproductive organs are male.

Premise B – I am a person exclusively with male reproductive organs.

Conclusion – Therefore, I am a male.

It is simple right? Gender is “the category to which an individual is assigned by self or others, on the basis of sex.” A person of the male sex would then be masculine in gender. Using the same logic, we can determine with certainty our ethnicity, or skin, eye, and hair color.

How would we respond to a Jewish person if they declared they were not ethnically Jewish even though they were? What about an African (non-albino) who said they had white skin even though it was clearly black? We would dismiss it as nonsense because it clearly is. Why then do we entertain the idea of a biological male claiming to be a female in the case of a transgender person?

I suggest that it is because it is an issue of sexuality, and in our hyper politically sensitive world, sexuality is one of most emotive topics. It is portrayed as a personal right on the same level as life and liberty. We are taught from a young age not to call into question anything that revolves around the personal sexuality of another. Neither are we to be disciplined in our own sexual behavior.

This is why the topics of same-sex marriage and homosexuality are so explosive. I also believe that this is why abortion is so aggressively defended by the pro-choice side. It is ultimately about their right to have sex without consequences.

The transgender debate has already claimed its position within the highly charged category of personal sexuality. My fear is that the effects will be different from what we have seen with the other sexually orientated subjects noted above. Previously, the impact on our children in school has been through a propagation of materials. As challenging as that has been on the personal rights of those who do not agree with it, I fear the implementation of the transgender policies in schools will be much more difficult to deal with at home.

I have two boys and a girl. If my boys have to share a locker room in high school with females, it will not be healthy or acceptable. Whether the girl thinks she is a boy or not will make no difference to the hormonal reaction of my boys due to direct exposure. Let a half naked girl loose in a high school boys locker room and see what happens! The boys will go nuts!

And since we live in a relativistic world with no restraint, why should they show restraint? It becomes a violation of the rights of the boys along with the parents trying to guide them through the minefield of adolescent life. It is taking away the innocence of the boys and exposing them to visual images that should be reserved for marriage. This will surely have a greater effect on the boys than what we would call soft porn.

And while this is being done in the name of protecting the rights of the transgender student, it is a violation of the rights of almost every other student exposed to the situation along with their parents.

It is wrong to call into question the definition of male and female—a distinction that was ordained by God. Just because someone has the free will and ability to do whatever they want does not mean that they should abuse that privilege.

It is my hope that we can dialogue about this in a logical and sincere manner so that we can find a solution together.

Cross posted on "The Christian Apologetics Alliance"