The deconstruction of gender

This tragedy is also reflected in data from Sweden, which shows that the incidence of suicide is higher among those who identify as transgender and who have had sex-change surgery than among those who have not had the surgery. The Gender Identity Clinic at John Hopkins was closed, and Dr Money's controversial evening course in human sexology was cancelled in the late seventies. Dr Paul McHugh, chairman of the Psychiatry Department at John Hopkins, criticized transsexual surgery as "the most radical therapy ever encouraged by 20th century psychiatrists", and likened it to the once widespread practice of frontal lobotomy. Dr Jon Meyer, a Hopkins psychiatrist and former director of the Gender Identity Clinic, produced a long-term follow-up of fifty post-operative and pre-operative adult transsexuals treated at John Hopkins and reported that none showed any measurable improvement in their lives and concluded that "sex re-assignment surgery confers no objective advantage in terms of social rehabilitation".

New York is moving forward with a plan to let people alter the sex on their birth certificate, even if they have not had sex-change surgery. "Surgery versus non-surgery can be arbitrary," said Thomas R. Frieden, the city's health commissioner. "Somebody with a beard may have had breast-implant surgery."

Then there are the staff and students of the University of Tennessee's Office for Diversity and Inclusion who want people to think beyond the "he/she" pronouns and are encouraging the use of gender-neutral pronouns such as "xe", "xym" and "xyr". And, at Washington State University, Professor Selena Lester Breikss told students of her "Women and Popular Culture" class that they would risk "failure for the semester" if they used the terms "males" or "females," because they are "gross generalizations" and "derogatory/oppressive language. She added: "Not everyone in society identifies on a strict male-or-female basis, according to diversity office staff, so they are asking people to be aware some may identify themselves with a name and gender that's not strictly male or female. We should not assume someone's gender by their appearance, nor by what is listed on a roster or in student information systems,"

Donna Braquet, director of the University of Tennessee's Pride Center, wrote in a newsletter last month: "Transgender people and people who do not identify within the gender binary may use a different name than their legal name and pronouns of their gender identity, rather than the pronouns of the sex they were assigned at birth." She suggested instructors learn students' chosen names and chosen pronouns during the first few weeks of classes.

State Rep. Bill Dunn (R-Knoxville) said he thought the suggestion was a joke. "And then I found out it was true," he said, "at which point I thought, 'Are we really paying somebody to come up with this stuff?'." Dunn, a graduate of UT, said he would rather see public money spent on other academic areas such as maths or technology.

State Senator Frank Niceley posted on Facebook: "It seems to me the biggest lack of diversity we have at the University of Tennessee is people of common sense".

Students enrolled in Selena Lester Breikss' "Women and Popular Culture" class at Washington State University can be failed for referring to men and women as males and females. This is considered oppressive language and heterosexist.

The idiocy is not confined to the University of Tennessee – in Australia our federal Labor government in 1974 appointed a royal commission on human relationships, which recommended that "id" be used for both sexes instead of he or she. Most Australians thought this an idiotic recommendation.

There appears to be a dose of partial sanity from Boulder, Colorado. A law there was passed a few years back extending legal protection to transsexuals (known as "gender-variants") so that they will not be discriminated against in housing, public accommodations or employment. Transsexuals may have full access to public bathrooms which serve the sex of their choice. The law states: "At work, employees can change gender identity and dress as the opposite sex without fear of being fired – but only three times within every year-and-a-half. After that, their employer is permitted to fire them on the grounds of 'gender inconsistency'.

In a homily for the Mass of the Election of the Pope before the conclave where he was elected pope, Benedict XVI said, "We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists of one's own ego and desires."

I will conclude by telling you a story about Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of Great Britain. She was visiting a psychiatric hospital and a nicely-spoken lady, came up to her and asked her who she was. Mrs Thatcher replied, "I am Margaret Thatcher, the Prime Minister of Great Britain". The woman patted her on the arm and said "It is okay, dear, I used to think I was too when I first came here, but they eventually cured me. You will be all right"

But why should that nice lady have been "cured"? If Bruce Jenner can be "Caitlyn", why can't that lady be Margaret Thatcher? Why should I be cured? You see I also think I am Margaret Thatcher, and I hope you will applaud my bravery and courage in "coming out". I just happen to be trapped in this small brown Indian body, but I hope you will all treat me with the respect due to the Prime Minister of Great Britain.