Colin's Last Stand, Episode 12: The Transgender (and Transracial?) Pursuit of Happiness

Catching up on old episodes. Had to share my thoughts on this one. Here's my take. I don't have a problem with someone wanting to "identify" as a man or a woman. Go crazy. I don't care at all. I'll respect your decision entirely. But if you already feel that way then why mutilate your genitals and destroy your body with hormones? Ultimately, that's your choice too though, and people destroy their bodies in all kinds of ways. Welcome to America. The biggest problem, which Colin I feel you glossed over too much, is children. Parents are shoving hormones into their children at ages as young as 3 because they want to show everyone how woke they are. It's fucking absurd. Three year olds have no concept of gender. I think any parent that does that to their fucking kid should be charged with felony child abuse. Any doctor that is involved should be barred from practice and charged with felony child abuse. It's gotten so ridiculous that shows like Modern Family (which I used to enjoy) are celebrating 8 year old transgender kids. The whole thing has gotten out of control. Once you're 18, you can do what you want with your body. But before that, when you have no idea what you're talking about, you simply should not be subjected to extremely harmful mutilations of your body because your parents want Facebook likes. Second, I think the bigger issue isn't so much what people do with their own body or how they identify, it's the effect on others. Like the bathroom laws. I don't think that fathers of young daughters are being ridiculous by saying, "I don't want someone to simply 'identify' as a woman and be able to watch my daughter pee." I get that. That's not unreasonable. I don't have the answer here, sounds like a state issue. But if you're trying to promote acceptance then shoving your views down peoples throats and calling them bigots if they don't agree isn't the way to do it. Trans-racial issues. Colin I hope you do another video on this because I think your logic is entirely inconsistent. How does someone identifying as a race affect you anymore than identifying as a gender? If someone identifies as a woman, but is biologically a man, they didn't have "female" experiences growing up (unless their parents are assholes, see above). If we're going to let people call themselves whatever they like, which is fine, then we need to at least be consistent, which brings me to my last point... Don't make me pay for your shit. If you want gender reassignment surgery, go ahead. Just don't make me pay for it. Here's where a lot of the argument really breaks down for the left. On one hand "it's not a mental illness, this is who I really am"--on the other hand "you need to pay for my surgery because this is a medical condition." You have to be consistent. This goes to transracial issues too. Be whatever race you want, but get rid of affirmative action and other race-based programs. Those programs should be based on income anyway, not race. In law school a classmate who's parents owned their own jet got a full-ride and a minority clerkship because his mom was hispanic. Those opportunities could have actually gone to someone who needed them.

James Young

I'm just catching up on old episodes so sorry for reviving old threads, but how does your argument not translate perfectly to transgender? A man claiming to be a woman didn't have the same experiences that a woman had. They have no biological ties to women's suffrage for example.

James Young

Sports is the big one for me. Colin look into MMA Fighter Fallon Fox. You want to talk about red tape and some questioning? Combat Sports has been my families business for generations and like you said no offense but there is a clear difference in male and female genes athletically. I've seen young amateur males get the better of top ranked professional female MMA fighters in sparring due to just that. So to think of the situation you describe in the video and adding something like a cage fight to the mix is something that will never ever have my support. Also the excuse of them being adults and signing contracts and both sides agreeing knowingly heading into a bout is something I've heard, seen, and totally understand. However another good read is Ametuer Wrestling champion Mack Beggs. Who won a Texas Girls State Championship while identifying as a male. The state wouldn't allow him to compete as a male even though he had began taking the hormones, steroids, etc to allow him to properly transition to the male gender. So here we have a bunch of High School girls getting literally beaten on by someone who is not only just identifying as a male but also taking the steroids and hormones to support just that. Both situations I can never see myself supporting but find absolutely fascinating none the less.

Chad Lewis

Well, I agree with you. I brought up the police officer, more in relation to gender and how we see things as black or white a lot of times when there may be an underlying percentage that we don't often consider. If a man is nearly a fifth African, but looks white, is he required to "act" white and say he is white. That was more what I was getting at. In Rachael Dolezal's case, we do not (as far as I am aware) know her genetic makeup, so it is a bit of a different issue, agreed.

Eric Iverson

I agree with your overall premise but with stipulations. I agree that we all have the right to do whatever we want with our lives and the government and others should not impede this right to freedom. I do adamantly disagree with the idea that a juvenile can decide to irreparably damage their body with either surgery or hormone therapy. I think that once you are 18 and are mentally mature enough, you have every right to do that, but these parents that are providing medical treatment to children are irresponsible. Mr. Shaprio loves to throw around a stat that nearly 80% of children who experience gender dysphoria, revert back eventually. If that statistic is even remotely true, then providing medical treatment to these kids is totally unethical.

