Biological sex vs gender identity

The Department of Education (DepEd) recently released a memorandum reiterating its Order No. 32 s. 2017, titled “Gender-Responsive Basic Education Policy.” The move came amid online clamor from transgenderism advocates for schools to allow students to use the school uniform and public restroom that align with their gender identity rather than their biological sex.

The problem with this demand is that it is rooted in the premise that gender identity supersedes biological sex, when the opposite is true. Biological sex is objective, verifiable, and immutable, while gender identity is subjective, unverifiable, and unstable.

We have seen from other countries the tragic outcomes of laws that upheld gender identity rather than biological sex. Women have been beaten — at times, literally — in their own game after trans-identifying biological males were allowed to compete in women’s sports. Women’s safety had been put at risk after their restrooms and locker rooms were opened to male predators who pretended to be transgendered. Trans-identifying children’s physical and mental health had also been put at risk as they were subjected to cross-sex medical treatments even without parental consent.

Schools are supposed to be bastions of truth. And the truth is, men and women are different — in their anatomy, psychology and neurology, among others. No amount of “gender-identifying” can turn a person into the opposite sex. To pretend otherwise in the name of “gender-sensitivity” is false compassion. To demand that others do the same is deluded tyranny.

ANNA COSIO
Alliance for the Family Foundation Philippines Inc.

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