Political correctness gone too far.

when I work in a bank, run into this because of the salutation(mr, mrs. or master were missing. But to actually put it on a birth certificate or whatever that is, has gone to far

Sick. Just plain SICK!

Rusty

I expect people to do screwy things, none of it ever bothers me so long as it only affects themselves and not others too significantly. We all need to practice more tolerance.

A different take-away from this episode is to think about the many things that so many parents do and don't do that screw up their kids. I've often thought (very hypothetically, of course), that while driving requires education and passing a test, nothing similar exists for becoming a parent. Too many kids suffer from poor parenting, it affects our society greatly and adversely.

As grandparents, we buy and send gifts for birthdays for them; what would one buy for a person who has parents with ambiguity?

Gift certificate for psychiatry???

I assume this is so the baby can decide when they are older which gender they want to identify as, and will make it easier from a legal standpoint maybe. I don't see a problem with it. I don't see it as the parents making a decision for the child. Quite the opposite, really.

I imagine it's very difficult, if not impossible, for cisgendered individuals to understand. Just a lot of judgement instead.

It reminds me how gay people had to hide due to people judging them as immoral, unnatural, etc. and now it's normal, at least in most progressive areas. I see this as another social shift in the early changes where people are uncomfortable with it, so they mock it. I hope that stops soon.

I too thought that the child may have been born with ambiguous genitalia. I would absolutely applaud a parent not choosing for the child which gender that they must identify with.

I think most gifts for kids should be "ungendered" anyway. I work with preschoolers and it makes me sad to hear them say only girls can play with dolls or like the color pink. A little girl was told she can't play with the trucks because they are for boys only. I always correct this when I see it but this is learned behavior from 3 year olds. They aren't born believing this.

That isn't a birth certificate so who cares if it has no gender. It is a BC Services Card for identity and health services. Really, do you care what the gender of a child is or do you really need to know.

Now if a child is born with ambiguous genitalia, I could see a parent choosing to use U. If it were me and they said they can't tell exactly by the genitals if the baby is clearly a boy or girl and I had the option to wait and see the baby identified as the baby got older, I'd go that route.

In the big scheme of things called life....is this really an important issue? Thanks to the OP for bringing this to our attention, but why did you have to add... "The picture of the parent has a beard even though 'it' is wearing necklaces and a dress." Calling the parent an "it" is totally uncalled for IMHO.

I did it because he himself doesn't refer to himself as a male or female. So it's a it to me.

Actually, the parent who gave birth to the child, identifies as a transexual. Here's an article should anyone wish to read more about the case here is the parent's own story & picture.

Justlinda, thank you for posting the link to the story which explains everything.

Jasdip, the person uses the pronoun THEY so that's how they want to be referred to. Do not refer to them or to anyone as IT. Educate yourself. Research transgender. Research intersex.

They is plural, is it not? And if you read my post you'll see that I did state that the parent prefers to be addressed as 'they'.

Babies with ambiguous genitalia are not new. The decisions as to which way to assign them and the results is well documented. It is gut wrenching and not always successful for these people. Genetic testing to find out which DNA they carry was not done--maybe it is now. That is how one should assign gender. Society has gone INSANE. Body dysmorphia is a psychological disorder and some how the homosexual communities freedoms have morphed into the rest of us having to accept all this trans crap as just another state of being. IT IS NOT!! We all have DNA in EVERY CELL in our bodies that tell us what gender we are. If you don't like your gender, fine change it, but don't insist the rest of us play along like it isn't ABNORMAL behavior. These people have a social/emotional DISORDER !! This is "The Emperors' New Clothes" in the worst possible scenario. Do we all remember that story from childhood? That is what this is!! NO ONE has the GUTS to stand up and say STOP THE INSANITY! Well I do and I am. I have students who have CHOSEN to talk themselves into being GAY , then "trans" because gay did't really fit and the bottom line is they are NONE of it but it was preferred to being a wall flower!! Then their younger siblings buy their crap and think they too need to consider being Gay! IT ISN'T A CHOICE we were told--well all this pan/trans insanity has juveniles thinking it is. It does affect others. It is not NORMAL and this latest deal assuming the baby is really "normal" physically will FOR SURE mess them up royally. Babies/children are not something to experiment with. Let us all pray and hope the nurses report these fruit-loops and social services steps in and keeps them from ever taking this baby home!!!

And yet you still called them IT.

THEY and THEM may be plural but it is now used for transgender people.

I'm sure Jasdip didn't mean it in a bad way, but using "it" to describe someone is considered offensive, especially in quotations. It is dehumanizing, since "it" is not used as a pronoun for people in the English language. Use names, or they, if you don't know the appropriate pronoun.

If anyone's curious, this is a good reference point for transgender terms, including those considered offensive. https://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender

Here is an explanation of transgender that will answer ALL your questions.

http://www.transequality.org/issues/resources/frequently-asked-questions-about-transgender-people

Edit: I posted this at the same time as Chi. Both are great reading.

I would never refer to a person as an "it" "They" is often used to denote one person. "they came through the door" You don't have to use gender, they is just fine

Well, in the attached article they say that the parents wanted the baby to grow up genderless and be able to decide when "it" grows up. Lay off Jasdip, if you know anything about her she did not mean to offend. PC taken to an almost unbearable level.

That poor child... It is truly the silly season these days. The poor grammar usage of they as singular is grating enough without all the other ambiguities. The sex on a birth certificate should match genitalia on an infant and also DNA. I can call myself a cat but that does not mean I am one.

Interesting "event". Thanks for posting.

With all of the ridiculous insistence (at least here in Texas) that a
person must use the restroom for the gender marked on their birth
certificate, if I were still of childbearing age, I might do the same
thing.

