For millennia humans have existed in societal roles which have been carefully defined and even written into law. These societal roles have often been justified by science.
Slavery and the ownership of others as well as the hierarchy of classes are examples of these scientific justifications. As our technology has dramatically improved, our understanding of all the sciences has similarly developed. Where once humanity believed the shape of one’s skull determined one’s destiny, we now know that such superstition belongs in the dustbin of time along with concepts such as a flat earth.
We now know that the human mind is a magnificent creation. Whether one believes in a higher being or in strict evolution, Homo sapiens brain is an amazing achievement. Neurology has given us a wealth of knowledge regarding this organ. For instance, through neurological studies, we now know “it is…futile to attempt to determine a “true” “male” form and a “true” “female” form for… brain features (Joel, 2012).” In layman’s terms, the human brain is not strictly “male” or “female”. Just as brain differences among races was discounted through careful scientific study, so too have brain differences among “male” and “female” been examined and found lacking scientific credibility in neurological research. This is quite the discovery, since what it is to be “male” and “female” has for so long been seen as an innate part of an individual’s mental processes rather than learned behavior and due to environment. We now know that, just like race, “male” and “female” are not brain classifications.
While much of what we regard as male and female is seen as behavioral, we also view a great deal of human sexual dichotomy as relating to genetics and gonads (the sexual organs). This is an important distinction, because approximately 1% to 2% of the population in the United States alone is born each year with conditions placing them outside of any sexual dichotomy involving genetics and/or sexual organs. On the surface that doesn’t seem like very many people. However, 3,654,449 babies were born in the United States in 2024. 1% of those babies equals 36,545 newborns. 2% of those babies? That’s 73,090 babies born with genetics and/or sexual organs that are not strictly “male” or “female”. And, that is just for 2024. For comparison’s sake, Albany, New York, and Yuma, Arizona, have populations of around 100,000 according to 2023 census estimates. Now add that number up for several decades to start getting a better idea of just how many millions of people in the United States alone are not biologically formed in the womb with genetics and gonads that neatly fit into a concept of “male” or “female”.
There are most likely several persons you know in your everyday life who qualify as “intersex” (what this particular circumstance is termed), and you would never know. People don’t generally talk about their medical issues concerning their genetics nor their genitalia. It’s not a subject for conversation at work or the church potluck. However, because of much medical misunderstanding in the past and social pressures, such persons were often subject to disfiguring surgeries on their genitalia as babies and children rather than allowing these individuals time to develop into puberty and adulthood in order to adjust to their unique circumstances and the ability to make mature decisions. Additionally, the enforcement of strict Male-Female requirements on birth certificates along with social stigmas placed pressure on parents and doctors to make decisions that led to these often disfiguring, life altering, and psychologically scarring surgeries on very young and developing genitalia. What resulted were young persons with artificially created genitalia that often did not match who they actually “were” once puberty commenced.
This is all basic science. We aren’t even touching any type of ideology. Regarding modern science, the recent Executive Order signed by President Trump attempting to “Restore Biological Truth” ignores quite a bit of the scientific realities which we now know to be truth. Requiring a strict enforcement that all citizens of the United States adhere to this order will have the unintended consequences of forcing life altering medical decisions on hundreds of thousands of the tiniest and most innocent and least able to defend themselves in our nation. This is not about biological truth. It is about Control of the Human Body by the Government. And, history has demonstrated repeatedly that a government which claims control over the bodies of its citizens is one which does not respect the lives of those citizens. History has also taught the sad lesson that governments attempting to enforce a particular version of science based entirely on the ideology of a single leader face the peril of holding their populations in ignorance of scientific discovery. As Galileo Galilei stated, “It vexes me when they would constrain science by the authority of the scriptures, and yet do not consider themselves bound to reason and experiment.”
Additional Reading:
Joel, D. (2012). Genetic-gonadal-genitals sex (3G-sex) and the misconception of brain and gender, or, why 3G-males and 3G-females have intersex brain and intersex gender. Biology of Sex Differences, 3(1), 27. https://doi.org/10.1186/2042-6410-3-27
Population births in United States of America 1950-2025 & future projections. database.earth. (2024). https://database.earth/population/united-states-of-america/births
The United States Government. (2025, January 21). Defending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth to the Federal Government. The White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/defending-women-from-gender-ideology-extremism-and-restoring-biological-truth-to-the-federal-government/
Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, November 2). List of United States cities by population. Wikipedia. https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population
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