I Identify As ...

Hey gang, let’s play that Sesame Street © game. You know — that one where the song goes:

♬ Which of these things belong together? Which of these things just doesn’t belong?” ♬

Ready to play? Great!

Ok, which of these things belong together? Which of these things just doesn’t belong?

A. I identify as a Democrat

B. I identify as a Toronto Maple Leafs fan

C. I identify as Wonder Woman fan

D. I identify as brown-eyed

Well, that wasn’t too tricky, was it? D. is the thing that doesn’t belong!

Congrats to all of you who chose the obvious choice. And why do I say obvious ?

Well, that’s easily explained.

While all these things are true for me at the moment, only one is a permanent state of being for me. It breaks down like this:

A. Although I identify with the Democratic Party here and now, were I to move to the U.K. I would probably vote Labour and identify as a Labourite. This is a Political Identity. It might change over time

B. I love, love, love the Leafs, but I swear, if they have another season where they make the Playoffs and fade after the first round, I might become a Red Wings fan really fast! This is a Sports Affinity Identity. It could change (really) fast

C. And this one — I mean who doesn’t love Wonder Woman, but I wasn’t born loving her. I had to go through a childhood in which she became my ride-or-die Superhero. This is a Cultural Identity

D. Finally, this one. It’s an attribute that exists and is part of my physical being.

So, there we are. Eye colour is not a battle about an idea like political ideology, or which sports teams you root for, or which absolutely wonderful superhero you wish you could be. It’s firm and fixed, like the firmness of the Earth; like the liquidity of water as experienced in everyday life.

It’s not a club you join, or a team you root for. Yet, some folks might have an anti-green eyes agenda for some reason, and they would try to tell me it’s just something I “identify as,” as though I might wake up tomorrow and it won’t be true. I just checked a mirror, and believe me, it’s true, and it’s something that will always be true. Like the song goes, I was born this way.

Now, let’s do something along the same lines with gender instead of eye colour. Not chromosome configuration, not “sex assigned at birth”, but gender. Although the first two things actually exist along a continuum, and are not binary, some people will incorrectly state they are, and even make bad laws on those assumptions. But nope, sorry gang, they are not. Lots of folks are born with chromosomal configurations that are not strictly “XX” or “XY”. Just Google this phrase, and you’ll see what I mean. And as a result of this, lots of folks are incorrectly assigned a sex at birth. Again, just Google this phrase and see the result (ain’t it fun, getting smart?).

Ready to play again? OK, let’s go!

Which of these things belong together? Which of these things just doesn’t belong?

A. I identify as an author, although my day job is a software developer

B. I identify as a lifelong learner; I’m never done with school.

C. I identify as a stoic; I try to focus only on what I can control.

D. I identify as transgender

Well again, that was pretty easy. Like before, D. is the thing that doesn’t belong! If you see a story in mainstream media, or a law that uses the term “identified as transgender,” as though it’s something you chose to belong to like the Lions Club, you know that the source is a). ignorant about medicine or about gender, or about trans people, b). knows better, but is trying deliberately to inflame, incite, raise the level of anger for a reader or a voter, or c). just plain stupid, and stupid can’t be fixed.

Just like eye-colour, gender is one of those fixed attributes that if you woke me from a sound sleep at 3 A.M. and asked me, “What gender are you?” the answer would never vary. It’s something hardwired in my brain. And as an “Oh, By The Way”, it has nothing to do with “sex”. That’s why, somewhere in the late 2990’s or early 2000’s, the term for people with gender dysphoria flipped from “trans_sexual_” to “trans_gender_”. See — People can and do get smarter — including the medical profession.

But What About Those Furries?

Now, there are those of you out there who will say stuff like, “but what if you insist you are a ‘furry’”, or that, your eyes are really blue?

There are many folks out there who try to trivialise what is a critical difference. You see it all the time in bot-generated comments on Facebook. And here is what good ole’ Google has to say about the difference between furries and people who are transgender.

