We can't disregard truth of gender

Regarding the recent controversy in D211: Truth matters. Or at least it should. To say that truth is important is clearly an understatement of vast proportion.

Why, oh why then do we feel so free to reject it, even when it's blatantly obvious? The truth is: A boy who believes himself to be a girl trapped in a boy's body is still not a girl - a fact that the D211 has been forced to at least de facto acknowledge by drawing the line at boys showering with girls in the locker room.

I'm not trying to be unkind, and I certainly believe that people who suffer from gender identity disorder should be treated with understanding and compassion. However, encouraging them in their delusion is not compassionate. It is destructive to them and unwise for our society.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, gender identity disorder is just one among many mental disorders. Does compassion now dictate that we affirm all the disorders or just those that are backed up by multimillion dollar lobby groups?

How did we get to a point where it makes sense for doctors to amputate healthy body parts in order to satisfy unhealthy minds? And perhaps most importantly, why have we enacted public policy that forces everyone to participate in the delusion of a few? How did this become the very definition of compassion?

Here's how: We did not value truth. So we now find ourselves in a very strange place: where boys are demanding to shower with girls in public school locker rooms - and we might just let them.

It's the real-life version of the old children's story, "The Emperor's New Clothes." Teri Paulson

Hoffman Estates