6/3/24 Post with Sources

In honor of pride month, here's some relevant research on sexuality, gender, and sex, especially relevant as we've seen a recent wave of discriminatory policies, especially targeting young people and trans people [1], which have (and will) result in needless death.

LGBT+ people experience discrimination to a greater degree and frequency than other populations [2], so this is an important discussion to have.

On sexuality, our DNA can't predict sexuality, and it can't be pinned down by biological, psychological or life experiences because attraction is decided by all of these in concert [3]. Bi people are the most likely to have their identity invalidated by people across backgrounds, and it has serious impacts on their wellbeing, identity, and relationships [4].

On biological sex: that isn't binary either, instead, contemporary researchers describe it as a bimodal continuum, or sex spectrum [5]. This spectrum also exists across species [6] and is explored across fields and internationally, through varying definitions of sex [7][8][9].

On trans people; this isn't a new phenomenon, and has existed across cultures for thousands of years, stretching back through recorded human history [10]. Despite this long history, than 500 anti-trans pieces of legislation have been introduced across most states, aimed at restricting the rights of trans people to access employment, public/civic life, and health care [11], many of which especially targeting children, which causes a significant increase in child and adolescent depression, suicidality, and mortality [12][13].

[1] https://www.hrc.org/campaigns/the-state-legislative-attack-on-lgbtq-people

[2] https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25877/understanding-the-well-being-of-lgbtqi-populations

[3] https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aat7693

[4] https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25877/understanding-the-well-being-of-lgbtqi-populations

[5] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-020-00968-8

[6] https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0238256

[7] https://philarchive.org/rec/RIFSBD

[8] https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-19-5359-0_10

[9] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5399245

[10] https://www.historians.org/research-and-publications/perspectives-on-history/may-2018/what-is-trans-history-from-activist-and-academic-roots-a-field-takes-shape

[11] https://www.arcusfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/lgbt-rural-report.pdf

[12] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9778603/

[13] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajcp.12553