Roderic O’G: Transgender issues added to primary curriculum

It’s not transposing gender identity theory into law any more than prohibiting discrimination against a person on the grounds of gender or sex is transposing Feminism into law for example, or prohibiting discrimination against a person on the grounds of religion is transposing Christianity, Islam or Judaism into law.

Of the many implications which arise as a result of recognition of everyone’s right to their gender identity, the concept of “erosion of sex-based rights” isn’t one of them, because the concept of sex-based rights has never existed in the first place, certainly not in Ireland. There are exemptions in equality legislation which permits discrimination in certain circumstances, such as sports or indeed the provision of single-sex services, and those have continued to exist in Ireland even since the gender recognition act was introduced. I think if anything is being transposed here, it’s arguments from campaigners in other countries that don’t apply in Irish or European law.

Legislators were always going to go beyond what there was public support for, because Hunan Rights were never a popularity contest in the first place. It took numerous court cases before people who are transgender were recognised at a European level, then more years again before the GRA became legislation in Ireland, nearly 25 years. That was the actual era of no debate, because there was no public support for the idea, and politicians could get away with not having to legislate in Irish law to recognise the rights of people who are transgender and their existence as a social class in Irish society.

It was no different than had been done to women to refuse to recognise women as a social class by depriving them of equal recognition in Irish law, for fear by politicians of a backlash at the polls by men who were of the opinion that extending existing rights to women would deprive men of their rights. That’s not what was happening, any more than extending rights to people who are transgender deprives either men or women of any existing rights.

Caution is always taken in the teaching of anything to children to ensure that the material is age-appropriate and so on, and the curriculum is periodically reviewed to ensure that the material being taught is appropriate in preparing children to become socially aware responsible adults. It’s what’s meant by ensuring that children receive a minimum education, moral, intellectual and social, in accordance with the provisions of the Irish Constitution. It’s already been demonstrated that it’s necessary when adults are largely ignorant of the topic and imagine that they are permitted to discriminate against people on the basis of their being transgender, or on any of the other grounds of discrimination which are prohibited in Irish law.

What becomes clear is that some adults forget what they have learned in school and think only of themselves, and imagine that other people’s rights are irrelevant. The legislation exists to remind them of the fact that other people are entitled to equal protection in Irish law as they are. In an ideal world it shouldn’t be necessary to remind adults that other people exist, it’s already something they would have learned as children, they just didn’t care, and so the laws exist to protect other people from the harmful effects of their behaviour and attitudes towards others, in particular the idea that they imagine they can treat other people however they like, regardless of what the law says.

Nice timing...

A Trans person is a trans person & have every right to be just that,

Can they every fully transition NO its scientifically impossible,

It’s not a question of science, it’s a question of what you mean by ‘fully transition’.

Basically, being transgender doesn’t mean anything in relation to whether or not any psychological or medical intervention is required at all. It would be like suggesting that women can never fully transition to being regarded as men, it’s physically impossible, nothing whatsoever to do with science which is simply a tool used to observe, quantify and classify phenomena in nature.

Because women can’t fully transition to being men doesn’t mean that discrimination against women is justified, any more than discrimination against people who are transgender can be justified by arguing it’s physically impossible for them to transition to being women.

I’m not missing your point at all, completely understand where you’re coming from, but Irish law doesn’t suggest that women can become men or vice versa, it does nothing more than recognise that people have the right to be protected from discrimination on the grounds of gender, in the same manner as it recognises that people have the right to be protected from discrimination on any of the other eight grounds in equality legislation such as religion, disability, membership of the traveller community, etc.

You argue that we live in a reality based world, yet refuse to acknowledge that it’s because we live in a reality based world where people can’t be obligated to accept everyone and make everyone feel loved, is the reason equality legislation exists - you don’t have to accept and love everyone, but you can’t discriminate against people unlawfully either based upon your own made-up beliefs about other people.

I certainly don’t have any interest in that hippy dippy accept and love everyone guff, but it’s good to know that I cannot be discriminated against on grounds of religion or disability, and for the last 7 years at least, I can’t be discriminated against on the grounds of gender either because the law was made up to reflect the reality of the existence of people who are transgender. It’s something which captures my interest because I’m interested in Human Rights, which are far more important and influential in governing society than any argument that people should only be granted rights based upon the limitations of their physiology.