(AP Photo/Toby Talbot, File)
Though the actual number of individuals who identify as transgender is still very low, the push to normalize said gender confusion continues to rise.
The most recent stat from 2016 indicates that approximately 0.6% of adults in the United States identify as something other than their actual biology. The amount, roughly 1.4 million individuals, is extremely small. Yet, we’re told that we must bow to the preferences of this crowd so as not to hurt anyone’s feelings.
That by itself is becoming a frustrating reality, but now, it could actually impact your education or career.
As the Star Tribune reports, the University of Minnesota is considering a new gender identity policy that comes with the most extreme type of disciplinary action, emphasis mine.
The U is considering a new “gender identity” policy that would assure transgender men and women, as well as others, the right to use whatever pronoun they wish on campus — whether it’s he, she, “ze” or something else.
And everyone from professors to classmates would be expected to call them by the right words or risk potential disciplinary action, up to firing or expulsion.
The pronoun rule is just one of the proposed changes in a draft U policy that, advocates say, would bar harassment and discrimination against transgender and “gender nonconforming” individuals. It’s designed, in part, to combat an indignity known as misgendering — when someone is called by a name or personal pronoun they no longer use.
University officials insist that the policy, which has been described as one of the most ambitious of its kind in the country, is still a work in progress and will likely undergo revisions before it’s approved.
Here is the list of personal pronouns student can choose from on the university’s website.
He/him/his
None
Prefer not to specify
She/her/hers
They/them/theirs
Ze/Zir/Zirs
Gender identity
Agender
Enter your own
Gender nonconforming
Genderqueer
Man
Nonbinary
Prefer not to specify
Two spirit
Woman
We live in very confused times.
There are so many problems with this type of policy that it’s difficult to know where to begin. How does one go about enforcing this kind of measure? Are individuals on campus supposed to be mind readers? What if someone slips up and accidentally misgenders a fellow classmate? Is that grounds for discipline?
We are wading into very murky water. Should this policy go forward, the crusade to counteract “misgendering” is sure to infringe on someone else’s educational or career pursuits. That goes beyond annoyance and becomes downright frightening.
It is near impossible for those excited about requiring certain types of speech from others on a college campus to consider that disagreement is not hate. Since the beginning, humans have labeled others based on their biology. Surgical mutilation and hormonal manipulation won’t ever turn a male into a female, and vice versa.
The obsession with feelings says that they should come first over fact, no matter what. This is neither healthy for the individual dealing with gender dysphoria nor society at large. But beware, we have only begun to travel down this rabbit hole.
Things are going to get worse.
If someone is dealing with a mental illness such as schizophrenia or severe depression, we don’t give in to their fantasies and allow them to believe that which isn’t true. By enabling their behavior, we harm them. There is nothing compassionate about ignoring reality. The same goes for transgenderism.
We should always treat individuals with respect, for they are God’s creation and possess inherent worth. But treating someone with kindness does not require that we play into their wounded imagination.
However, the University of Minnesota is dangerously close to demanding the exact opposite. Or else.
Kimberly Ross is a senior contributor at RedState and a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
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