Karen Bercovici’s March 5 guest column in the Gazette felt hurtful and mean spirited [“LGBTQ and the erasure of true female identity,” March 5]. The writer argues that transgender rights diminish the rights of the “LGB” community, and contends that “gender identity” has no scientific basis and is unsupported by evidence. The writer is a proud, progressive lesbian feminist, but that shouldn’t give someone permission to label all transgendered women as dangerous bullies who wish to silence the “L” in LGBTQ+.
The huge majority of us dealing with gender dysphoria are simply trying to find and be ourselves. We’re too busy seeking self-compassion to think about conspiring to usurp the female identity from lesbians or anyone else. The writer is free to express transphobic ideas, but should be called out for misinformation, such as claiming that children are harmed if permitted to believe they are transgender. That claim is dangerously wrong. Dozens of scientific articles cited on the National Institutes of Health website (NIH.gov) contain information such as this: “Data indicate that 82% of transgender individuals have considered killing themselves and 40% have attempted suicide, with suicidality highest among transgender youth” (Austin et al., 2020. Journal of Interpersonal Violence).
Thankfully, most lesbians do not agree with the hateful views expressed in the column. In 2019, editors from eight of the most prominent lesbian publications signed a joint statement in support of the trans community. There’s too much hatred spewing around these days. Please, let’s all look within, strive for compassion, and do what we can to lift one another up.
Stevie Dunn
Amherst