Well, MSNBC certainly put the Pride behind its rainbow logo today! First was Meghan McCain calling out Rick Santorum's assholery; and now we have LGBT activist of the moment, Washington Governor Chris Gregoire, explaining her decision to introduce marriage equality legislation into the state next week. Video, after the break!
Stating that the whole separate but equal thing was tried in the 60s and doesn't work, Gov. Gregoire admits that her decision to support and fight for marriage equality has been a "journey for me" and a "journey for my state."
In related Washington state marriage equality news, thanks to attention directed to the state because of the governor's proposal, the Washington Center for Survey Research has released new data today from an October 2011 poll. New details from the survey show that "a substantial percentage of people who prefer ‘domestic partnership’ say they would vote yes to keep same sex marriage if passed by the legislature. Even some who do not personally support marriage say they would be okay with the state legislature passing same sex marriage.”
New stats from the survey also reveal that 54 percent of independents and 57 percent of moderates would support a marriage equality referendum.
Governor Gregoire of Washington is correct in her assertion, “The idea of separate but equal is not equal.” She has taken on the concept that all Americans deserve equal treatment. She may not know that there is a huge trove of scientific evidence that supports her contention because we in the scientific community have been silent. This article underscores the grievous and longstanding failure of the medical community to share with the general public the evidence that proves that sexual orientation and gender identity are determined well before birth and deserve accommodation in public law. In fact, sexuality and gender identity are biological and unchangeable, as congenital as handedness, height, hair color or shoe size. Following are some of the findings from more than 70 years of published scientific research that explain why:
In the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, the developing baby is exposed to variable levels of hormones that confer numerous traits, called “sexually dimorphic” traits. These include bone structure (men are usually taller, women have longer index fingers), certain brain structures, and certain physical and cognitive skills (men have better low-pitched hearing, better throwing skills; women better at linguistics). Along with this array of traits comes a sense of orientation (most prefer the opposite sex) and gender (most identify with their genital anatomy).
However, nature does not confer these traits in binary fashion. Instead they are expressed across a broad spectrum, with thousands of variations. More than fifty published research studies in the National Library of Medicine conclude that transgender people and homosexual men and women are born with traits closer to the center or opposite-gender end of that spectrum. They are born with a mix of stereotypically male and female orientation and identity, as well as cognitive and physiologic skills, bone anatomy and brain circuitry that are also more similar to the skills or features of the opposite sex. In fact, over 450 species have been documented to show homosexual activity or life-long pairings as evidence of their own spectrum of natural behavior.
Research confirms the link between early hormone exposure and sexually dimorphic traits. When a girl baby develops with a missing adrenal enzyme, the male hormone androgen accumulates in the baby’s blood. Most of these female infants will have boy-like play activity levels, bone structure, and up to half of the girls will later identify as lesbian. A few will be transgender. Furthermore, research shows that girls who had a boy co-twin in their mothers’ wombs have more male-like bone structure, and are more likely to identify as lesbian later in life. This is because the baby girl’s brain received some of her co-twin’s male hormones through their shared amniotic fluid membranes.
For baby boys, any subtle decrease in the usual level of androgens during the first part of pregnancy can increase his chance of becoming a gay male or transsexual. Seventeen published research reports have concluded that boys with many older brothers are more likely to be gay than boys with fewer older brothers. Why? Because every pregnant mother receives proteins from her baby boy’s blood that her body perceives as foreign, causing her to develop blocking antibodies to neutralize and remove them. With each successive boy pregnancy, the mother makes more blocking antibodies, progressively reducing the level of androgen exposure to each subsequent male child. In recognition of the scientific evidence, both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychiatric Association have issued policy statements confirming that sexual orientation and gender identity are biologically conferred.
Social responsibility is one of the core tenets of medicine. AMA Principles of Medical Ethics require physicians to “...recognize a responsibility to participate in activities contributing to the improvement of the community and the betterment of public health.” Accordingly, when the medical community possesses scientific information that is relevant to public debate and affects the health and welfare of certain societal groups, the leaders of the medical community have an obligation to disseminate this information to the public. Our medical institutions empowered to take a leadership role in public education and government advocacy must recognize and stand up to these responsibilities. It makes a difference for the community to know these facts. It is time for the medical community to educate our larger community and make America more American.
In the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, the developing baby is exposed to variable levels of hormones that confer numerous traits, called “sexually dimorphic” traits. These include bone structure (men are usually taller, women have longer index fingers), certain brain structures, and certain physical and cognitive skills (men have better low-pitched hearing, better throwing skills; women better at linguistics). Along with this array of traits comes a sense of orientation (most prefer the opposite sex) and gender (most identify with their genital anatomy).
However, nature does not confer these traits in binary fashion. Instead they are expressed across a broad spectrum, with thousands of variations. More than fifty published research studies in the National Library of Medicine conclude that transgender people and homosexual men and women are born with traits closer to the center or opposite-gender end of that spectrum. They are born with a mix of stereotypically male and female orientation and identity, as well as cognitive and physiologic skills, bone anatomy and brain circuitry that are also more similar to the skills or features of the opposite sex. In fact, over 450 species have been documented to show homosexual activity or life-long pairings as evidence of their own spectrum of natural behavior.
Research confirms the link between early hormone exposure and sexually dimorphic traits. When a girl baby develops with a missing adrenal enzyme, the male hormone androgen accumulates in the baby’s blood. Most of these female infants will have boy-like play activity levels, bone structure, and up to half of the girls will later identify as lesbian. A few will be transgender. Furthermore, research shows that girls who had a boy co-twin in their mothers’ wombs have more male-like bone structure, and are more likely to identify as lesbian later in life. This is because the baby girl’s brain received some of her co-twin’s male hormones through their shared amniotic fluid membranes.
For baby boys, any subtle decrease in the usual level of androgens during the first part of pregnancy can increase his chance of becoming a gay male or transsexual. Seventeen published research reports have concluded that boys with many older brothers are more likely to be gay than boys with fewer older brothers. Why? Because every pregnant mother receives proteins from her baby boy’s blood that her body perceives as foreign, causing her to develop blocking antibodies to neutralize and remove them. With each successive boy pregnancy, the mother makes more blocking antibodies, progressively reducing the level of androgen exposure to each subsequent male child. In recognition of the scientific evidence, both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychiatric Association have issued policy statements confirming that sexual orientation and gender identity are biologically conferred.
Social responsibility is one of the core tenets of medicine. AMA Principles of Medical Ethics require physicians to “...recognize a responsibility to participate in activities contributing to the improvement of the community and the betterment of public health.” Accordingly, when the medical community possesses scientific information that is relevant to public debate and affects the health and welfare of certain societal groups, the leaders of the medical community have an obligation to disseminate this information to the public. Our medical institutions empowered to take a leadership role in public education and government advocacy must recognize and stand up to these responsibilities. It makes a difference for the community to know these facts. It is time for the medical community to educate our larger community and make America more American.