At Asians, Inc., "Winning Dude" got all upset over this news item:

4th Grade girl to become a boy
WTF?

Mom Says Youngster Has Male Brain

UPDATED: 12:34 pm EST March 4, 2005

METHUEN, Mass. -- A fourth-grader who was attending a Massachusetts elementary school as a girl before February vacation has returned to school as a boy.

The parents of the 9-year-old child said the youngster was born with the body of a girl, but the brain of a boy.

They have asked that he be referred to and treated as a boy by teachers and other students, and school officials are accommodating the request. The parents have even changed the child's name.

The child's mother told The Eagle-Tribune that the family made the decision after consulting with medical professionals. She said the child is still biologically a girl.

The mother has requested that the family not be identified to protect the child.

School Superintendent C. Phillip Littlefield said there is nothing harmful about the child being in the school.

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"What's this world coming to? She's still a girl for goodness sakes!"

Ironically enough, this crotchety comment was followed by the tagline:

"A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger."-Bible - Proverbs 15:1.

My response:

What Are Little Boys Made Of?

It's actually quite interesting. Once upon a time, boys born with malformed genitals were routinely given surgery and raised as girls, but many of them never became reconciled to girlhood, and struggled growing up, trying to fit in. They reported that they simply "knew" they were boys. Most chose to live as men when they grew up (surgery to create semi-plausible female genitalia is easier than penis construction, so a female gender was chosen for all of them).

The really interesting part is, this is exactly how transgendered people who have no known physical abnormalities also describe themselves: "I don't care what I look like, I know what I am!"

Quite possibly, trans people will eventually turn out to have brain abnormalities that cause them to feel that way. In any event, it will never do any good to try to force them to live as the "wrong" gender.

This child's parents are apparently trying to get ahead of the curve by accepting his self-identified gender. Try to be understanding and not give them a hard time, okay?