M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

Radical Theorists and Policy Makers Promote Idea of "Five Genders"

Most people assume the word "gender" is directly interchangeable with the word "sex," and that there are only two "genders", male and female. Most people will be very surprised to hear that some say there are more than two "genders." Five years ago at the UN Habitat Conference (Istanbul, 1996), radical non-governmental organizations aggressively promoted "five genders." Though hotly debated at Istanbul, the "five genders" lost. Even so, the attempt to stretch the definition of "gender" continues unabated within the halls of the UN, on college campuses and even in city governments.

Radical theorists decided long ago that the word "sex" was too confining. "Sex" is based in nature, determined by the chromosomes and almost always confirmed by bodily characteristics. [In rare instances some children are born with indeterminate sexual characteristics. This condition is frequently called "hermaphrodism."] Because "sex" is limited to only male and female and is based in nature, social tinkerers determined to change the word to something more malleable and so "gender" was born. The idea is that "gender" is a social construct and can be changed through education and law.

According to its promoters, the "five genders" are heterosexual men, heterosexual women, homosexual men, homosexual women, and transsexuals (those who have had sex change operations). To promote this idea, six years ago at a conference in Houston, Texas, something called the "International Bill of Gender Rights" was inaugurated. According to its framers the International Gender Bill of Rights are "universal rights which can be claimed and exercised by every human being."

Underscoring the ten rights under the Gender Bill of Rights is the idea that "all human beings have the right to define their own gender identity regardless of chromosomal sex, genitalia, assigned birth sex, or initial gender role." It is their belief that while "sex" is inborn what counts is gender, something that is chosen and must be protected in law.

The ten rights enumerated in the Gender Bill of Rights are "the right to free expression of gender identity, the right to secure and retain employment and to receive just compensation, the right of access to gendered space and participation in gendered activity, the right to control and change one's body, the right to competent medical and professional care, the right to freedom from psychiatric diagnosis and treatment, the right to sexual expression, the right to form committed, loving relationships and enter into marital contracts, the right to conceive, bear, or adopt children, and the right to nurture and have custody of children and to exercise parental capacity."

Many people will understand these ideas to be on the far frontier of social policy and in many respects those people are correct. Even so, many governmental bodies are already beginning to promote these ideas. The "five genders" lost in the UN, but the debate continues there. And
just recently the city council of San Francisco ordered that sex change operations may be paid out of city health benefits.

Copyright - C-FAM (Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute).
Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required.

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