r/unitedkingdom • u/PinkNews Verified Media Outlet • 7d ago

Keir Starmer says he doesn’t want schools teaching young people about transgender identities ...

https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/06/25/keir-starmer-trans-education-general-election-2024/
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u/j0kerclash 7d ago

If your gender is about how you perceive your own identity, then surely it is what you think?

There isn't going to be a situation where you are trans but don't think that you are. That's just someone pushing their judgement of what they think your gender is onto you.

A choice to be gay isn't comparable, imo because there are clearly defined physiological responses to arousal that determine sexuality, whereas gender is a social construct with the person's gender determined by the person's own subjective view of themselves.

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u/opaldrop 7d ago edited 7d ago

Gender as a social construct is not the same concept as gender identity. You can't choose whether you're dysphoric or not. It's as much an innate response to ones own body as sexual identity is to other people's bodies.

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u/j0kerclash 7d ago

You can't choose your beliefs either.

Either you believe something to be the case, or you don't.

and the OP that I responded to defined Ideology as a belief.

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u/opaldrop 7d ago

In a determinist sense you don't "choose" belief, but belief is malleable. Most people shift through beliefs many times over the course of their lives.

All evidence we have points to the conclusion that gender identity is immutable. You can choose not to transition and try to cope with dysphoria in other ways just like you can choose to go against your sexuality if you're gay, but you can't choose whether or not to have it in the first place. It's completely different to an ideology.