Gene News ...

[fiat_knox]

Just thought I'd drop you this link before scuttling back into the warm tonight ...

Transsexual Gene Link Identified

Discuss. :)

Comments

[cdave]

I don't have time to read this link, and formulate an opinion on it, right now. Sorry.

What're your thoughts?

Good / Bad ...

[fiat-knox.livejournal.com]

Good: Ignorant people might no longer be able to rant about transsexualism being a mere lifestyle choice or "perversion" of what they define as "normal." Based on the above news article, there is now likely to be a genetic cause for transsexuals' gender dysmorphia after all.

Also, this could be a fascinating topic for study. Could we humans have acquired this from a common evolutionary ancestor? Was this an ancient survival mechanism from some predecessor species, such that when a population grew scarce, males could turn into females and vice versa? Could this be a link to our evolutionary past? The scientist in me would dearly love to know.

Very Good: Increases the grounds for gender reassignments for people on the grounds of compassion. Candidates for gender reassignment surgery could request a DNA test to ascertain the presence of this gene in their genetic makeup as part of their attempts to assert their claim for the surgery.

Not So Good: Medical insurance companies could secure this data and use it as an excuse for not paying any medical bills for gender reassignment surgeries. But that's not related to this finding. That's probably the usual greed and bigotry among the medical insurance fraternity.

Vile: There'll always be some throwback redneck who won't believe a bloody word of the above anyway,and will still think that trannies are the Devil's footsoldiers, or some such stupidity.

Re: Good / Bad ...

[cdave]

Interesting. I see a corollary to your Very Good, which is what happens to thos without the gene, who want the surgery?

Re: Good / Bad ...

[fiat-knox.livejournal.com]

They would have to fight even harder than they do now to overcome the same barriers that plague the whole set of candidates for gender reassignment.

Sadly, I can now see a scenario where this discovery may well lead to a situation where the subset of those candidates who have the gene markers will find the road to surgery made a little easier, at the expense of a thickening of the glass wall for those belonging to the remainder of the set of candidates who do not.

So, overall, that is a minus.

Shit.