The Draft of the Gender Discussion Guide Is Ready!

Now I need some volunteers

This morning at my exercise class, the teacher asked how competitive we were on a scale of 1 to 10. She read a definition that included enjoying competition, which immediately knocked my number down to 3. I want to succeed, but I don’t necessarily want to best others to do so. I don’t like watching sports because somebody has to lose. (That said: Knicks in five! Yes, I’m a convert.)

On my way home, I thought about how my ideal approach to solving the gender problem—because, boy, do we have one in this country—is not to shut people down but to open them up. I have never advocated not teaching gender identity (even though I think it’s entirely reasonable not to, and wish schools wouldn’t). Rather, I have advocated teaching the various theories of gender identity, to teach it as an idea—or, rather, a series of ideas that evolved over time and in response to patient populations and cultural expectations.

There truly has been medical fraud and medical harm in gender clinics. If you’re a Democrat or liberal, don’t let the fact that Trump’s DOJ and FTC are investigating it deter you from understanding this reality. The institutionalization of gender identity—and the censoring of debate around it—has wreaked havoc. Bans and laws to restrict it have been the only immediate mechanism available in the face of the gender industry’s—and Democrats’—unwillingness to reform. But the long-term solution is viewpoint diversity, open inquiry, depolarization, respectful disagreement, and the return of curiosity. If I had a religion, these would be its tenets.

That’s why, for many moons, I worked on a viewpoint diversity discussion guide about gender identity in its various cultural and institutional forms: pronouns, sports, disclosure policies, etc. I was originally hired for the project by a nonprofit, but the powers that be chose not to disseminate it. I decided to adapt it, make it my own, and give it away here when it’s done.

I’m looking for a few volunteers to look it over and give feedback, as well as to try it out. Maybe your church group or school debate club wants to give it a whirl. If you’re interested, please drop me a line with the subject “Gender Discussion Guide.”

If you have other resources to recommend in this pursuit, please leave them in the comments. This post is free and available to comment on by all (though, as always, paid subscriptions welcome and needed).