Republican lawmaker compares parents of trans kids to Nazis

1SG (Join to see) - I turned out OK.
Also, I would point out that female circumcision is an act that completely removes sex organs, not just some superfluous skin.
There is really no equivalency here. But nice try on working in yet another counter-religion argument.

1SG (Join to see) I hate to have to say it but your statement shows you haven't bothered to research anything against your position. The old senior nco in me would dare not squander away this teachable moment. The world health organization estimates that Clitoridectomies have been performed on 200 million women and girls that are currently living. This religious practice is not complete removal of the sex organ. There are other barbaric methods used by the religious involving the genitalia of young boys and girls and I will leave it to you to do some more research. So nice try at defending the barbaric and cultish practice of religion. Luckily I was spared from this barbarism and spared my 18 and 16 yr old sons from it. We have gone on just fine. You say you turned out ok and that is fine and well indeed. Unfortunately because of the practice you speak so warmly of, tens of thousands of male and female children have died wretched deaths from this practice mainly from infection. This is not a secular practice but a religious one. There is no need to counter this contemptible practice or to hold religion in contempt for their endorsement of the "divinely inspired" cutting of the genitalia.

1SG (Join to see) - In point of fact, when I was in Africa a few years ago I dealt with this issue firsthand. In the case of Somalis, Nubians, and Ogedan (East Ethiopia) people, this was not really a religious practice at all, as it spanned Muslims, anamists, and Coptic Christian communities. It was rather a cultural thing, maintained by tribes and clans, to maintain control over their females.
It is indeed a barbaric practice.
However, I find even this practice not analogous to sex reassignment surgery, which is what this post is about.

I am sure that you feel your google research is superior to my firsthand experience and years of cultural expertise. We shall just have to agree to disagree.

1SG (Join to see) very well then. My first hand experience of africa is limited to Senegal and Liberia. But I did have a my disposal a diplomat who has over 20 years of experience in Africa. Agree to disagree it is my friend.

Parents should not be allowed to make modifications to a child's body. Like circumcision, gender reassignment, etc. That decision should be left to the individual upon reaching whatever the legal age of consent is.

1SG (Join to see) - As always, you bring solid arguments to the debate. Let's be clear- medical science has alleviated much human suffering. Infant male circumcision is a proven preventative against early urinary tract infection, and later risk of STD infection...which is possibly why it emerged as a cultural/religious practice among the Hebrews (much of whose Mosaic "laws" center on health). Infants born with "ambiguous genitalia" are a statistically rare (about .1%) variation science has linked to everything from hormonal imbalances (we can all speculate on internal/ external causes) to maternal cancers...and is treated in a variety of ways. What distinguishes this condition from "gender dysphoria" is that the child will often have (based on chromosomal prevalence) a functional male or female system, partially inhibited by some partial or non-functional attributes of the opposite gender. In this sense, genetics, and not psychology, determine which gender is predominant, and therefore offer the best options for a fully complete sexual identity. Naturally, psychology comes into play later in life, when the knowledge of the performance of such a procedure is introduced. According to some statistics, among those diagnosed with ambiguous genitalia at birth, only about .002% later claim GD. If society then fosters the notion that such identity is fluid...this may explain the current variation in estimates of total transgender population, which according to some studies can be as low as .3% to as high as 2.2% by region. For my own part, this clearly segregates the two conditions.

LCDR Joshua Gillespie - To be clear, it is still widely debated if circumcision is necessary. I was spared by my parents from it and spared my 18 and 16 year old sons from it. We are all healthy. But nearly all Muslim males and 90% of followers of Judaism were religiously obligated to have the procedure done. The religious reason for the procedure is quite different than the medical one.

1SG (Join to see) - Those are valid points. from the Christian perspective, I think I'm correct in stating that it is not a question of strict adherence to Mosaic law (one could make the argument that many 1st Century Christians, being Gentiles...were not, and needed not be). I know that the decision for my son was made mostly on the basis of the physician's recommendations.