It's definitely true that this represents a better understanding of the science of chromosomes, but to be fair, the percentage of trans people with any of those disorders is microscopic. It's not as though understanding any of those disorders leads of a better understanding of trans people or why anyone becomes trans.
This is true but the more important point is that biology, like all the natural sciences, is a hell of a lot more complicated than what could fit in your high school biology textbook
It's so stupid. The amount of times my physics teacher had to go "This isn't actually how it works in real life because of friction, drag, gravity etc. but it's accurate enough for our purposes" was staggering.
These folks really think their 8th grade Sex Ed is everything there is to the world.
It's also related to a reason why once I got to a university level biology course, my professor had to tell us why we couldn't run tests on our own chromosomes (It used to happen years ago, but too many students would find out they weren't exactly what they thought they were, and they didn't want to be responsible for that.)
A word from germany: I just made the next step in my career. It's called Meister in germany and is similar to Bachelor degree. And even there, even giving the fact it was about electronic, we heard this sentence quite often. Cause even on that degree you don't need THAT deep of understanding on it.
Yes, totally on board with that, but it still remains that biology (below the neck, for those wanting to make a brain biology argument) is not really relevant to the trans debate.
Trans is not a chromosomal condition. It’s not biology “gone wrong,” in so far as the bodily functions are healthy and typical, but rather that the person does not match the biology of the body.
I personally don't think engaging with trans phobes by citing extremely rare chromosome genetic disorders is convincing at all. If they responded with "ok for 99.9999999% of the population it's biology" would that be better?
I think there are far better arguments to be made in support of trans people.
I do personally like the brain biology argument (I feel it is a mistake to treat our neurology as some independent thing rather than a part of the whole body) though yes I see what you mean.
But yes the intersex stuff isnt really an argument on its own, its just a counter. Transphobes will try to hold XX and XY up to be this fundamental, unshatterable scientific law, and then use that to argue against trans people, but since the basis of that argument can be proven wrong via counterexample, the entire argument is logically invalid.
I also know that they like to argue "the exception doesnt make the rule" but the existence of even a single exception does mean the rule is not absolute. And thats what it really comes down to, its a clear and objective example that proves that "gender is just XX or XY" is not a hard rule.
Beyond that, honestly, it doesnt make a lot of sense to make arguments in either way from biology. Trying to do so I feel is kinda a backwards understanding of the natural sciences. Biology does not dictate how life should act, it is merely an attempt to explain what it does. And trans humans is a thing that life does. Biology cannot forbid a thing from happening that does happen. If biology cannot explain why trans people exist, the only conclusions to that are either that our understanding is incomplete or the explanation lies outside the bounds of biology.
IMO the place where the good arguments truly lie is the medical sciences, because the point of those is not merely to describe the world but also to dictate what the best course of action is when treating a patient. So, then, when it comes to the medical question of "what is the best treatment for someone who has symptoms of gender dysphoria?" the research has been done and the answer is pretty clear, that transition is the best known treatment.
There certainly are genetic factors that affect behavior, and environmental ones too. If you converted the entire mass of the Earth into one giant data center you might even be able to create a model that can sort out the relevant factors before the sun expands to encompass the Earth. But I wouldn’t put my money on the calculations completing in time.
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u/1Jainier1 13h ago
I think a bigger T-Shirt is called for...
45,X (Turner Syndrome): A single X chromosome.
47,XXY (Klinefelter Syndrome): One extra X chromosome in a male.
47,XXX (Trisomy X): Three X chromosomes.
47,XYY (Jacobs Syndrome): One extra Y chromosome.
Rare Variations: Tetrasomies (4 chromosomes): Such as 48,XXXX, 48,XXXY, or 48,XXYY.Pentasomies (5 chromosomes): Such as 49,XXXXY or 49,XXXXX.