I was listening to a program on MPR recently about a new California law that requires schools to permit each student “to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.” ( The law can be found here)

The law now requires that ideology trump reality. Biological sex does not matter in locker rooms, counseling, curriculum, and sports.The schools are now required to ignore the sex of a pupil in California, as well as his or her “gender, gender identity, and gender expression”. I’m not precisely sure what that means, but I’m certain that it’s unreasonable.

As I listened, I realized that the law was not about facilities, nor ultimately about the supposed “comfort” of the students who are the purported beneficiaries of the law. The new California law is about impugning the motives of anyone who maintains the time-honored tradition of separating of people into just two sexes — male and female. It’s about labeling such people as backward, uninformed, or even bigoted.

One of the subjects that came up in the interviews on MPR was the question of “truth”. A mother suggested that proponents of the new law were trying to teach children things that are contrary to “truth”. She said that it’s confusing and stressful for children to be trained to ignore obvious physical realities. In response, she was told that truth is in the eye of the beholder. In the brave new world of tomorrow, her child will be the one who is out of step and will feel foolish. In short, there will be a new definition of “abnormal.” It will be abnormal to believe that boys can be distinguished from girls on the basis of physical differences. The story of The Emperor’s New Clothes comes to mind.

In an effort to ensure that transgendered students don’t feel “different,” schools will be required to provide bathroom and locker facilities that treat these students as if they really were the sex that they claim to be. It’s not enough to allow the transgendered student to use uni-sex staff bathrooms. Using a special restroom might make the student feel “singled-out.” (see this lawsuit in Maine)

This presents a problem, because most girls are uncomfortable getting undressed in the presence of someone who is obviously male. (And vice-versa.) Under the new law, the burden of dealing with the student’s gender-identify is not to be born by the student, but by the whole school. Take note that “burden” does not refer to practical matters like providing a private place to change clothes. “Burden” means making sure the student doesn’t feel “different.” What if we were to take this approach with every case where biological facts cause a sense of differentness? For example, blind students may feel left out when everyone else can see things they can’t. Should we reduce the difference by blacking out the school’s windows and shutting off the lights? As ridiculous as this sounds, it does remind us that the purpose of education is not to make students feel comfortable. It’s to prepare them to function well in the real world.

It serves no one’s interest to make sighted students pretend they can’t see. Nor is there any benefit in asking students to pretend a boy in girl’s clothing is not still a boy.

It is not reasonable to require the rest of the world to pretend sex differences don’t exist or don’t matter. My wife is nearsighted and night-blind. She would be much more comfortable in a world where the speed limit is never more than 50 mph, but it would be unreasonable to slow down the entire world, just so she can fit in. I have long legs and I find airline travel uncomfortable. I haven’t sued the airlines over their tightly packed rows of seating. I understand that if I want more leg room, I need to make special arrangements for my needs.

So-called “transgendered” people will live their entire lives in a world where almost everyone around them really is the sex that they appear to be. That difference is their unique burden. It’s their job, as individuals, to find ways to work around it. (Just as deaf people or geniuses have to cope with their own differences.) No amount of legislation can erase the powerful biological drives that cause human beings to notice and celebrate the differences between men and women. We do a disservice to all students when we create a school environment that pretends those differences don’t exist.

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