Our examination of human history reveals an ancient understanding that any baby born out of a woman’s womb comes equipped with sexual organs that "assign" either male or female identity to that newborn child.
In recent years, some people have re-defined sexual identity by other criteria. In their belief, sexual identity is determined as a matter of choice by each individual.
Our collective, contemporary attitudes about this sexual identity revision reveals a difference of opinion among various groups in society.
This development in our society is relatively new, controversial, and furthermore, it is divisive. There have been many contentious incidents surrounding these re-definitions, and how the differences are manifested in our institutions, especially the schools.
But we can, as Americans, resolve these differences peacefully—and we can negotiate and litigate peacefully through the many institutional disputes that surround redefining sexual identity.
I submit to you that this gender identity issue is so fundamental to human experience, and yet presently disruptive, that the two diverging definitive positions constitute two different—for lack of a better word— religions.
For the sake of simplicity, let’s just say that those citizens who believe in individualized sexual identity are progressives.
And those citizens who retain the orthodox definitions we call traditionalists.
Any institutional disputes that arise are—and ought to be— resolved by referring to our Constitution’s First Amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the exercise thereof. . .
Rights of gender non-conformity, trans, drag, LGBTQ, et al are as fundamental for their proponents as religious issues are for traditionalists.
The differences are so deep that they amount to two different religions, and therefore are both defensible in the context of the 1st Amendment.
They are not, however, standards of behavior to be universally imposed on school children.
While tolerance ought to be encouraged in every area of life, in recent years, any possible resolution of these disputes has been confounded by lumping the issues of sexual identity with issues surrounding racial equality, under a uselessly vague term, “woke.”
These two areas of "identity" are fundamentally different. One originates in nature; the other in human belief.
We have a long, very complicated, violent working out of the racial equality issues. Education about these historically divisive contentions— the historic struggle, the civil war, the societal and legal establishment of civil rights— is the key to establishing societal correction and tolerance. It is not a dispute about Religion, but about equality before the Law.
The relevant Constitutional Right is stated in our 13th Amendment:
“Neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude. . . shall exist within the United States. . .”
. . . and our 14th Amendment: . . .No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
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