Jim said: "As grandparents, we buy and send gifts for birthdays for them; what would one buy for a person who has parents with ambiguity?"

Books

Board games

Lego

Dolls

Toy cars

Socks

Shorts/T-shirts

Pajamas

The list is endless.

I read the link and I have mixed feelings. The parent interviewed is transexual. The parent grew up being identified as the wrong gender. Looking at the picture, I am confused as to if this is a transgender woman or man. And even more confused that the parent does not identify as either.

Although the topic of transgender is regularly in the news, it is a very small percentage of people. They are alway grouped with gay, lesbians, bi etc which makes the group appear larger. So statistically, this baby will probably not be transgender.

Since this parent is transgender, they will certainly be familiar with all the signs of gender dysphoria. I personally think that their current approach will not help this child, and might even cause psychological damage.

We all want to fit in. This child will go to school and have to explain "they" are a they, not a boy or girl. How is this going to work?

ETA: I wish they could have come up with something other than using a plural. It sounds like you are not speaking correctly.

I gave my son a doll for Xmas when he was three years old and my daughter always played with his trucks and cars. My parents and some aunts who were teachers were aghast. I told her she can be anything in the world she wants to be and she has. And he is the most masculine athletic man who is in better physical shape than men half his age. Had it been that either wasn't satisfied with their gender, I would have been supportive.

I usually find it easier to refer to a person by their name, not by whatever 'article' society or that individual chooses to use. I've actually got too much going on in my life too be in the least concerned with what is written on a card.

I have a relative who is LGBT. I am not yet sure what she actually identifies as. It's not important to me. When I first met her she had not yet changed her name to a "male" name but closer blood family relatives were starting to call her by her future name. So I simply asked her what her preference was. She told me and I immediately began to call her by the new name that she has since legalized.

You will notice I continue to say she. Well that's because she is a she. She is a loving daughter, a sister, an aunt, a grand daughter and a niece. She may dress in male clothes,occasionally binding her breasts, but as long as she has girl parts she is a she. So far she has not stated any desire for any surgery or hormonal treatments. She is in a healthy, monogamous relationship with another woman. I am happy for her. That is all that matters.

Should she decide in the future to actually change her gender physically ( a sex change) she will still be that DD,DGD, DN, DS and DSIL. But the pronoun will become he/him.

I raised my own children to be gender neutral. DS had dolls and DD had trucks and building toys. I had the same outcome as another poster. A very masculine DS and a DD who grew into a strong, self assured woman.

Grands are the same. Little GD is a fashion diva who loves vehicles and rough- housing. Little GS loves on dolls and soft toys but there is no doubt he is all boy when it comes to fantasy play. Bang-bang you're dead gramma. LOL

"They" for un-assigned gender singular hurts my brain... another word can be found - I've heard of other possibilities. They is for plural. And, yes, I find "it" too impersonal, too much an object than a human.

As for the question of gifts for gender unassigned... anything appropriate for the kid's age. Mom told me once she begged for a train set as a child. But, no, she was a girl and so she never got one.

Hoping that kid can get an actual birth certificate.

If the child is intersexed, I think this is a wonderful option. The misery of children who are intersexed and are forced into a gender role which is the wrong one is unbelievable. 40% of transgender people have attempted suicide.

What's interesting, Annie, is that even transgenders who have had surgical sex changes and have "transitioned" keep the same suicide rate. I think there is more going on here than genitals - a deep unhappiness with oneself. It does transgenders a grave disservice to think all their problems can be solved by surgery and using the pronoun they prefer.

We have an extended family member who changed her name to Nothing. She refuses to identify as being F, wife, mom, aunt, or cousin, or sister, daughter, friend, etc. She's a food scientist, but prefers to identify her occupation as, nothing.

I'm fine with it. She's nothing to me.

I bet gender confused people struggle with a desire to be 'normal'. I have a lot of empathy for them. Sure they could live their lives as whatever gender is on the birth certificate to satisfy society's insistence that they behave 'normally as society defines ' but at what cost to their own self-esteem?

Can any of you that ridicule others for their gender confusion even for one moment think about what it would be like to feel like a female but be stuck in a male body or vice versa? Can you imagine the pain and self-loathing?

I agree with you PK. But at the same time, the parent in this story is taking things to an extreme.

The scenario: Your child is born a boy. There is no ambiguity there. Raise the child as a boy, but be diligent since you KNOW and have EXPERIENCED gender dysphoria. If there is an issue, then, by all means, work to solve it.

I do understand the importance of gender neutrality. However, to not have a gender identity in today's world is just odd to me.

I can just imagine the child, who we are saying is a boy, will be forced to struggle with his identity because of this unusual upbringing. Because in this specific situation, is raising the child without a gender. It's not about giving a boy a doll or giving a girl a train set.

So, in a sense, this parent is creating a similar scenario that "they" experienced.

Ok, arcy STOP THE INSANITY! If you would actually take the time to educate yourself (how about starting by visiting those handy links provided in this thread), then maybe you would not be writing how "We all have DNA in EVERY CELL in our bodies that tell us what gender we are." You could learn, for one example, how some people that have always thought they were women, and externally appear to be women, discover their genes are XY. There are a bunch of interesting variables that do not fit into your neat little slots and columns. With all of the resources available, I cannot understand people that CHOOSE IGNORANCE.

So, what is my guts rating? :)

Anglophilia, LGB children have a suicide rate that is 4x that of straight children. Clearly acceptance and fitting in as well as bullying and other kinds of abuse can play a role. So it's not just a problem for transgenders or intersexed kids.

I wish english had the pronouns for people that are gender neutral. Would make so many things easier than they for singular or weird constructs like s/he.