Scott continues to exploit transgender issue

When Paul Scott, Republican candidate for Secretary of State, announced that he would “make it a priority” to make sure that no transgendered person could change their gender identity on their driver’s license, the reaction ranged from amusement to outrage. But he’s got a strategy and he’s sticking to it even if he has to reveal his ignorance in the process. In an AP article, he is quoted:

Scott, a first-term lawmaker, doesn’t consider raising the issue a political ploy. “My personal belief is you are who your DNA says you are, regardless of what surgical procedures you may have thereafter,” he says.

Yet this issue has nothing to with what someone’s DNA says. The gender designation on one’s birth certificate, and therefore driver’s license, is not based on DNA testing it’s based on mere physical observation of the genitalia. But that does, in fact, help reveal a reality that Scott and his fellow travelers would like to ignore: Sometimes what the DNA says and what physical observation says are in conflict.

For example, one of every 1000 males are born with Klinefelter’s syndrome, which means rather than the normal XY chromosomal arrangement they have an extra X chromosome and are XXY instead. Such males often have shrunken penis and testicles and enhanced breast development, leading to clear gender conflict. What do you suppose their DNA would tell Mr. Scott?

For that matter, there are a range of intersexual conditions and variations, from those born with ambiguous genitalia to those born with both genitalia. And that’s just a small subset of the possible variations among transgender and intersex people. As much as Mr. Scott would like gender identity to be a perfectly simple M or F, for some people it just isn’t and will never be.

For those who are born without a clear gender identity, whether because of non-standard DNA configurations or some mixture of sexual and gender traits, life can be difficult enough. They hardly deserve to be treated as political pawns in a game of demagoguery by someone who has no knowledge of the medical realities they face.