Over the past decade, the United States has seen a rise in the power of the transgender movement. Once a fringe, left-wing movement premised on the idea that gender is a social construct and that it can be changed at a whim, it has now become mainstream. Today, the question "Can you provide a definition for the word 'woman'?" is now political.
The transgender movement can be traced back as far as 1952 when trans woman Virginia Prince launched a publication titled Transvestia: The Journal of the American Society for Equality in Dress. Following that, the movement experienced rapid expansion, culminating in a riot in Los Angeles within seven years. The unrest originated as a retaliatory response to the Los Angeles Police Department, which was perceived to have engaged in harassment of the LGBTQ community. Then, in 1966, there was another riot. In 1969, another riot. Finally, as a result of the 1996 publication Transgender Warriors by American lesbian activist Leslie Feinberg, the term "transgender" gained widespread usage.
Today, 1.6% of Americans, or 4,800,000 adults aged 18 or over, say their gender is different from their sex assigned at birth. However, that number is on the rise, as 5.1%, or nearly 15,000,000 young adults aged 18-29, fall into that category. This can be attributed to a litany of factors, including changing education environments in classrooms, social media, and more.
The "marked incongruence between (a person's) experienced or expressed gender and the one they were assigned at birth" defines gender dysphoria. As of now, gender dysphoria's causes remain unknown, and it does not have an established treatment. The term "gender dysphoria," which is frequently used in the medical field, has itself become a subject of political controversy.
Today, despite the small numbers of transgender people in the United States, the movement has permeated nearly all facets of life.
Educators raise LGBTQ flags in classrooms nationwide and educate students in the elementary school age range that their designated gender at birth may not always reflect their true identity. Such a serious injustice necessitates rectification. Students in elementary school have limited knowledge regarding sexuality; therefore, being informed that they could be of a different gender can be confusing to them -- it can change them even if they never wanted to be changed.
It is worth noting that around 80% of children who experience gender dysphoria as children eventually overcome it and opt not to identify as transgender as adults. In addition, depression among children who overcome gender dysphoria is extremely uncommon. However, according to the Trevor Project, a national organization dedicated to preventing suicide among LGBTQ youth, around 60% of transgender youth experience symptoms of depression, and 70% experience anxiety. Depression affects approximately 5%-6% of the general population. In addition, around 0.5% of the general population has attempted suicide, while nearly half of transgender youth have considered suicide, and nearly 20% have attempted it.
But what causes this depression? Could it be bullying? Could it be that transgender rights are persistently violated? Of course not. On the contrary, transgender people are thriving. Their rights are enshrined in state constitutions, they are protected by numerous state laws, they are given more protections by schools than any other class of students; transgender people may have more rights than the average person.
Of course, we can't forget drag story hour, where numerous elementary schools throughout the country have males dressed in scant attire read books about transgenderism to children. It is unnecessary to expose children to males in little clothing in order for them to hear stories. The mind of a child is sacred and must not be exposed to these sorts of things. It can corrupt the mind and, as we've seen, may lead them down the road of gender dysphoria and ultimately depression.
Tragically, transgenderism has compromised the rights of biological women. Undoubtedly, women continue to advocate equality in the United States. Women continue to face significant disparities in the workforce and in public life. However, before the complete realization of gender equality for women, transgenderism emerged and complicated the situation. At this time, males beat women in all aspects of life. Do you recall 2015, when Caitlyn Jenner was named "Woman of the Year" by Glamour magazine? The recipient of that award was not a woman who had struggled her entire life to be a woman in a world dominated by men. It was taken from a biological woman by a man.
Likewise, transgenderism has entered the realm of athletics. Transgender males have emerged victorious in athletic competitions against biological women on a multitude of occasions. Men have won significant accolades in swimming, wrestling, golf, snooker and even weightlifting, the sport that exemplifies strength disparities. Men who underwent the transition from male to female are often found to have been mediocre at best among their male counterparts.
And how about sex changes for minors? It is plausible that the notion that a child could undertake surgical gender transition from their biological to an alternative gender would be utterly absurd and repugnant to the average person. However, 54% of Americans oppose legislation that criminalizes providing medical care for gender transition to minors. Science and common sense support the notion that by our mid-to-late 20s, the brain has reached complete maturity and development. This is why children often engage in foolish behavior without contemplating the repercussions, why a contract formed by a child is deemed void in legal terms, and why alcohol consumption hinders the development of children's minds. Yet, when it comes to transgenderism, all that goes out the window.
Men are not women, and women are not men. This is the reality everyone on this Earth must face until their death.
America has been divided along lines of common sense by the transgender movement: those who support it and those who do not. The rise of transgenderism will persist as long as rational individuals remain reluctant to express their opinion on the matter.
Armstrong Williams is the manager/sole owner of Howard Stirk Holdings I & II Broadcast Television Stations and the 2016 Multicultural Media Broadcast Owner of the Year.