It was reported last week that the CBC had cancelled a showing of the BBC documentary Transgender Kids: Who Knows Best?. They appear to have done so because there has been a substantial amount of controversy over this film and its discussion of how we, as a society should respond to pre-puberty children who identify themselves as being transgender. To CBC’s credit, this morning they ran two separate opinion pieces -one arguing that CBC was wrong to pull the documentary and the other that it was right. One piece seems to support the view that children have lots of time to make such a decision and therefore should not be encouraged (or perhaps even allowed- I am not sure) to start any process, while the other seems to have evolved from the position that people, including children know their own bodies/minds the best and therefore we need to trust their feelings. One opinion piece argued that the data presented by the documentary was scientifically based and valid, the other argued the exact opposite. In both opinion pieces, part of the problem for me was that both authors wanted to argue the validity of the information presented in the film to a public that had not seen the film or the data. Not the best way to convince me of anything.
I just don’t know who is correct. I don’t know which side to believe. While I fully accept the reality that there are some people who feel as if (and therefore they have) been born into the wrong sex, I am not sure when people/children become aware enough of themselves and others that they can “know” with any degree of certainty. I do not know how one interviews/counsels a young child who has expressed some concern or the absolute conviction that this is true without subtly affecting or shaping their thoughts. I can’t imagine how parents make or help their children make these decisions.
The last thing I would want to do is to deny a person’s perception of themselves or in anyway, shape or form make them feel that those feeling are unnatural or an aberration of society or cultural norms. Any process that does that is quite simply wrong. On the other hand, to assume that there is only one way to look at and respond to the issue, and that any attempt to engage in a dialogue examining any other way is automatically discriminatory, is counter-productive. Worse than that it creates a polarity that make it difficult for people to find solutions.
People like me, and I suspect the vast majority of Canadians, have only a marginal interest in this topic. I accept that it is a reality; that for some people, being able to be who they feel they are is critical to their mental health and in fact their entire well-being. The only required response from me should be - what can I do to make this path easier for you? If someone needs a portion of my tax dollars to pay for supplements or surgery - you have got my vote; if you need to have our laws changed so that you are safe and that it is against the law for you to be discriminated against - where do I sign the petition? But if the general population are to be informed citizens, if we are to participate in this discussion - then someone needs to provide us with more information; information that is as unbiased as possible; information that is both nonjudgmental and non-lecturing in format.
Like so many of the medical and social advances of the last 20-30 years, the leaders, the innovators have charged ahead - leaving many of us far behind in our understanding of their new realities. Policies have been created and public opinion shaped (or at least we have been told what we should believe) without any public conversation. That is not the best way to build a consensus or a caring society.
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