The current debate on transgender rights seems to have gone from, “let’s take transgender issues seriously” to “let boys be girls”. Grace Dent in her article of the same name (Independent 14.11.17) gives some of the breezy reasons about why the Church of England, the government and the entertainment industry is obsessed with gender. This debate, it seems to me, is going from promoting more tolerance, to promoting more guilt and shame. The argument goes that those of us born with a penis ought to be ashamed of that fact. Men are the world’s problem. We men should seriously consider getting in touch with our feminine side – whatever that means – and taking the process to its logical solution.
Let me start by saying that I support transgender rights. A recent exhibition in Liverpool about April Ashley is a real education in transgender issues. Her life story is an excellent demonstration of human dignity and perseverance against tremendous odds. April Ashley, we salute you!
However, to make the suggestion that the solution to gender and transgender rights is to let boys become girls is another matter entirely. Caitlyn Marie Jenner Kardashian (formally known as Bruce Jenner, father, grandfather, Olympic gold medallist), had this to say after she had gone through her transition, “this is the new normal.” It’s a bit like Michael Jackson (may he rest in peace) pointing to his butchered face and his bleached skin and saying the same thing. If women could experience the world as men experience the world, would they want it? I doubt it. So let us follow Grace Dent’s argument towards its logical conclusion. Let boys be girls? Then let girls be boys. Let us imagine what such a world might look like

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