The word across is essentially the meaning for the prefix trans-. Transport, transaction, transatlantic, transpacific, transworld, and transgender all come to mind when I think of crossing line of social constructs, or geographical barriers. I chose the title carefully, as I wish to address the conspiracy in the world regarding people who identify as transgender. I dissent with the religious right’s condemnation of transgender individuals, and the whole “Boys playing in Girls Sports” conspiracy. The goal of these conspiracies are to distract you from the theft the oligarchy is performing on the American people, or to oppress the country into a distorted version of Christian Nationalism. The people playing this game are fascists, and they are denying the autonomy and human rights of individuals who desperately need support and acceptance. The transgender community is a part of humanity, just like beige is a color on Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors.

I’m not an expert in transgender policy, politics, medical, or behavioral health. I’m simply an old white man who empathizes with the people who identify as transgender, and I wish to advocate for kindness. My first experience with the concept of transgender came from a novel by John Irving. The World According to Garp was released in 1978 when I was ten years old. The film adaptation of the book was released in 1982 when I was around fourteen. My parents refused to allow me to see the film, even though I found Robin Williams incredibly entertaining. I found the book in the library of my high school during my sophomore year, and checked it out. Garp introduced me to a vastly different world perspective filled with trauma, confusion, misogyny, feminism, and Roberta Muldoon. Roberta was the first character I had ever read about that switched genders from male to female. She was a former professional football player, a tight end with great hands. Irving’s writing of Roberta humanized transgender people for me. His careful writing made her real, kind, powerful, and confident. I saw nothing a miss in my young mind. When I finally watched the film The World According to Garp around my senior year in high school, I marveled at how John Lithgow played Roberta with gentility and grace. Roberta Muldoon is the most normal character in the book/script. Lithgow delivered that in his performance. John Irving’s writing saved me from having to deal with the bias of my family and our church. Irving’s humanism had a profound influence on how I witnessed people in the transgender community, just as Khaled Hosseini did that for me with the Muslim community. I don’t fear, judge, or admonish the transgender community. I see the transgender community as Irving saw them. We are all human beings, worthy of respect, love, and dignity.

According to the UCLA’s Williams Institute there are about 2.8 million transgender individuals in the United States. That means transgender individuals are about 0.8% of the population. https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/trans-adults-united-states/ 75% of these individuals are under the age of 35. 25% of this population is between 13-17 years of age. Adults who identify as transgender are split equally (33%) between trans-men, trans-women, and nonbinary designations. The 700,000 teenagers that identify as transgender appear to be the greatest fear of the religious and political right.

In this journal article, (Graham, P. (2023). Transgender children and young people: how the evidence can point the way forward. BJPsych Bulletin 47(2). 98-104. doi: 10.1192/bjb.2022.3. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10063975/ ) Philip Graham gives a detailed overview of the psychological science and development of gender, transgender diagnosis, and process of treatment. He also extrapolates on the increase in transgender diagnoses that have occurred in the last 20 years.

First, let’s look at some of the science. The onset of gender dysphoria is complicated by the social constructs of gender identity in adolescence and adulthood. People dismiss teenagers and adults who may express dysphoria, depression, or wild acts of attention getting as a phase. This type of social construct isolates individuals, and oppresses the identity delaying an individuals diagnosis as dysphoric, or misdiagnosing the symptoms of dysphoria as a mental illness. Our modern human cultures find it difficult or impossible to accept variations outside the construct that they perceive as real. (There are two sexes or genders: male/female.) Sadly, there are NIH, and WHO studies that have found variations of gender fluidity in human subjects and in other animal species.

