On Feb. 16, the Emerald published a news article, a column, and an editorial, all focusing on transgender identity. Each piece portrayed transgender people as victims of bigotry. In the editorial, advocating legal protection for transgender people, The Emerald wrote: “We must educate ourselves about this issue.”
I agree wholeheartedly.
A full understanding of this issue can only be gained by exposure to diverse viewpoints, like that of Paul McHugh, Director of Psychiatry at John Hopkins Medical School. McHugh states that, “We in the Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Department eventually concluded that human sexual identity is mostly built into our constitution by the genes we inherit and the embryogenesis we undergo” (First Things, November 2004). He views transexuality as a serious medical condition, writing that “We have to learn how to manage this condition as a mental disorder” (The American Scholar, Autumn 1992). A mental disorder? Such a statement would be denounced as hate speech on this campus. But McHugh’s claims do not arise from hate, they arise from science.
If the Emerald wants to educate the campus on transgender identity, it will need to discuss the issue in depth. And if that offends transgender people on this campus, so be it. The role of a university is not to tolerate all ideas and lifestyles. Rather, the proper role of a university is to examine all ideas, celebrating the good and discarding the bad. Debunking the myth that transexuality is natural would be a good place to start.
–Joe Bailey, Freshman