“Pediatric endocrinologist Maria New—of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Florida International University—isn't just trying to prevent lesbianism by treating pregnant women with an experimental hormone. She's also trying to prevent the births of girls who display an "abnormal" disinterest in babies, don't want to play with girls' toys or become mothers, and whose "career preferences" are deemed too "masculine."” (1) And so begins the description of an article that chronicles an idea so repugnant that one wonders if it is serious or another “Snouter” hoax (2). It is serious. Unfortunately.
In a sincere, I hope, attempt to treat a fetal genital defect, the claim is that the “cure” for lesbians from their terrible tendency to live has been discovered. The consideration of embryonic “treatment” such as this goes way beyond the bounds of experimental medicine and enters the terrible world of Nazi medicine. What the hell are the people thinking (thinking?) that take this nonsense seriously. This “theory” (I hesitate to elevate the ideas even to a small “t” theory) supposes that all lesbians start life with some androgenic “abnormality” that should be treated. Hitler thought brown eyes were evidence of genetic abnormality. Could it possibly be that a wide range of embryonic androgens is NORMAL? And that the expression of several genes produces a NORMAL range of expression? Could it be that the range of human sexuality is NORMAL, like the range of height? Could it be that being strictly heterosexual is ABNORMAL? I don’t know or care. I do care that the battle to get rid of designating gay or lesbian or bisexual or asexual people DISEASED is just now being won, and along comes this crap. Being different is NOT a disease. It’s a blessing. Celebrate diversity, don’t modulate it to extinction. I have all kinds of friends from all kinds of communities. I love them all. They are all different. So am I.
1. http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/06/29/doctor-treating-pregnant-women-with-experimental-drug-to-prevent-lesbianism
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinogradentia
Image: http://www.women24.com/LoveAndSex/Gay/Homophobia-is-damaging-lives-20090401
In a sincere, I hope, attempt to treat a fetal genital defect, the claim is that the “cure” for lesbians from their terrible tendency to live has been discovered. The consideration of embryonic “treatment” such as this goes way beyond the bounds of experimental medicine and enters the terrible world of Nazi medicine. What the hell are the people thinking (thinking?) that take this nonsense seriously. This “theory” (I hesitate to elevate the ideas even to a small “t” theory) supposes that all lesbians start life with some androgenic “abnormality” that should be treated. Hitler thought brown eyes were evidence of genetic abnormality. Could it possibly be that a wide range of embryonic androgens is NORMAL? And that the expression of several genes produces a NORMAL range of expression? Could it be that the range of human sexuality is NORMAL, like the range of height? Could it be that being strictly heterosexual is ABNORMAL? I don’t know or care. I do care that the battle to get rid of designating gay or lesbian or bisexual or asexual people DISEASED is just now being won, and along comes this crap. Being different is NOT a disease. It’s a blessing. Celebrate diversity, don’t modulate it to extinction. I have all kinds of friends from all kinds of communities. I love them all. They are all different. So am I.
1. http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/06/29/doctor-treating-pregnant-women-with-experimental-drug-to-prevent-lesbianism
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinogradentia
Image: http://www.women24.com/LoveAndSex/Gay/Homophobia-is-damaging-lives-20090401
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1 comment:
Ugh.
The follow-up is that this is an off-label, non-approved use of the drug, that there's anecdotal evidence that the drug isn't safe to use during pregnancy, and that a lot of the participants in the initial study dropped out of the longitudinal follow-up. So this is *really* great science.
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