The College Fix

Doesn’t understand science of intersex

Even though it is clearly established there are only two sexes, a biology professor remains convinced that “trans students benefit from gender-inclusive classrooms” and so does the “science.”

“Invoking biology is a way to sound objective, but it’s not so simple,” Professor Sarah Eddy writes, in response to legislation defining sex based on biological fact. “Science itself is still grappling with the nature of sex and gender.”

“[The work of Eddy and another researcher] and that of our colleagues show that teaching sex and gender more accurately in classrooms benefits not only gender-diverse students but all students and the field of science,” the Florida International University professor wrote in The Conversation.

But what Eddy (pictured) means by “more accurately” is really “less accurately,” in the same way “gender-affirming” means “affirming someone’s gender delusions.”

The biological sciences professor then falls back on a favorite argument of scholars who claim people can change sexes – intersex individuals.

“The continuum of human sex is illustrated by the experiences of intersex individuals,” she wrote. “For nearly two out of every 100 people, a binary definition of sex would not work. People who are intersex don’t have chromosomes, hormones or internal and external genitalia that completely match cultural expectations of what males and females should look like.”

There’s a few ways this argument is wrong.

First, let us reverse her argument – even using her logic, in 98 percent of people, a binary definition of sex would work.

Second, we can see she mixes and matches two ways of thinking when the professor talks about biology (chromosomes) and sociology (“cultural expectations”).

While it is true intersex people often have abnormal genitalia, that does not break the sex binary.

LifeSiteNews’ Jeremy Williamson, who is intersex, explains it this way: “While an intersex person with a Y chromosome may have the outward appearance of female genitalia, they are incapable of producing an egg because they never received the code to produce an egg,” he wrote. “That intersex person may look like a female, and behave like a female, but they are and have always been from conception, male.”

Some common intersex conditions include micropenis or an enlarged clitoris, neither of which makes someone the opposite sex.

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But to Professor Eddy, the “science” doesn’t have clear answers. “Overall, science does not have a definitive answer for how to define sex and gender in people that lawmakers can draw upon – science only indicates that these traits are nuanced and complex,” she writes.

Yet for years policymakers have been able to draft laws such as Title IX, which differentiate between men and women. The proposed Equal Rights Amendment did not feel the need to list 57 genders. And for all of human history, individuals have found ways to pair up with each other to procreate, despite not having the academic pedigree of an FIU professor.

Finally, the professor pivots to another favored argument – not embracing gender ideology will lead to mental health problems for gender-confused kids. “Trans and nonbinary students reported feeling isolated and uncomfortable in biology courses that teach sex and gender only as a binary,” Eddy wrote.

Amazingly, society is told that individuals who identify as transgender are perfectly rational human beings who at the age of 13 can make fully informed decisions to remove healthy body parts but if they don’t get their way they’ll feel “isolated” and will kill themselves. Which one is true? Both can’t be.

Basic biology informs us that sex is binary, and even Professor Eddy at least acknowledges it is 98 percent accurate in identifying sex.

That is not an “oversimplified” claim as she might say – it is just the truth.

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IMAGE: Florida International University

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