Couldn't agree more that trans people should have all the same rights as everyone else but the govt has no right to force vocabulary on us. I express tolerance for the LGBTQ way of life and they should reciprically express tolerance for my choice of vocabulary.

Hey guys! While I do agree 110% with Colin that every person has the god given right to pursuit their happiness I don't agree with the way that the left is trying to tackle this transgender issue. In countries like Canada they are writtin legislature to force people to use a made up pronoun and that seems a bit too far for me. What do you guys think of this? Should the goverment force people to alter their language to "protect" trangenders?

Jonathan Perez

See my comment below. If I may Colin, I assume my response explains your conflict.

Jimmy Valentine

This is different to me than the woman Colin was talking about. You'd have to ask the guy what he feels like. He's mixed. I'm a mutt. I have family from all over. But I identify as white even though I have some ancestors from places not in Europe. Being 100% European "white" and claiming to be Asian, from an ancestry perspective, doesn't compute. You can claim whatever you want, but your ancestors are not from that area. What you brought up is a gray area to me. That's why these things are complicated. :)

Jimmy Valentine

Thank you for watching. People out there that hate me and have an illustration of me would never dare expose themselves to something that would objectively alter their perspective.

Colin Moriarty

I'm conflicted in many ways too, but I've best tried to describe where I am. I think, often lost in the confusion, is the fact that these are real people.The politicization of their plight is, to me, not cool. And that goes for both sides.

Colin Moriarty

I'd also like to add that if someone did claim they were Armenian and went on and on about the genocide without having any really attachment, it would bother me for a whole two seconds and I'd get over. It would take a lot for me to really care. :)

Jimmy Valentine

The person above me is correct. There is technically one human race. We all understand that, but society uses the term so we use it. I 100% agree with Colin. I don't care what someone does as long as it doesn't infringe on anyone else. I think transgender rights are as important as gay rights and other rights. I'd add gun rights there too. If you're not hurting anyone, why do people care? I never understood that. Now, when it comes to "race" or really nationality/where your ancestors are from, I am of two minds. It doesn't affect me when someone claims to be whatever race they want. With that said, that person can claim to be whatever they want, but they don't have that shared experience of being connected to something. For example, I'm partially Greek and Armenian. Turkey went after Armenians during the Armenian genocide and a part of my family moved to America because of that. Turkey also went after the Greeks. Someone can claim to be Armenian, but they don't have the right to claim they have feelings attached to the Armenian genocide. That's robbing my family members who went through that and passed the stories of the experience down to me. Just like I can't claim to be Korean and then say the Korean war is something that affected me or my family the same way as someone who went through the war and has children that grew up hearing and learning about it. It's interesting because I also think we get this mixed up with ideas. For example, I'm a very proud American and have family that were in the United States during the revolution. I have an attachment to that. I have family that are Canadian and then came to America, but I have no attachment to Canada whatsoever. I'm more proud of the ideals I believe America stands for then just being from here. On the other hand, one of my friends, whose family immigrated from Africa is just as proud to be an American as I am, but would never claim to have family who brought the idea about, but does have an attachment to the idea and anything great the United States does from when his family came here on. That's just my opinion. Sorry for any typos or errors. I typed this on my phone and it won't let me scroll back up. Whenever I hit enter, it posts. Thanks!

Jimmy Valentine

Is this man black or white? <a href="http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/michigan-cop-claims-coworkers-harassed-him-after-dna-test-revealed-hes-18-percent-black" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/michigan-cop-claims-coworkers-harassed-him-after-dna-test-revealed-hes-18-percent-black</a>

Eric Iverson

Additionally, if someone is 10% African ancestry when doing a gene study, are they black? Are they white? Are they both? Do they get to choose what they identify as? Does it really matter? Again..... all the same race, but certain physical characteristics would have manifested over others, and those physical characteristics may not be the ones that person feels more in touch with. Think of gender and physical sex the same way.

