So What’s All This Gender Identity Stuff About?
I’m 58 years old and grew up in dance and theater. This was a world open to gay and lesbian people, and with open minded parents, I became quite comfortable with people who were different from me in this way. In recent years a new set of gender differences have been expressed by more people. At first I was uncertain of what to think of all this. Gender fluid? Transgender? Queer? Non-binary? What was all of this stuff and where did it come from in such a seemingly sudden way? Well, I’ve learned a lot and I’m going to share it with you.
The first thing to understand is that while this type of experience may feel alien to you it is not even remotely new. Around the world, across varied cultures, and over all of recorded history we have peoples and cultures with genders that are not male/female and are expressed in a wide variety of ways. In many cultures, these individuals are considered special and highly valued. Let’s look at a few examples.
In the Jewish religion, 6 different genders are recognized within their religious teachings, and all are considered God’s creations.
In the Bible many read Adam as created both male and female in the image of God. Further, many theologians believe that Genesis supports the valuing of all of God’s creations across the spectrum. God created birds that fly and fish that swim, but we also celebrate the unnamed penguin, a bird that swims, as God’s creation. Thus, in this Christian perspective, the gender spectrum is equally worthy of our love and respect for God’s creations.
The māhū of Hawaii are a community of people who express both traditionally feminine and masculine traits.
Femminielli, are a third gender class that existed in Naples in the 18th century.
In Samoan culture, the term fa’afafine is used to describe a third gender, who may identify as women and/or embody both typically masculine and feminine traits. However, the term is meant to include anyone who doesn’t identify within the binary of male and female
Muxes, are people with unique gender identities. They are specific to the region of Juchitán, Mexico. What’s notable about muxes is that they’re relatively well-accepted, at least in their community in Juchitán. Many consider having a muxe person in the family as a blessing and a sign of luck
Indonesia’s community of “third gender” people, waria, are people who were assigned male at birth but identify as women. Their existence dates back to at least the early 19th century. Waria can also refer to transgender people in Indonesia in general.
In North America, different gender identities have been celebrated in indigenous cultures since at least the 1800s — some Native American cultures in the U.S. and Canada have used the term “two-spirit” to refer to gender non-conforming members of their community who embody both male and female “spirits.”
Remember Joan of Arc? She dressed in pants, cut her hair short, and wore armor to fight for her god.
These are just a few of the cultures that exist from the middle east, through Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas and truly around the world.
Take a look at this map of gender fluid people from around the world and across time:
https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/content/two-spirits_map-html/
A Map of Gender-Diverse Cultures, by Admin., 8/11/2015, PBS.
Our culture may have been repressing and persecuting gender spectrum people, but they have been on our earth and in our cultures across all of recorded time. It’s not actually a new thing. It’s just a bit more out in the open with the Millinial generation. I see this as a triumph of our American value of freedom.
As a medical practitioner, I assure you that the human body is extremely biologically diverse. We each of us live within our own biochemical soup. A medication that will heal one person may cause unpleasant side effects in another. That’s because we are biologically different. That difference creates diversity. If we don’t understand that difference, it can also create fear.
But we are sophisticated creatures and capable of empathy and compassion. We can “walk a mile in another person’s shoes.” So imagine for a moment, that you have the same impulses and attractions and desires that you have now…but your body is physically of the opposite sex. That’s probably gonna feel kinda weird. Now imagine you’re going through childhood and puberty this way in a family and culture that does not support you. The angst, the confusion, the anxiety, and the self-deprecation are likely to be intense.
Studies vary but between 45–55% of youth on the gender spectrum have actually attempted suicide. In surveys 86% said they were experiencing suicidal thoughts. Those are crazy high numbers. In 2018 the American Academy of Pediatrics reviewed data from over 120,000 kids age 11–19 and concluded that interventions to protect trans and gender spectrum youth were urgent.
So how do we help these young people? Here’s what we know. The young adults most at risk of suicide are those who lack support from family, school, and community. When transgender or gender fluid youth have a safe place to go, a place where they feel supported and respected for their inner self, then their suicide risk goes down. They are often still struggling to reconcile their own internal experiences of the world with cultural or familial condemnation. Nevertheless, if they have at least one safe place, we can help protect them during this intense and highly emotional time of their life.
The Landing Spot in Placer County, CA is just such a place. Unfortunately, they have come under attack by Project Veritas. This is a group with deep pocket support from far right groups with a preconceived agenda. The leader of Veritas was just fired for stealing money from the organization and the group has lost previous lawsuits from those they have libeled. Sadly, local school boards reacted abruptly and without investigation into Veritas’s heavily edited video. They shut down the gender fluid support groups in multiple local high schools.
The Landing Spot and school wellness centers are saving lives. Maybe your child is not at risk, but think too about your friends and neighbors. Perhaps we can make a safe space for another child in crisis.
One final note. Pedophiles are often conservative males hiding within conservative organizations and espousing conservative views. The vast majority of all sexual abuse of children occurs within the child’s own home and is perpetrated by someone the child knows. Activists for the gender fluid community are a common target for militant conservatives and are not going to be where child abusers try to hide.
We all must take a minute to do our research when the latest inflammatory news hits. There are real consequences to the youth in our community when we fail to do our due diligence. Kids are committing suicide for want of a safe place to be themselves. Let’s not take that away from them.
You can read a discussion of the theological arguments regarding the range of gender identification within the Bible. Scroll to the bottom to see the credentials of the theologians who wrote this thoughtful discussion.
1. What Does the Bible say about Transgender People?, HRC. https://www.hrc.org/resources/what-does-the-bible-say-about-transgender-people
2. 9 Genderqueer Communities Throughout History, Kimberly Truong, 11/28/2017, Gender Nation. https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2017/11/181624/gender-fluid-examples-history
3. Suicidality Among Transgender Youth: Elucidating the Role of Interpersonal Risk Factors, Ashley Austin 1, Shelley L Craig 2, Sandra D’Souza 2, Lauren B McInroy , J of Interpersonel Violence, 4/29/2020. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32345113/
4. Transgender Adolescent Suicide Behavior, Russell B. Toomey, PhD; Amy K. Syvertsen, PhD; Maura Shramko, MPP, American Acadamy of Pediatrics, 10/1/2018. 5. https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/142/4/e20174218/76767/Transgender-Adolescent-Suicide-Behavior?autologincheck=redirected
5. New Study Reveals Shocking Rates of Attempted Suicide Among Tans Adolescents, HRC staff, 9/12/2018.https://www.hrc.org/news/new-study-reveals-shocking-rates-of-attempted-suicide-among-trans-adolescen
Kathleen Cawley is a physician assistant and author. She is a regular guest columnist for the Auburn Journal and Folsom Telegraph where she writes on parenting and childhood. Her books:
Navigating the Shock of Parenthood: Warty Truths and Modern Practicalities — from a mom with twins, and
Grandma Becky’s Blue Tongue, a children’s picture book, are available where books are sold.
