A guiding principle often associated with doctors and medical students is one I was taught as well when studying journalism: first, do no harm.
The words come to mind often, both when I read and write.
It happened again yesterday, and then again this morning, as something I wrote as an aside in my Different Truths post kept coming back to me, nagging me to write a brief clarification.
Here’s what I wrote, followed by that clarification:
I believe that men are men, women are women, transmen are transmen, and transwomen are transwomen. I believe that we are all the same, and we are all different. And I see nothing inherently wrong (or right, for that matter) with being any of us.
I wrote this in reference to an earlier point I’d made about the “dogmatic debates being had around gender identity, abortion rights, and Covid everything.” It was meant as a quick expression of my personal views on the gender identity discussion. But in trying to be concise, I inadvertently stepped over a central point of division in that debate: kids.
My view on that is kids are kids. With few exceptions (people born intersex, for example), I think we can objectively say that boys are boys and girls are girls, and if they feel otherwise then that feeling should probably be met with careful consideration and loads of time—and psychological care, if mental health is an issue—before any lasting or permanent decisions are made.
That is not the cue for schools and politicians and gender ideologues to step in. It is neither their business nor their responsibility. The responsibility falls with families and the individuals within them who grow up to be biological men and women, and who may or may not identify or choose to live as something else, and who may or may not decide, as adults, to do something permanent about it.
Because, first, do no harm. And then, do whatever the fuck you want.