THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF PEDIATRICIANS HAS RELEASED A STATEMENT URGING EDUCATORS AND LEGISLATORS TO REJECT ALL POLICIES THAT CONDITION CHILDREN TO ACCEPT AS NORMAL A LIFE OF CHEMICAL AND SURGICAL IMPERSONATION OF THE OPPOSITE SEX. FACTS - NOT IDEOLOGY - DETERMINE REALITY.
The statement highlights the following facts;
Human sexuality is an objective biological binary trait: "XY" and "XX" are genetic markers of health - not genetic markers of a disorder.
The norm for human design is to be conceived either male or female. Disorders of sex development [DSD]s, including but not limited to testicular feminization and congenital adrenal hyperplasia, are all medically identifiable deviations from the sexual binary norm, and are rightly recognized as disorders of human design. Individuals with DSD do not constitute a third sex. [1]
No-one is born with a gender. Everyone is born with a biological sex. Gender [an awareness and sense of oneself as male or female] is a sociological and psychological concept; not an objective biological one.
No one is born with an awareness of themselves as male or female. This awareness develops over time; and, like all developmental processes, may be derailed by a child's subjective perceptions, relationships, and adverse experiences from infancy onwards.
People who identify as 'feeling like the opposite sex' or 'somewhere in between' do not comprise a third sex. They remain biological men or women.
A person's belief that he or she is something they are not is, at best, a sign of confused thinking. When an otherwise healthy biological boy believes he is a girl, or an otherwise healthy biological girl believes she is a boy, an objective psychological problem may exist that lies in the mind and not the body, and it should be treated as such. These children suffer from gender dysphoria. Gender dysphoria [GD], formerly listed as Gender Identity Disorder [GID], is a recognized mental disorder in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association [DSM-V]. The psychodynamic and social learning theories of GD/GID have never been disproved.
Puberty is not a disease, and puberty-blocking hormones can be dangerous.
According to the DSM-V, as many as 98% of gender confused boys and 88% of gender confused girls eventually accept their biological sex after naturally passing through puberty.
Children who use puberty-blockers to impersonate the opposite sex will require cross-sex hormones in later adolescence. Cross-sex hormones [testosterone and estrogen] are associated with dangerous health risks including but not limited to high blood pressure, blood clots, strokes and cancer.
Rates of suicide are twenty times greater among adults who use cross-sex hormones and undergo sex reassignment surgery. [1]
[1] Gender Ideology Harms Children; American College of Pediatricians
http://www.acpeds.org/the-college-speaks/position-statements/gender-ideology-harms-children
With thanks to Acpeds.org