Eric Iverson

Transrace is not as hard to wrap your head around when you realize we have mislabeled what race actually is. There is only one human race. We are all Homo Sapiens. That is our race. When Rachel Dolezal changes "race" she is really not changing anything but her skin tone, hair quality, and behavior (for example). She was not born black.... but if she wants to call herself so.... who cares? Again... it affects none of us. The differences of what we consider race, come down to genetic characteristic traits, and while they are hereditary, they are not unique. A black person and a white person can have a child and pass those "racial traits" down to their child and they will mix just fine... because they are simply characteristics of the same race. Sex cannot be mixed. You will either have a male or a female child. So sex manifests itself in physical characteristics unique to one or the other binary, but like "race," the GENDER is not binary. Gender is more about the role that individual plays in their society - how they think in their head. It is about behavior, psychological, and societal traits and not physical characteristics (see "gender" definition at webster.com). I think a big part of all of this comes down to people not understanding the words that are being used. Race is being used erroneously, as is gender. People think black and white are races, and they think sex and gender are the same thing. Both of those statements are false. Black and white are the SAME race, sex and gender refer to two different things. An individual is physically born male, of that there is no question, but if their gender is female (the behavioral role they identify as in their mind), they may choose sexual reassignment surgery for their physical traits to match their phycological - or they may just act the part. (see how I use the word "they" there and it isn't a big deal?) Who are we to say which one is the correct one, the physical or the mental? Were genes that made up their physical bodies correct and gave them certain sexual characteristics? Or were the genes that made up their brain and made them feel more comfortable in a certain gender role? Again, it comes down to that persons own private liberty.

Eric Iverson

I've been thinking about the transgender vs transrace topic a lot recently, and I don't think they're that different biologically, just in how they manifest. The issue is that regardless of whether or not gender dysphoria is a biological trait, it is still identified by behavior, whereas race is genealogical and phenotypical. Short of some sort of skin surgery, Dolezal will only be taking part in elements of black culture, she won't be black.

Josh Squires

I enjoyed the message here, but it seemed a bit too long-format for my liking. Brevity is the soul of wit. I agree pretty much on both points, and it brought something to light for me that you didn't really touch on but implied in your thoughts on trans-race. I think we need to be truly equal across all (both...let's be honest: there's only two) genders before it's acceptable to cross between them. Same for race: we need to reach an equality across them all before we can cross over willingly and make the conscious choice to do so. Otherwise the "advantages" of one over the other would artificially inflate those who are due the transition. For example, if I'm a male who excels at science can I declare myself as female to get a better scholarship or into a better school? And if I'm a white male who wants a better management position, can I declare as a female (or another race) to a company who prizes diversity in leadership, so that I can get a leg up on the competition? I agree that it is not our job to get in the way of happiness, but at some point we have to become more equal BIOLOGICALLY before we can cross those lines willingly.

Ryan Berry

I totally agree with you on the transgender issue. They can do what they want as long as it doesn't affect my rights. I feel the same way about transracial I don't see how they hurt anybody either. I think what's interesting is how the transgender community doesn't support the transracial idea. I would love to hear you dig deeper into why your heart-mind disagree with the transracial community.

Awesome video Colin. As always very informative. This is my take and I won't be making any fans. Homosexuality, transgendered folks, to me it's just wrong. It is not normal. No debating about it with me because no one will ever convince me that these folks are normal. In my book they aren't. Having said that, it doesn't mean I would or have opposed these folks in what they seek. Gay marriage is legal, it's the law of the land, and a man marrying another man doesn't do me any harm so have at it. Transgendered folks, same principle applies. If that's what they want to do to be happy they again have at it. I work in higher ed and a couple weeks ago I had a trans student come in who needed help. I didn't know she even was trans, she just looked like a gay girl to me looking very butch. I was taking aback when "he" corrected me when I referred to "him" by "his" female birthname. I apologized and asked what would "he" like to be referred as. Gave me "his" male name I called "him" that and continued on. Helped "him" change his major, advised him etc. This trans man was 17 years old, a senior in high school and bringing in docs to sort out "his" admission for the upcoming fall semester. Waaaaayy to young in my opinion to be making these choices that will affect the rest of there natural lives. I may not agree with these lifestyles or choices or w.e. folks wanna call it, but they are certainly free to do what they like. I always think that these folks ( the gays and trans) need support systems to help them, especially when they're young. I'm not a dad, but should God decide to give me a trans or gay child I would have no choice but to support and love my child. How could I, as this child's father decide to marginalized him/her and make there life more difficult when society will do that automatically? Thanks for the video Colin. I'm pretty set in my beliefs, but I am always willing to learn and be tolerant and respectful of others.

Gustavo

Excellent, excellent video. If someone has figured out a way of life that makes them happy and it doesn't hurt anyone else, good on them. I wish the people that paint you as this heartless, horrible asshole would take the time to watch.

Jason Kelley

Thanks for covering this issue. I'm trying to find a good answer and conclusion on this issue and still feeling conflicted. I only think the age is where the issue is for me more then anything. I would say 25 seems to be the age where you can go through the physical and medical transformation but have to seek psychological help pre change and after just to help them.

I know it! The video was nearly 25 minutes long. Definitely enough fodder for another video.

