http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/biology-teacher-transphobia_us_58b9cb01e4b0b99894177b63

A New York biology teacher clapped back at a transphobic Facebook meme with a brilliant, scientifically based exposition that’s now going viral.

Grace Pokela, who teaches at Arlington High School in Lagrangeville, New York, said she spotted the meme, which argued, “Being one sex but thinking you’re the other is a psychological disorder,” and that support of those who identify as transgender was “sociopathy,” on Wednesday. She took a screenshot of the meme, which can be found below.

For Pokela, who identifies as gay, that was the final straw. The 33-year-old put her knowledge of human genetics to use and wrote a lengthy response to the person who posted the meme.

“You can be male because you were born female, but you have 5-alpha reductase deficiency and so you grew a penis at age 12. You can be female because you have an X and a Y chromosome but you are insensitive to androgens, and so you have a female body,” she wrote, before concluding, “Don’t use science to justify your bigotry. The world is way too weird for that sh*t.”

She then shared the post in full on her own Facebook page, where it has since received over 12,000 shares and 15,000 responses.

Pokela, who is originally from South Dakota, told The Huffington Post that she felt compelled to respond to the Facebook user because of the amount of conservative voters who she felt had “manipulated facts” to fit their agenda on social media. Based on the information presented in the meme, she added, it was clear that the user who posted it “wasn’t a scientist or an educator, and in fact had no interest in science” at all.

“The fact that a group of people would deny evolution, deny global warming, and deny basic principals of ecology but then turn around and use science to support their bigotry,” she said, “was something I found repellent.”

The teacher told HuffPost that she’d previously posted other “rants” about racial and environmental issues on Facebook. The transgender post, however, was the first to receive such a massive response, which thus far has been “so positive.”

Ultimately, Pokela hopes the post will “empower” others.

“I had someone say that I had changed her mind,” she said. “I’m paraphrasing, but she basically said, ‘Before today, my heart wasn’t transphobic, but my mind was. You made something click for me today.’ That was incredibly special.”

She then added, “Seriously, if you are ignorant about something, please err on the side of tolerance.”

Just IMO though.

I just commented this on a transphobic post that was all like, "In a sexual species, females have two X chromosomes and males have an X and a Y, I'm not a bigot it's just science." I'm a science teacher so I responded with this.
First of all, in a sexual species, you can have females be XX and males be X (insects), you can have females be ZW and males be ZZ (birds), you can have females be females because they developed in a warm environment and males be males because they developed in a cool environment (reptiles), you can have females be females because they lost a penis sword fighting contest (some flatworms), you can have males be males because they were born female, but changed sexes because the only male in their group died (parrotfish and clownfish), you can have males look and act like females because they are trying to get close enough to actual females to mate with them (cuttlefish, bluegills, others), or you can be one of thousands of sexes (slime mold, some mushrooms.) Oh, did you mean humans? Oh ok then. You can be male because you were born female, but you have 5-alphareductase deficiency and so you grew a penis at age 12. You can be female because you have an X and a Y chromosome but you are insensitive to androgens, and so you have a female body. You can be female because you have an X and a Y chromosome but your Y is missing the SRY gene, and so you have a female body. You can be male because you have two X chromosomes, but one of your X's HAS an SRY gene, and so you have a male body. You can be male because you have two X chromosomes- but also a Y. You can be female because you have only one X chromosome at all. And you can be male because you have two X chromosomes, but your heart and brain are male. And vice - effing - versa. Don't use science to justify your bigotry. The world is way too weird for that shit.

Just IMO though.

The perfect response.

_______________________________

))<>((
forever.

We might as well go full retard and push trans racial.

I'm waiting for transhumanism where are the humanoid robots?

<----

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>We might as well go full retard and push trans racial.
>
>I'm waiting for transhumanism where are the humanoid robots?
>
>

Humans aren't all the same. There's a better argument for diversity being normal than what you're suggesting.

Just IMO though.

especially in "developed" and "western" nations.

Hormones that control sexuality are created by endocrine system... guess what system has had all kinds of diseases popping up in the last few decades.... The enodcrine system.

I could keep going but I just say do some research.

<----

Soundcloud.com/aquil84

(HIP HOP)
http://aquil.bandcamp.com

that chimpanzees evolved from humans.

First off they are using the concept of gender and sex interchangeably when they are not.

I think the debate should boil down to whether bathroom should be confined to people of the same sex or the same gender?

I also think it's a terrible debate because I really don't think you can come up with a brightline rule, I really think the answer is "it depends".




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"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"

Anyone can say someone's not making sense. Only demonstrating how in reference to their argument substantiates the claim.


>First off they are using the concept of gender and sex
>interchangeably when they are not.

Where, exactly, did they do that? All I saw was reference to physical phenomena in humans that highlights the problematic reasoning of the original statement they were critiquing.

>
>I think the debate should boil down to whether bathroom should
>be confined to people of the same sex or the same gender?

I don't think her statement touches the bathroom issue.

>
>I also think it's a terrible debate because I really don't
>think you can come up with a brightline rule, I really think
>the answer is "it depends".
>

Just IMO though.

Let's start with the first statement, "being one sex but thinking you're the other is a psychological disorder".


But is being transgendered mean that you are one sex and think you are the other sex? If sex is defined as biology, does a transgendered women really believe she has a XY chromosome when she really has an XX? A Penis when she really has a Vagina in fact?

Or is it that a transgendered person identifies with the GENDER of the opposite sex?

A person born a man can wear womens clothes and make-up and have sex with men but that doesn't necessarily think they are the opposite sex.

Let's go even further and say that a man has a sex change operation. The first point is if they literally thought they were the opposite sex there would be no need for a sex change and secondly if they had a sex change then wouldn't they be the opposite sex in fact?


Second statement: There use of science speak is fine but then they get to the almost final sentence, "And you can be male because you have two X chromosomes, but your heart and brain are male."

Where is the science in that? I don't think talk of hearts and soul really can be part of a scientific discussion. Also, are there really male hearts and brains OR are humans diverse enough that a Woman can identify with characteristics typically attributable to men? Shouldn't we be more flexible in our definitions of sexual biology that encompasses the range of feminine and masculine that can be attributed to a sex?


Ultimately, I think transgenderism is a product of our inflexibility around gender and sex issues, not our flexibility.



**********
"Everyone has a plan until you punch them in the face. Then they don't have a plan anymore." (c) Mike Tyson

"what's a leader if he isn't reluctant"