They're doubling-down on sex pseudoscience. This won't end well for them.
This article attempts to critique the new definitions of sex announced by the @HHSGov, yet the new HHS statement completely anticipated their critiques and makes them entirely irrelevant.
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Sex is all about gametes, or "reproductive cells." Other traits—which emerge during puberty—are considered "secondary sex characteristics" because they are a downstream effect of sex, not sex itself.
The "expert" cited here, Sam Sharpe, is a Ph.D. candidate at Kansas State University, and self-describes as “a trans and intersex person” who has “been involved in trans and intersex activism since 2016.” Sharpe has previously called for a “more inclusive understanding of sex diversity” and believes Lia Thomas (the male swimmer who won an NCAA Division I title in the women’s category) is being discriminated against for “failing to conform to expectations of cisnormative white femininity.”
Sharpe says that “biological sex is complex, variable, not fully understood, and definitely not a binary,” and has blamed the binary view of sex on “capitalism.”
Sharpe is an activist first, and a biologist second.
The article claims that the new definition of sex "leaves out people who carry genetic variants and don't make any reproductive cells, or gametes."
This is 100% FALSE.
The new HHS statement (right) explicitly explains that "having the biological function to produce eggs or sperm does not require that eggs or sperm are ever produced" and covers cases where "males and females may not or may no longer produce eggs or sperm due to factors such as age, congenital disorders or other developmental conditions, injury, or medical conditions that cause infertility."
They're choosing to ignore the substance of the document.
The Science article actually makes the argument that sex cannot be binary because "There's plenty of women who are taller than plenty of men."
This is TOTALLY ABSURD! Your sex has absolutely NOTHING to do with how tall you are! 💀
How is this published in Science News?!
Sharpe has no understanding of what it means for sex to be "determined" at conception or "fertilization."
The HHS statement doesn't say that zygotes have a sex at conception, but that the sex they will develop into is genetically determined at conception. The HHS statement simply notes—correctly—that sex is "observable before birth."
The essay even promotes the totally debunked claim that "about 1.7 percent of the population is intersex and don't fit neatly into male and female boxes."
Again, this is completely false.
See my article here to know why: realityslaststand.com/p/intersex-is-…
The left is flailing and doubling-down on sex pseudoscience, which destroys the credibility of science.
This is absolutely unacceptable. I would be happy to debate any of these pseudoscientists on the facts.
My DMs are open.
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