Second, let’s look at the numbers. Since the arrival of social media (about 2005) and the growing cultural acceptance of the LGBTQ community, teenagers are finding others who feel the same as they do. When an individual can connect to a community they are able to validate what they are experiencing or feeling. In my personal observations/feelings/opinions the key word is community. Humans are a social species and we tend to gather in groups or pods of people we feel similar too. I call these pods micro-cultures. The LGBTQ community has their own culture, and you can see how fierce it is during Pride month. Social media and the internet have given the LGBTQ culture a place to gather, share, and support one another. It really isn’t a surprise that we are also seeing more and more awareness, as the medical field is understanding more and more regarding the evolution of gender, and gender affirming care, as we see more and more people seeking it. (Side note:) We are seeing more diagnoses of autism spectrum issues in the medical field. The religious right says vaccines (Hogwash.) Psychology and Neurology are understanding the brain structures that create autism spectrum issues. Better understanding of an issue can create a spike in diagnoses. Same with trauma, depression, and other mental illness diagnoses.

Third, let’s look at treatment for minors between the age of 13-17 with puberty blocking hormones. There is this feeling by the religious and political right that children are being changed overnight. This is all fear fiction to create a distraction. The actual process for diagnosing and treating children with dysphoria starts with counseling for the child and parents. There are levels of treatment each patient must reach to be considered for hormone blockers, and each step must be approved by the parent/guardian. If the patient qualifies for the blockers the goal is to prevent abhorrent body changes that the patient wishes to avoid (body/facial hair, breasts, Adams apple, etc…) Less than 4% of patients have changed their mind once they start the process.

When the patient has reached the age of 16-17 the next step is body affirming hormones. These are only given once the patient has been living in their affirmed gender for a specific amount of time. Again, all of this has to be approved by the parents.

Gender affirming surgery does not take place until the patient is an adult, and this action is based on the patients timeline.

The process from diagnosis to gender reassignment surgery is complex and long. Throughout this process the goal is to affirm the person who has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. We do not know how that person feels or identifies within themselves. It is not our place to judge or marginalize based on cultural constructs like religion or politics. Our job is to recognize and respect the autonomy of a fellow human being transforming to be their best self.

As for the craziness surrounding athletics. This is another distraction created by zealotry and bias. In the NCAA in 2024, https://thehill.com/homenews/lgbtq/5046662-ncaa-president-transgender-athletes-college-sports/ there were fewer than 10 individuals who identified as transgender in college sports. Could that number increase in high schools and colleges? Yes and No. Yes, it could if gender affirming care is afforded to more and more teenagers. There would be an overlap, that would require some careful thought and introspection. This would require science, psychology, and sport to work together for the inclusion and fairness. No, As of this moment through an executive order the president has banned all transgendered athletes from competing in a scholastic sporting activity of their affirmed gender. Essentially discriminating and excluding transgender teens. The supreme court denied them Title IX rights.

I do remember a few years ago looking up the number of times a trans-woman won a women’s event in the NCAA. There were less than 20 instances (based on memory alone, no source,) with only one of those victories being in the finals of an individual sports competition over thousands of events across 20+ years. I have not seen any reports for transgender athletes competing in team sports at any scholastic level. It is possible, but again under the current executive order we will not be able to accurately measure the issue. As far as boys in women’s sports, I think this is an overreaction. Very few high school athletes achieve collegiate excellence. Even fewer become professionals. With transgender people representing 0.8% of the population and less than 0.00006% of NCAA athletes in 2024, the folks getting upset about this don’t seem to understand statistics, nor how to be inclusive humans. The NCAA had a transgender policy in place prior to the EO. Some states have their own high school policy in place. I felt these were sufficient and fair. It was an inclusive approach to what sports should be at the academic level. Transgender athletes are human too…

So, I hope this helps you understand the difficult struggle and process our transgender citizens go through to be their best self. When we as a society fail to recognize their humanity we are performing the same disservice as our ancestors did to the developmentally and physically disabled in the 20th century, and to the immigrant minorities of the 17th-19th centuries in the USA. Our society’s humanist track record against the LGBTQ community is awful. All of this mistreatment comes from fear. There is nothing to fear here. The honorable representative Sarah McBride of Delaware, actor Elliot Page, Olympic Gold Medal winner Caitlyn Jenner, or Chaz Bono (Cher’s son,) just became the best version of themselves. Let us be kind and support the rest trying to do the same…

…so it goes…