Those who choose to self-identify as transgendered or as anything other than what they were born as do not forfeit, or should not be required to forfeit, their basic civil liberties. Nor should the civil liberties of those who question transgenderism or self-identification be forfeited either. Bur recent cases show what could become a disturbing trend: The preservation of the rights of the transgendered, but the deprivation of the rights of those who question the choices of the transgendered. Equality of rights means the preservation of the rights of all, no matter what choices they make or what objections they may raise to others’ choices. Besides, the deprivation of one group’s rights always sets a bad precedent by which the suppression of others can be achieved as well.
I’m a social libertarian concerning the rights and conduct of adults. I believe all adults should be able to pursue whatever lifestyles they choose as long as they don’t hurt the rights of others. Concerning transgenderism and self-identification, I believe one can identify oneself as a male, a female, a furry, a penguin, a poached egg, or any other being, subject to only two provisos:
First, one cannot demand or compel others to believe the self-identification is valid. This idea was nicely summarized in the paraphrase of a Facebook meme: If a man wants to think he’s a woman, that’s his business, but if he wants me to think he’s a woman, that’s my business. And the fact that someone chooses to self-identify as a cat does not require me or anyone else to supply a litterbox or clean out the cat/person poop.
Second, one’s self-identification cannot be used to hurt others. For example, a man may choose to call himself a woman, but he should not be allowed to participate in women’s sports where his biological sex gives him a competitive advantage, especially when prizes, scholarships, etc., are at stake. Nor may he use his self-identification to gain access to places, such as women’s bathrooms, to the discomfort of real women.
But several recently reported cases may indicate the beginning of a dangerous trend: The suppression of the civil liberties of those who raise questions about the propriety and validity of self-identification.
For example, according to CBS News, “In Maine, transgender students are eligible to participate in athletics in accordance with their gender identity,” and not their biological sex. One boy declared himself a girl and won a state-wide pole-vaulting competition. A conservative Republican member of the state House of Representatives posted a complaint on Facebook. The Democratic-dominated state legislature voted along party lines to censure her, thereby revoking her right to either speak on the floor of the House or vote on proposed legislation or other issues before the House. She has sued in the federal courts, claiming her rights, as well as the rights of her constituents to representation, have been violated. The U. S. Supreme Court has directed that her right to vote in the House be restored. Whether her right to speak in the House will be restored remains to be seen.
Another case involves the Louden County, Virginia, public schools, where students may use the restrooms and locker rooms of the gender with which they identify, regardless of their biological sex. In this instance, a girl claiming to be a boy went into a boys’ locker room. When several boys complained of her presence, she pulled out her cellphone to record them. Her recording is now being used by the school district as evidence in a Title IX investigation it has brought against the boys (Title IX is a federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in any educational institution or program receiving federal aid, and mandates that the relevant institution investigate sex-discrimination charges and impose appropriate penalties if needed). But even though it’s illegal in Virginia to record users of locker rooms, the student who’s making the recording is not being prosecuted.
How these cases will ultimately be resolved, and how many similar cases will emerge, remain to be seen. The two cases cited don’t necessarily constitute a trend, but they could portend one if more such cases emerge. But whether these cases forecast a trend or stand alone, they indicate two threats:
The first threat is to the civil liberties of those who question the validity of the claims of those who want to self-identify as other than how they were born. It is one thing to exercise the legitimate right to refute the arguments of those who object to transgenderism and self-identification. It is an altogether different matter to suppress the rights of opponents of transgenderism and self-identification altogether. Those who support suppression of the free-speech rights of transgenderism’s skeptics claim that it is necessary to do so to protect the safety of the transgendered and other self-identifiers. But the right to participate in free and robust public debate is, or should be, the birthright of everyone in America. To right to allow only one side to advance its views while suppressing, investigating, and penalizing the opposition is, in most instances, simply unAmerican, as is the failure to protect the safety of all involved, not only the transgendered, but those whose safety may be threatened by the transgendered, such as biological females competing in athletic contests against biological males claiming to be females.
Which leads to the second threat: Those who believe that the transgendered and their allies should have the power to suppress the rights of those who disagree with them should keep in mind that the power to oppress one person or group of people can someday be used to oppress others as well. The precedents set by the oppressors may someday be used against them also. It is by no means impossible that someday the oppressors will become the oppressed. They should start worrying about that possibility. Now.
Malcolm L. Cross has lived in Stephenville since 1987 and taught politics and government at Tarleton for 36 years, retiring in 2023. His political and civic activities include service on the Stephenville City Council (2000-2014) and on the Erath County Republican Executive Committee (1990-2024). He was Mayor pro-tem of Stephenville from 2008 to 2014. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Stephenville
Economic Development Authority since 2018 and as chair of the Erath County Appraisal District’s Appraisal Review Board since 2015. He is also a member of the Stephenville Rotary Club, the Board of Vestry of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, and the Executive Committee of the Boy Scouts’ Pecan Valley District. Views expressed in this column are his and do not reflect those of The Flash as a whole.
Thank you Malcolm