The media has got sexuality all wrong

Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, at an LGBT march (Image: On Top Magazine)

Largely, the Western world is a welcoming society that champions inclusivity. In this, I'd like to include the Far East and Australasia whose majority of people celebrate diversity and actively encourage different communities to join forces of good that'd ultimately benefit our being. The rest of the world may have some notable catching up to do, but when it comes to other people's life choices, I'd like to think most of us are on the same page. Despite this, there are some aspects of society often misunderstood - none other than the transgender community.

For decades, the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) community has been at the heart of many sociological discussions - both politically and privately. The lesbians, gays and bisexuals have been at the forefront of this and have emerged victorious in many campaigns that deemed almost impossible to get pre-popular culture. They still have some way to go, certainly, but I think it's safe to argue that most of what they want in the civilised Western world, they've been granted.

The transgender society has been late in getting reasonable human rights in employment, health and education. The government in Canada, along with mass support from their people, have worked tirelessly to ensure these rights are put in law and it's refreshing to see other countries taking this seriously and follow suit. Despite this, the debate still enrages. The key reason for this is because it's not only adults that now want to change the gender they were born with - children are also on the case.

Media changing gender tactics (Image: Pinterest)

Statistics have consistently shown over the past five years that more and more children are enquiring about changing genders - not just in Canada but in the UK too. Such suggestion has provided a whole range of responses from people viewing this topic from the outside. We're either totally in support of this, or completely against the thought. Here, I'd like to offer a balanced argument about why I'm not jumping on any bandwagon.

I am pro-choice. I celebrate the fact people are happy with their sexual orientation. I celebrate the fact people have a choice when it comes to abortion, having tattoo sleeves, or anything else that make their inner-being that much happier. People are most satisfied when they make their own decisions and why stop them? But, for me, there are certain occasions where our choices are influenced by lifestyle rather than heart-felt.

My impression - and feel free to disagree here - is that there are two key triggers that makes someone decide whether they want to change their gender; one being physical, where an individual doesn't want the physical attributes of a man or a woman. This is a very precise and reasonable trigger. But there is a portion of the transgender population which opts for this life-changing decision because of their interests - for example, a man in this transition may want to wear dresses, likes the colour pink and is an avid knitter and feel that therefore they should be a woman.

It's the latter of this impression I'm unable to grapple with, particularly when it comes to children who feel this way. They're making such a bold statement. "I like what my opposite gender likes so therefore I must be that gender" - correct me if I'm misguided, but are we still living in a world where making a massive decision as changing genders is triggered by something so complex yet simple? I have complete sympathy for a child who feels they're in that situation. But should we be giving them a decision to this level when we don't permit them to purchase a lottery ticket, vote, buy a house or invest in shares until they reach adulthood?

We, as responsible adults - particularly parents - should be really careful about their children's influences. We tend to underestimate the media which still, though indirectly, determines what boys and girls 'should' like and do. This has been largely due to the power of advertising where from the 1950s, we were led to believe Barbie dolls are for girls, Action Men are for boys. I was hoping that we've moved on from these ghastly stereotypes - clearly I misjudged. I don't want to say that gender dysphoria - the condition of feeling one's emotional and psychological identity as male or female to be opposite to one's biological sex - is triggered by media, but unfortunately, it does play a vital part.

Dr Kenneth Zucker (Image: The Sun)

The media holds a narrative when it comes to topical subjects, such as its pure focus on the LGBT community - and while it's healthy to highlight such, there is a tendency to hypnotise those to believe a certain way. They're even talking about how readily available certain drugs are which halts the development of hormones so that an individual could attain their transgender goal. The media has held science to ransom, the same way it has with politics and religion - without discussing the matter with true ration. The media, as a source of information, fails to grasp the complexities of sexuality and gender identification which permits them to automatically assume the effects of being transgender. In an ideal world, children's priorities would be on being kids and learning, not about life-changing operations during a time where their brain continues to develop.

I had recently watched a documentary on BBC2 called 'Transgender Kids: Who Knows Best' and it was refreshing to see all sides of this argument explored explicitly. I was particularly interested hearing the views of Dr Kenneth Zucker. I agreed with him on most of what he said, despite the apparent controversies surrounding them. If you have the chance to watch the documentary, I suggest you do.

The main topic discussed in that documentary was the argument of how to medically categorise gender dysphoria. It frightened me when campaigners said that it isn't a psychological condition. I argue it absolutely is psychological. Every decision we make is through psychology as our brain processes such information that triggers the thoughts we strongly believe in. It's vital that psychology is considered here and those who seek a gender change goes through a process where they meet a psychiatrist. The best ones have the ultimate interest of their patients' at heart. With a change so big and life-changing, where there's no going back, there needs to be 110 percent certainty that this person would want to go down this route.

It's easy to blame the parents here, but they simply want their child happy. Unfortunately, the impression I get - again, please disagree with me should you wish - is that they're afraid to intervene and want their offspring to be on their side throughout their life. Though, just because their child may like to do something that a specific gender is 'told' what to enjoy, it doesn't mean they 'should' permanently alter their physical attributes for good.

Again, I'd like to reiterate that I'm pro-choice so anyone whose ultra-confident and happy to change genders should absolutely go for it. I am blessed and very happy being a male. If I had a child in a situation where they wanted to transition, I seriously wouldn't know how to handle it so I respect those who are in this position today. I'd probably be in a state initially - as many parents may be - and would think, "Was my DNA contribution wrongly distributed for my child"?

I don't believe science is being addressed in this debate and it really should. Once this is done, then once-and-for-all, we can openly declare that anything we like and own should be gender neutral. Consider that and many more of us will be comfortable in our own skin from day one.