Questions about Sex and Gender

A recent debate forced me to rethink my position on the transgender debate, resulting in a slight shift in how I see the issue. I outline my current thinking as a series of questions - some rhetorical, some not.

Disclaimer: I am a follower of Jesus, I do science for a living, and I have 5 daughters. I will not apologize for any of these things, or pretend that any of these things are not true.

1. If a man can become a woman simply by removing part of himself, does that confirm Aristotle's conception that women are merely a defective form of men?

2. If we no longer have separate restrooms for Whites and Blacks, because race is a social construct that is not rooted in biology, then why should we have separate restrooms for men and women if gender is a social construct not rooted in biology?

3. Why do we have separate restrooms for men and women?

4. Why are feminists the most outspoken critics of the transgender movement?

5. If people who are gay, lesbian or bisexual need to accept the way that they were born, why shouldn't people with gender dysphoria accept the way that they were born?

6. If a man can become a woman by changing his appearance and identifying as a woman, can a White woman become a Black woman by changing her appearance and identifying as black?

7. If a person claims to be a woman born in a man's body, what part of that person is a woman?

8. If a person does not like their body, by what standard can they claim that their body is wrong? Who made this error?

9. If ancient and traditional cultures believed that eunuchs could be fully trusted with women, why should modern cultures fear allowing eunuchs in women-only spaces?

10. If a person is not required to identify with his or her biological sex, why should a person be required to identify with his or her biological age?

11. Does the existence of intersex conditions in 0.02-0.04% of the population prove that a person's biological sex is not a function of their genetic makeup?

12. Does the existence of intersex conditions in 0.02-0.04% of the population prove that biological sex is fluid?

13. Why don't intersex conditions lead to gender confusion (except in cases when involuntary "sex-corrective surgery was performed on infants)?

14. Why do intersex victims of involuntary surgery frequently reject both the gender in which they were raised and the gender that a physician attempted to make them?

15. If the claim of Genesis 1:27, "male and female [God] created them," is a statement about general revelation, then how could people truly distinguish male from female prior to the discovery of X and Y chromosomes in 1905?

16. If male and female are properly understood as 2 opposite ends of a spectrum, why hasn't anyone moved from one end of the spectrum to the other?

17. If gender is defined by biology, then how can God the Father and God the Holy Spirit - see John 3:5-8, which describes the Holy Spirit as giving birth - have genders if neither has a body?

18. How, if at all, does gender dysphoria differ from anorexia?

19. If the desire to be a different gender arises purely from biochemical processes in a person's brain, wouldn't it ultimately be better to change those processes via medication instead of performing major surgery?

20. If gender has nothing to do with biological sex, then why do the overwhelming majority of people identify with the gender that corresponds to their biological sex?

21. If there are only two biological sexes, why should there be more than two genders?

22. Is society required to recognize any identity of any kind that a person assigns to their self?

23. If others are only required to recognize certain identities, how can we know which identities we are obligated to recognize and which are optional?

24. If intersex is a real biological condition, should we recognize a third gender on that basis?

25. Should we make a distinction between those born with intersex conditions, and those who have effectively made themselves intersex by modifying their bodies surgically and/or pharmacologically?

26. In what way(s) do trans or intersex individuals differ from those categorized in the ancient/Biblical world as eunuchs?

27. In what biological sense, if any, is Caitlin Jenner a woman?

28. What purpose would be served by requiring Caitlin Jenner to use the men's restroom?

29. If a woman can be erroneously born in a man's body, or vice-versa, can a cat be born in a human's body? A Black man in a White man's body? A tall man in a short man's body?

30. If someone can change their gender, can they do so repeatedly? If not, why not? If repeatedly, how many times and how often?

31. If "gay conversion" therapy - to change the mind of a person whose desires do not align with their biology - is wrong and harmful, then why is sex-reassignment - chemicals or surgery to change the body of a transgender person - acceptable?