SHOULD THE RIGHTS OF THE TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY INFLUENCE CHANGES TO LEGISLATION, THAT AFFECT SOCIETY AT LARGE?

WRITTEN BY THEO B

In our modern society of equality and acceptance, the boundaries and basic meaning of gender have changed significantly We are no longer defined by gender anymore, and certainly not just two. The term transgender is commonly discussed in recent times. We have seen a move to support the rights of those who are transgender, from Nicola Sturgeon’s attempt to change the law in Scotland so anyone over 16 can self-identify, to sporting events that transgender people have been allowed to compete in

But what does it mean to be transgender, and can the law accommodate the rights of people who are transgender and those who are not, with equity? Teen Talk has confirmed that there are officially eleven separate genders, but someone can identify as any of these or none at the same time And there are many more that have been created such as Facebooks fifty-seven different gender options. But how can you differentiate between these genders other than labels assigned to them? Someone who was born a woman and remains a woman is different from someone who was born as a man and now identifies as a woman, but they can still identify as the same gender. This is what I want to discuss in my essay. Should a transgender woman be treated the same as a cisgender woman by law?

I will start my essay by further elaborating what it means to be transgender and whether they all have the same rights as each other I will then discuss how transgender rights have created controversy in sport I will then discuss how young people are being given the means and ways to change their gender before adulthood and whether this should be legalized, and I will finish by talking about what laws can be put in place to resolve the differences between transgender and cisgender people

What are the different classifications of transgender and how are they treated differently in society?

The term transgender is defined as when a person identifies as a different gender from that which they were assigned at birth It can also be used to describe someone who has either gone through surgery to change gender or someone who has selfidentified As a society we have currently accepted that anyone who identifies as a different gender to be under the umbrella of trans, but this can mean a lot of different things But are they all treated equally, and do they have the same rights and opportunities as each other? If a person feels that they are trapped in the wrong body and chooses to express themselves as the opposite gender, they expect to be treated that way and be accepted by others But if someone else chooses to go to the extent of having operations to change their body, they would also want to be treated as the opposite gender too But should they both be treated equally? They expect similar treatment but are biologically different

A big controversy linking to those who are transgender is whether those who selfidentify as trans are allowed to go into public places that are segregated by gender that align with their chosen identification, like bathrooms and changing rooms In this case I will be discussing whether those who self-identify as transgender without having any surgery or hormonal drugs should be allowed into public gender affiliated places This is because it can cause discomfort for those surrounding that person, who must comply to that person ' s gender choice, especially when they cannot tell that someone is transgender. For example, if they have the appearance of a man but identify as a woman The question is should anyone who says that they are transgender be allowed into any gender assigned place with no questions asked?

Currently there are laws and regulations to protect those who are transgender when in public gendered places, meaning that if they choose to go to the bathroom that best matches their chosen gender, they are not allowed to be stopped or questioned by anyone But there are also now bathrooms that apply for just trans people or those who don’t feel comfortable in either men ’ s or women ’ s toilets This is why many public places, including schools, now have a separate bathroom in between the men ' s and women ’ s toilets To support an application to legally change your gender in the UK, you must have lived as the opposite gender for two years minimum before it is official Laws like this help to balance the rights of transgender people and cis gender people But this still poses the question that if after two years you continue to still have the same biological body as your birth gender, dressing in a manner associating with that gender, do you have the same right in law compared to somebody who has gone through surgery and changed their biological appearance?

Should self-identified individuals be allowed into sporting teams of the opposite of their birth gender?

Another controversial argument to do with those who have changed gender is if they should be allowed to compete professionally with cisgender opponents This mainly impacts when transgender men compete in women ' s sports because it can often become severely unfair for the cisgender women who are put against an opponent who was originally a man If they identify as woman, but their anatomy and hormones indicate that they are a man, then clearly, they will likely be physically stronger than a female athlete It can be extremely unfair when a physically fitter and stronger male who has chosen to identify as a woman competes among cis gender women, mainly for the other athletes involved There are some famous examples of there being men in the lowest division leagues for sports when they were men, and then suddenly being at the top of the league as a woman because they have a man ’ s body but a woman ’ s mind

One of the most memorable examples of this was in the case of Lia Thompson who chose to identify as a woman and climbed to the top of women ’ s leagues for swimming In January 2022 Lia held the world record for the fastest ever 100meter freestyle swimming which was later reevaluated after many female opponents

This highlights perfectly when the rights and preferences of a transgender person can affect other people surrounding them who have no choice but to comply with that person ' s preferences Is it right that those women were easily beaten by a trans man who was not victorious in the male's division of swimming? Or that their own rights were compromised after being put in a changing room with a woman with a male penis and body? I sympathise for the female athletes and can see why they would feel that their rights were forfeited in favour of the trans individual

Should we be able to give drugs to minors to help gender transitions?

There really seems to be no limit to what gender you can choose to identify as now, and who you want to be these days This has started to have an influence on children, who have grown up being taught about different sexualities and gender choices compared to adults who are only just catching up I think that it might be too much for children to process at such a young age and that they don’t understand the wider impacts of changing gender There has been a rise in young teens who feel that they are trans or want to make other changes to their sexuality and are looking for parental support But is there a concern that children who might not have even started puberty to be allowed to take drugs or go through surgery to change

This has been seen most famously in the case of Nichola Sturgeon, who at the time of this being written has resigned from office She intended to change the law so that anyone from the age of 16 and above can go through gender reassignment surgery without the need for parental consent Nicola has also been linked to the scandal whereby a male rapist was moved into a women ’ s prison after they said that they identified as a woman, which was one of the key reasons she has left her position

There have also been cases of children being manipulated into becoming famous internet sensations because of their gender choice, with their parent's influence For example, the youngest trans model, Noella McMaher, at only ten years old has already made millions and become a transgender icon for young people Her parents who are both non-binary have been the main support for her becoming trans and her rise to fame, saying in interviews that they are immensely proud of what she has accomplished But from the interviews, it is unclear whether Noella really understand what she has accomplished as an influencer When asked about how she feels being the youngest trans model ever, she only responded saying “that’s cool”. This shows how young people, like Noella, could be influenced and manipulated With the increase in influencers making money from being seen to be radical or different, this can lead to young people being commercialised and exploited

What laws can be put in place to allow transgender people to keep their rights without causing conflicts

So far throughout this essay I have mentioned how the preferences of the transgender community can often spark up debate for those who are cis gender But at the end of the day, transgender and cis gender people must be able to co-exist if we hope to function as a society and find a way to overcome conflicts People who are trans must go to a toilet and go to a changing room. If they go to one, they might upset people and if they go to another, they will be going against the point of being trans in the first place and be upsetting for them So how can we find the middle ground with this debate so that everyone can be happy?

The goal of giving equal rights to transgender people is so that a woman who feels that she is a woman is treated as one by society, in all places, even if they used to be a man and vice versa This works in the case of there being a man who is now a woman and appears and functions like a woman, but the controversy comes when there is a person who says they are now the opposite gender, with no changes in their body or appearance If a trans person does not wish to undergo surgery, or change the way they dress, to they have any les rights, as a trans person who actively adopts the new gender in a more obvious way

If you were a trans person who had gone through many rigorous surgeries in the hope of changing gender and you saw someone who chose one day to be a woman without any outward change, would you consider them the same as you? Would it not be a bit of an insult to your struggle to change gender just to see another person not have to undergo the same journey, but have the same rights? Not everyone who decides to change gender are the same in terms of legitimacy or have the same biological backing that shows their gender change We need to look further into how classify and protect the rights of th i f l within the tran

Conclusion

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