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Healthcare

I see patients who declare their sex to be female but turn out to be biologically male with male genitalia.

I care about this issue because the silencing of women/removal of women’s sex based rights to prioritise the feelings of a tiny number of men who decide they are women is unfair. I support trans people’s right, just like anyone else’s right, to be safe from harassment and abuse and to live their life in peace, but this should not be to the detriment of women and girls. I am also concerned about the erasure of lesbian women and girls and the transing of children.

As a medical professional I am increasingly concerned about the conflagration of sex to gender. On medical forms we increasingly now have to ask someone their gender not their sex and I have personally examined patients who declare their sex to be female but turn out to be biologically male with male genitalia.

Why are we afraid/unable to ask someone what their sex is?

I have raised this with my employer. I examine people intimately and I want to know whether they have male or female genitalia in advance. This affects my preparation for the examination and the equipment I need. The gender question on referral forms and medical forms does not tell me this. This is embarrassing and unacceptable for trans patients as well as medical staff so they are not getting best care. It also affects statistics if gender is used instead of sex to describe the patient in medical records.

I have been VERY careful to frame my concerns in terms of a lack of good care for trans patients rather than my wider gender critical views.

Adult Human Female , Gender Critical Medic