Dr. Alan Bean of Harrison graduated from Oxford Hills High School in 1970. He is a MSAD #17 taxpayer.
Dr. Bean delivered these remarks at the public forum at Oxford Hills High School on November 1st regarding the proposed “Gender Identity of Students” policy:
I am a medical doctor and I speak to you today from a position of defensible science. While I appreciate that those who are pushing to normalize gender identity choice believe they are doing so from a position of compassion, this is grossly misguided.
I practice medicine as compassionately as any physician you will meet. However, lying to my patients by minimizing their problems is NOT compassion. If I tell my patients that their disorder is normal, that is not compassion. Since the beginning of human history, both medical science and simple common sense have recognized the most basic of truths: you are either male or you are female. None of us need to do DNA testing to determine that – and do not attempt to dilute the argument by bringing up the rare genetic disorders that cause ambiguous genitalia – those are, indeed, disorders – and they are rare. On a daily basis, we doctors have to compassionately balance subjectivity and objectivity. One’s birth gender is about as objective as objective can be. Genetic males get male diseases. Genetic females get female diseases. Whatever you think your gender may be does not change our medical assessments.
Until the AMA recently abandoned science in favor of political correctness, medical science has always known that gender dysphoria or gender identity disorder is clearly just that: a psychological disorder. To label it as “normal” or a legitimate “choice” is either misinformed, societal brainwashing or an outright lie.
Adolescence is already a time of very difficult adjustments to the hormonal changes taking place in the body. The last thing kids need at this time in their lives is ambiguity. Our brains’ frontal lobes are not fully developed until around 25-26 years old. Why is this important? Because the frontal lobes are the seat of our emotions, our personalities, rational reasoning and the governor of our behavioral choices. Those of us adults who honestly reflect back on our own poor adolescent choices know this all too well.
I have seen multiple young people in my medical practice who suffer from gender identity issues and every single one has had underlying, pre-existing, psychological diagnoses, most typically untreated severe anxiety disorder and/or depression. They have the highest rates of suicide attempts of any youth demographic, ranging from 32-50% in various NIH studies. Virtually all have a history of self-harming behaviors. Gender identity confusion is an illness that deserves compassion, but NOT normalization.
Schools need to focus on education. Advising children on issues of sexuality is not the role of a school system. These are minors who are wards of the parents, not wards of the school. This school board and the teachers in this school system do not have either the qualifications or, more importantly, the right to offer advice or make decisions for our children in this issue.
I guess I am a liberal in the truest sense of the word because the root of that word is “liber”, which means freedom. Webster’s dictionary defines a liberal as, “accepting of other’s viewpoints”. I may accept your personal choice, but no one has the right to insist that I agree with it. Pushing this agenda on others is the very antithesis of freedom. Imposing your beliefs on us is an infringement on the views of the vast majority to accommodate a very small minority. If an adult – not a child – an adult wants to chemically or surgically attempt a gender change, have at it, but just don’t expect me to ever think that its normal. Instead of your proposed policies, a far more reasonable accommodation for the schools would be providing a few single toilet restrooms rather than mixing genders in the same locker rooms, which will very predictably lead to ugly consequences.
Finally, the public has a right to know which, if any, of you board members vote in favor of this nonsense. That way, we can vote you out of office at the next election.