The Idea of a ‘DNA Test’ for Transgender People Is Part of a Long, Dark History

Science is too busy holding the universe together to care about politics. Greenhouse gases will continue contributing to climate change and vaccines will continue not causing autism, whether you believe it or not. None of that means that politicians and ideologues won’t keep trying to drag science into their fights. The latest example of this unlovely truth occurred just this week, when the New York Times reported the existence of a memo drafted by the Department of Health and Human Services that would, if the changes it details were implemented, effectively roll back civil protections for transgender people by defining gender as a fixed biological trait, determined by genitalia at birth. The only exception, the memo reportedly states, would be if the male or female label could be “rebutted by reliable genetic evidence.” But, as decades of scientific research have shown, that kind of test does not remotely exist. It likely never will. It’s easy enough to determine basic physical sex with a quick scan for X and Y chromosomes. That can also determine some gender disorders, most commonly XXY—or a person who is superficially male, but carries an extra X, or female, chromosome. The condition, known as Klinefelter syndrome, can result in a range of problems, including delayed or incomplete puberty, comparatively weak bones and undescended testicles. X and Y chromosomes, however, tell you absolutely nothing about gender identity, which is a vastly more...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized LGBTQ onetime Science sexism Source Type: news