Colin Moriarty

There is another side of this that Colin didn't really cover, the legal implications. Such as the Canadian bill C-16.

Thirsten

Thank you for watching, and for sticking around. Obviously, not everything will be to your liking, but that's what challenging each other is all about. It's a topic I'd definitely like to revisit, because it is indeed very complicated.

Colin Moriarty

Indeed.

Colin Moriarty

I'm not dismissive of the science. I think it's important, and I even went over some of it. I'm merely saying that we need to treat human beings like human beings. I've known (and still know) several transgender people. They are completely normal, other than the rather overt obviousness that they are identifying as a different gender. I have normal interactions and conversations with them otherwise. Sometimes, a little respect goes a long way, and a little understanding can change the entire worldview or outlook of a struggling individual.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you. I'm really pleased that you're enjoying the content.

Colin Moriarty

It'll be interesting to see, because I tried to point out with whatever the fuck the LBGT acronym has been spread into today, it's getting out of control.

Colin Moriarty

Very interesting point! Truth be told, the plight of the disabled is still seldom heard, I feel. It's sad to hear that you were turned away from any establishment.

Colin Moriarty

Once we have more to say on Trump, I'd love to do a video on all the Russia shit. Obviously, there's a fairly significant Nixonian connection.

Colin Moriarty

Well, apart from that, I find race to be a purely social construct, right? I'm American. My family on my Irish side has been here since 1860; my Italian side since 1930 or so. I'm American.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you for watching. I agree, in the sense that we know virtually nothing about the brain, in the grand scheme of things. What a fascinating piece of the body it is, though...

Colin Moriarty

I'm glad that you're finding your voice, and I'm honored that I have a little piece to do with that. Thank you for being here, and for trying to make the climate just a little bit better.

Colin Moriarty

Precisely. Humans should be treated like humans. Pretty simple premise to live by. If they infringe on your rights? That's another story entirely. But a man being gay or a transgender person being transgender, in a vacuum, has zero tangible effect on any of us.

Colin Moriarty

Hey Colin, I'm a big fan of you and your work and strongly support everything you're doing here with Colin's Last Stand. With this being said, I have to admit that I was disappointed with the episode today. While you tackled the civil liberties of the trans community (which is important), I feel that so much of this debate has taken place on the political landscape and where we continue to run into issues which cause things to flare up. For instance, we've seen news stories about natural born males competing in women's sports, or whether or not it's appropriate to allow trans people to use the same bathroom as people who were born of the opposite sex, or to a lesser extent, reviewing qualifications for things such as scholarships based on sex or race. I understand and respect that you admittedly said that you're still reviewing this topic yourself, and hope that if you do decide to devote another episode to this topic you can hit on these types of situations which are now occurring into society, as I believe they'll be the 'battlefield' as we move into the future with this topic. Keep up the great work

Chris Eboli

I think with a lot of issues as the science comes in the biggest problem will be adjusting the social construct to accept these ideas

Matthew Kohlman

Spot on

Nick

Honestly, I don't think you can be as dismissive of the science as you seem to be. The thing is, we need the science to determine what is real and what is not, and how to approach the issue as a society. Science for a long time has told us that there are biological men and biological women, and our language, culture, and laws are entirely based on that. If we're going to upend all that, I feel like there at least has to be some factual basis for it. If you're going to start including transgender options on things like driver's licenses and/or consider it "harassment" to call someone by the wrong pronoun, than I think we should at least make sure that we aren't writing laws based on mental illness. And there's also the issue of the slippery slope effect which liberals will constantly deny but nevertheless comes true. What happens when people start to "identify" as animals or inanimate objects etc etc? It sounds ridiculous now but so did gay marriage and transgenderism just a couple of decades ago. We need science to help us determine how much our society should be willing to acknowledge as a real thing and accept as true. If people are going around saying that the moon is made of cheese, we can't just as a society pretend it's fine that someone believes that and is spreading that false information around to other people and building laws on it, especially when it's something that can be proven false. Because once truth becomes totally subjective, everything starts to break apart.

Nick

Fair and balanced as usual Colin, great work. These issues are complicated and it does no good for either side to act as if the issue is black or white or just not worth discussing. Keep encouraging composed, well-researched and open dialogue like this and hopefully reason and a desire to grow and learn will eventually replace outrage culture.

Trans-whatever is statistically insignificant, but non-white voters poll much higher as socially conservative, especially men. Will liberal activists/media/bundlers, who increasingly demand political purity, find a way to bend the democratic party into a unique position to fuck itself?