• Insisting You Are a Furry (Hobby/Subculture) Being a furry means having an interest in anthropomorphic (human-like) animals, such as cartoon characters, and usually, engaging with this interest in a fan community.
  • Nature: It is a hobby, fandom, or subculture centered around art, creativity, and community.
  • “Fursona”: Most furries create an animal avatar (fursona) to represent themselves. This is usually a creative outlet, roleplay, or a way to express personality, not a belief that they are actually an animal.
  • Voluntary: It is a choice to engage in the fandom. One can enter or leave it at any time.
  • Purpose: It is primarily about artistic expression, social connection, and fun.

On the other hand:

• Insisting You Are Transgender(Mental and often physical state of being): Being transgender means that a person’s internal knowledge of their gender is different from the sex they were assigned at birth.
  • Nature: It is a fundamental, deeply rooted aspect of a person’s identity and sense of self.
  • Innate: It is not a choice or a hobby, but a deeply held internal reality.
  • Medical Component: Many transgender people experience gender dysphoria — serious distress caused by the mismatch between their body and their gender identity — and may medically transition to alleviate this.
  • Purpose: It is about living authentically as oneself, rather than a form of play or entertainment.

Common Misconceptions

Let’s illustrate this whole “identify as” versus “immutable attributes” thing, and let’s use furries to illustrate. We could have used any of the other attributes in our little tableaux above, but I’ve already thrown enough shade on my beloved Maple Leafs, and the way that the bigot class trivializes being transgender by comparing us with cartoony furries really aggravates me.

Let’s talk furries vs transgendered humans

• Furries are not animals: The vast majority of furries know they are human, and only a tiny minority (“otherkin” or “therians”) might feel a non-human identity, which is still distinct from being transgender.
• Not a “Fetish”: While some furries may have adult interests, the community is primarily a social, artistic hobby.
• No schools have putout litter boxes (as some politicians insist) for school kids who “identify as furries”. But they do punish and disparage kids and parents if any “identify as transgender”, or my personal favourite misrepresentation, “espouse transgenderism” — Where in the world they came up with that phrase is beyond me. They are equating being trans with an ideology, as though it were simply a concept like conservatism or capitalism.
• Not the Same as Transitioning: Insisting on being a furry is a form of self-expression. Insisting on being transgender is a state of being, and that insistence is necessary for mental health.

But What About The Bible?

People often say things, like, “The Bible says being transgender is wrong — — there’s only men or women. Those are the choices. Says so right there in Genesis. Whatever you were declared at birth is what you are. Live with it, Libtard.”

Well, a couple of things I have noticed about “The Good Book” are these:

• The Bible says a lot of things. Some of the things contradict other things.
• Many of the things said are not ideas we would sign up for today. They are violent, misogynistic, patriarchal, and just downright weird. Ever read Leviticus? I mean, what’s the deal with wearing mixed fabrics, and trimming beard corners? I get that the Old Testament was all about differentiating Ancient Israelites from gentiles, but why pick on cotton-linen blends? What did linen ever do to offend society (other than being a pain in the butt to iron).
• People pick and choose whatever passage supports their worldview and use that as justification. I mean, Romans 3:28 states, “a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law,” but James 2:24 says, “by works a man is justified, and not by faith only”. Whichever of these is cited depends on how a person feels about salvation. Which one is correct? I dunno.
• Finally, it probably ought to be borne in mind that not everybody is happy with the Bible as an authoritative source. Something like 36–38% of American adults are non-Christian. About 28–29% who are religiously unaffiliated, and 7–8% who identify with non-Christian religions. The unaffiliated group includes atheists, agnostics, and those with no specific religion, while other faiths include Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Just thought that might be worth a mention.

Summing up.

I wrote this entry because, if you’re like me, you get tired of seeing nonsensical comments, but refuting ignorance and stupidity is just too damned time-consuming.

Next time you are trying to explain yourself (or acting as an ally to trans people you know or love) to a bigot face-to-face, or responding to a snarky comment on social media, feel free to cut and paste any of the above, or just refer them to this posting. But before we go, let’s sing that good ole Sesame Street song one last time, for old times’ sake:

♬ Which of these things belong together? Which of these things just doesn’t belong? ♬