In 2017, Dr. Allan Josephson spoke at the Heritage Foundation on how medical professionals should treat children with gender dysphoria. His talk was based on decades of research and clinical experience. For 15 years, Josephson led the University of Louisville’s Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, turning the program around. In the three years before his speech, he had earned perfect marks on his annual reviews.Set aside whatever opinions of transgenderism you might have for a moment and ponder a few questions:
At Heritage, he argued doctors should understand and treat the psychological issues that often cause this confusion before pursuing more radical, aggressive treatments. This sort of reasoned, methodical approach mirrors how medical professionals handle other conditions, let alone those where the treatments might have permanent, negative side-effects.
Yet these few short moments derailed his career. Within weeks of speaking, he was demoted because his remarks angered a few of his colleagues. For the next year, he endured a demeaning, hostile work environment, before the university announced it would not renew his contract, effectively firing him.
Similarly, Dr. Nicholas Meriwether had taught philosophy at Shawnee State University for more than two decades when, in 2018, he answered a male student’s question with a simple, “Yes, sir.” After class, the student demanded to be referred to as a woman. When Meriwether respectfully declined, the student became belligerent, called him an expletive, and promised to get him fired.
Meriwether offered to refer to the student by whatever name he wanted but declined to refer to him as a woman (e.g., “she” or “Ms.”) because that would force him to verbally affirm something he does not believe is true. This did not satisfy the student or the university.
Instead, Shawnee State punished Meriwether and warned that he risks “further corrective actions” if he continues to use sex-based terms. Numerous officials have told him this could include immediate firing or suspension without pay.
1. Why does the transgender individual have a right to demand that everyone else conform to his or her belief about his/her gender? We wouldn't insist that others agree to our beliefs about any other aspect of our physical or psychological selves so why this? And why does the transgendered individual's desire to be called by the pronoun of his/her choice trump the right of others to act according to their sincere beliefs about the individual's gender?
It might be a courtesy to accede to the transgender's wishes, but it's hard to see why the transgendered individual should be entitled to be acceded to.
2. The conviction of a biological male that he's in fact a female is a psychological state of affairs. In other words, the person's psychology is discordant with the person's biology. So, on what grounds does society, or some segment of it, justify subordinating the facts concerning an individual's biology to the facts concerning the individual's psychology? Why does psychology enjoy this privileged status over biology? And why does the transgendered individual enjoy a privilege that's denied to those who choose not to acquiesce to the transgender's view of him or herself?
Even if some wish to extend the transgendered individual the courtesy of honoring his/her convictions, from whence does the transgendered person derive the right to demand that everyone do so, even to the point of ruining someone's career if they decline?
That behavior goes beyond merely asking others to respect one's subjective psychological conclusions about one's own gender and crosses the line into abject narcissism and cruelty.
This post is not taking a position for or against transgenderism. It should not be construed as a criticism of anyone sincerely wrestling with the issues raised by gender confusion.
Rather, it's a plea for kindness, grace and common sense. It's an argument on behalf of people like the scholars mentioned above who should have the freedom to act according to their beliefs, and for the proposition that their duty to respect their students does not entail that they have a duty to acquiesce to every demand that a student might make upon them.
Some, transgendered and otherwise, might disagree, but disagreement is the heart of the intellectual enterprise, it's what produces intellectual progress. As long as it's respectful and courteous it should be nurtured and promoted, not stifled.