Jeremy Meyer

Hey everybody, I just wanted to comment on the idea that the transgender movement is the civil rights movement of our time. I get what you're saying but I also think that there is another larger but more silent group that is really still at a major disadvantage, and thats the disabled population. I'm in a wheelchair and the world is still not super accessible. I was visiting New York City and couldn't get in some restaurants and the one we finally ended up in had a bathroom up a flight of stairs. Its one of the most diverse cities in the world and I got turned away from a business because I couldn't get inside. Imagine if I was any other minority and got turned away. It wouldn't fly. You can't turn away black people, gay people, muslim people, or even transgender people. But somehow my physical difference gets a pass. Just some food for thought from a different perspective!

I completely agree with you. I don't understand the science either and feel like nobody really does yet. But also, does it really matter? If someone identifies as a Martian than who am I to say they can't feel that way. They aren't hurting me in any way as long as they keep their laser beams to themselves. Keep up the great work Colin. I feel like a video on the current Trump/Comey/Russia thing could be cool. Maybe tie it into the Nixon/Watergate to give it a historical perspective. Let us know how things are similar and where they differ. Just a suggestion. Love the vids. Take care. And maybe mix in a salad every once in a while. :)

Dan Phillips

The line, that is what we need to focus on. As you stated being gay is not a mental illness therefore any discrimination against gay people is wrong. If my children attended a school and their teacher was gay I have no issues with that, but let's say their teacher was transsexual, or transracial. To me personally if it is unknown if this is mental illness or not I don't think I would appreciate the district hiring a person that may or may not have a mental illness that is openly portrayed. I am no doctor but I think if a white man tells me he is a black man because he feels like he is, I would have to question his mental stability. The same goes for a man claiming to be a woman. That being said I have no personal issue with anyone who claims to be anything, my issue would be when they can use that to sue people, to bully people into accepting them just because that is how the feel, we are on an extremely thin line. There he been a movement for years to accept pedophilia, and when we can say a five year old child can make a decision like hormone therapy because they feel like whatever sex. When do we draw a line saying a five year old could agree to have a relationship with an older person. The line is getting pushed in a very bad direction in my opinion and what is the end game?

JoTu 22

The only problem, that I see, with transracial has a lot to do with how the government wants to identify us. Without "race", they wouldn't be able to keep affirmative action and would also have to change how enrollment at universities are handled

Chris B

I feel like the science on this will never be done. It is interesting to ask the question what is it that leads people to be trans. The American Psychiatric Association has even said that there's no scientific consensus on what makes people straight, gay or trans. I feel if they did comprehensive studies to try and determine a cause that it would be labeled as a witch hunt and shut down. I agree we should all be nice to everyone and if someone wants to be trans or they're born trans it doesn't change how they should be treated. The suicide rate is another interesting question, albeit a very sad one, that I don't know that we'll ever understand either. I think social stigmas contribute to it for sure but I don't think they can fully explain it. It's nice to hear your take on the topic.

I really appreciate all of your hard work Collin, it has been helping me find a voice as an adult as my angry college self slowly dissipates as I approach 30. And issues like this are exactly what I think exemplify a big problem, especially for a straight white man like myself. You said it yourself that you have not done anything to harm anyone, and I would agree. I am an accepting and kind person, but sometimes I have had friends or colleagues jump down my throats for saying something. I'm not going to start saying ze or skhlee to be correct and neutral, but if someone I know and care about wants to change their pronoun then I will support them. We unfortunately are engaging in a twitter style micro-aggression battle with each other often, when in reality we are the most accepting society of all time. Something I have been trying to do is always stand my ground when I know that I am not being mean, racist, sexist, etc. I hope you all have been able to do the same without too much backlash.

My favorite thing about this vid is that when all is said and done, you can have whatever the fuck opinion you want, but infringing on other people's liberties is where the line should be drawn. This has been a big thing growing in me for the last several years, I have personal opinions about abortion, transgenders, homosexuals, etc etc, those opinions don't really matter, what matters is that what decisions, life choice, etc, people make are none of my business, and I shouldn't be allowed to tell someone how to live as long as they're not hurting others.

Owen

Feel like the argument you make regarding the trans suicide rate isn't accurate. As Ben Shapiro has said the only comparable rate of suicide we have tracked is Jews under the nazi regime. While I'd be remiss to say transphobia isn't real I feel that it's hard to map that suicide rate to just societal treatment.

Maurice

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This is really good. Excellent work sir!

Michael Renner

Read about Rebecca Tuvel over the weekend and thought it'd be great for CLS. Very nice to see this topic

Steven Camilo

They're starting to recognize you at Olive Garden? 😜 I kid, I kid. #TeamFat!