I propose that in law and public policy, transgenderism be considered analogous to religion.
In the philosophy of science, falsifiability or refutability is the capacity for a statement, theory or hypothesis to be contradicted by evidence. For example, the statement “All swans are white” is falsifiable because one can observe that black swans exist… As a key notion in the separation of science from non-science and pseudo-science, falsifiability has featured prominently in many scientific controversies and applications, even being used as legal precedent.
Wikipedia, Falsifiability, 2020
I believe that lead is poisonous, but if presented with strong evidence of people ingesting lead with no adverse effects, I would rethink that position. This belief is — at least theoretically — falsifiable.
If a person claims, “I am a woman,” this is not a falsifiable claim under transgenderism. There is no possible evidence which could be presented to trans rights advocates which they would accept as proof that this person is not a woman.
As a non-falsifiable belief, transgenderism does not fall into the realm of scientific or evidence-based beliefs. It has more in common with religion — which, likewise, cannot be proven or disproven by science.
In Law
Transgender practices — transition — would be protected as “religious practices.” Religion is a protected class, and so trans people would be protected from employment or housing discrimination. They ought be able to live their lives as they choose, without religious persecution.
But at the same time, separation of church and state. Trans people could not demand that their beliefs be legally binding, or treated as literal fact under the law.
In Schools
Public schools could teach about transgender individuals and history. They could even teach about gender ideology beliefs — we learned about the 5 pillars of Islam in middle school. But schools could not teach gender ideology as fact.
We wouldn’t object to that being taught as a belief that some people have. Some people believe that people have a gender identity. Why not teach them that? It is it is true that some people believe that. But for heaven’s sake, let’s not teach it as if it is some scientific fact!
Bev Jackson of the LGB Alliance, 2020 interview
Teach kids about things; don’t evangelize to them. To maintain that distinction, the teacher shouldn’t be relatively impartial. Don’t bring in a bishop to teach kids about Christianity, and don’t bring in a trans person to teach kids about gender.
In Discourse
Not believing in gender ideology ought not be considered transphobia any more than not believing the teaching of Islam is Islamophobia.
Transgenderism-as-religion might fall under the category of, “Religion has hurt more people than it’s helped,” but that doesn’t cancel out the people it has helped. I don’t believe anyone is literally innately cross-sex, but I do believe transition has improved some people’s lives. Likewise, I don’t believe in Shintoism, but I do believe that there are Shintos whose lives have been bettered by their Shinto beliefs and practices. A belief does not have to be literally true in order to provide structure and personal meaning to a person’s life.
Mo Essays 