Gay Times introduces: Tranimals!
You may know Peter Tatchell best for his views on reducing the age of consent and on sexual relationships with children. He’s more frequently referred to as a ‘veteran LGBTQ campaigner’. His views on inter-generational sex mean I don’t think he should be on the mainstream media so frequently.
His latest post on X (formerly Twitter) shows his new-found but profoundly misguided interest in basic biology:
The article he links to from Gay Times by Fran Tirado is deeply embarrassing to anyone who isn’t a religious convert to Gender Identity Theology. So is Peter Tatchell’s understanding of it.
Trying to counter this incoherent mess of wooly thinking is the perfect example of Brandolini’s Law:
“The amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude bigger than that needed to produce it.”
Here are the basics of sex: Sex is the combination of cells from different individuals to create new individuals. Most species which reproduce sexually have different sized sex-cells, called gametes. There are large gametes, called eggs, produced by individuals we call female, and there are small gametes, called sperm, produced by individuals we call male. There are two sexes.
Some individual organisms produce just one of these types of gametes, some produce both at the same time and some produce both, one after the other.
Humans are either male or female, have a body which has evolved to produce either sperm or eggs, and human’s can’t change sex, as your sex is determined by the presence of working genes on chromosomes at the point you were conceived.
Here are the first paragraphs from the Gay Times article:
Transphobes love to cite “biology” in their exclusionary views. Lesbian separatists, right wing lobbyists, the Pope, She Who Must Not Be Named — this shrinking class of gender imperialists use “biological sex” as a pseudo-intellectual trump card to suggest that the gender binary is inalienable due to this perceived fact.
Yet, these relentless displays of willful obtuseness ignore many facts in order to prove their point. Such as, the fact of intersex bodies. Such as, the fact of overwhelming support from medical institutions and experts advocating for the prosperity of trans people. (Take the Endocrine Society — the largest and oldest medical organization dedicated to researching hormones — calling out the terms “biological sex,” “biological male,” and “biological female” as “imprecise and should be avoided.”)
Here’s a handy guide to the language used:
- Transphobes: anyone who accepts biological science that men and women, male and female are different sexes and that humans can’t change sex.
- Exclusionary views: believing that men should not be in women’s toilets, changing rooms, prisons and sports.
- Lesbian separatists: same-sex attracted women who won’t do what men tell them and accept opposite-sex attracted men into their dating pool.
- Right wing lobbyists: anyone, including people who are left-wing, who disagrees with Gender Identity Theology.
- She Who Must Not Be Named: JK Rowling – an author of highly readable books who campaigns for women’s rights and child safeguarding.
- Intersex bodies: Some men have an intersex condition. Some women have an intersex condition. Neither are between the sexes.
- Medical institutions: Gender churches
- Experts advocating for the prosperity of trans people: Gender priests.
The phrase “relentless displays of wilful obtuseness” is a perfect example of the psychology of projection – accusing others of what you are doing.
Let’s have a look at these ‘Tranimals’ Gay Times mention then, shall we?
1. Clownfish
Gay Times says “…all clownfish are born male, into a female-dominated hierarchical community. When the need arises, clownfish then sex-change into female.”
Clownfish live in small groups around an anemone, with one breeding female, a breeding male and several other non-breeding and pre-pubescent males. When the female dies, the dominant male will change sex and become the female of the group. He stops producing sperm, his gonadal tissue changes, and she starts producing eggs. This is called sequential hermaphroditism. Clownfish are all born as males so they are called protandrous hermaphrodites. Clownfish have two sexes.
Humans are not clownfish. Humans are not protandrous hermaphrodites. Humans cannot change sex.
2. Sandpiper Ruff
Gay Times says: “This unsung bird species is known for having not two, but four distinct genders — an evolution created by their elaborate courtship and mating structures.”
Males of the Ruff, Calidris pugnax, have three different body types/behaviours. One of them mimics females by having the same plumage. We know these Ruff are males which look like females because they produce sperm.
Ruff males have three types: Independent, Satellite and Sneaker. Independent males are very showy, with spectacular ornamental feathers and defend territory on their mating grounds. Satellite males have light ornamental feathers, don’t defend territory and are dominated by Independent males. Sneaker males are very rare, but look like females, even though they are slightly larger, and have testicles 2.5 times larger than normal males. They avoid male competition and sneak to mate. Ruff have two sexes and the sneaker males aren’t ‘trans’.
Humans are not Ruff. Men do have different mating strategies. Humans cannot change sex.
3. Swallowtail Butterfly
Gay Times says: “Some female swallowtails have a wing pattern defense mechanism that make it indistinguishable from the more toxic butterflies in its ecosystem.”
The dark form of the female of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly uses Batesian mimicry to protect from vertebrate predators by mimicking the poisonous Pipevine Swallowtail. The light form and the males don’t mimic the Pipevine Swallowtail.
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies have two sexes and they don’t change sex. The female dark forms aren’t ‘trans’.
Humans are not Swallowtail Butterflies. Women don’t mimic poisonous species of butterfly. Humans cannot change sex.
4. Seahorse
Gay Times says: “By now most people know seahorses are famous for switching up parenting roles.”
The male seahorse carries the fertilised eggs and developing embryos. There are two sexes of Seahorses. We know it’s the male who carries the fertilised eggs because he’s the one who produced the sperm.
Gay Times says “That’s why some pregant transmasculine folks call themselves “seahorse dads.” Except people who call themselves ‘pregnant transmasculine folks’ are female and seahorses carrying babies are male, not ‘trans’.
Humans are not Seahorses. Men cannot be pregnant. Humans cannot change sex.
5. Spotted Hyena
Gay Times says: “Spotted hyenas are the only known female mammal to “copulate, urinate, and give birth through a penile-like canal. It’s even possible for females to achieve erections.””
The females of the Spotted Hyena have a large clitoris which could easily be mistaken for a penis. We know it’s a clitoris because the females have it and they are the ones producing the eggs and giving birth to the babies. Having a large clitoris doesn’t make a Spotted Hyena ‘trans’.
Humans are not Spotted Hyenas. Having a large clitoris doesn’t make a woman a man.
6. Spotted Snow skink
Gay Times says: “In newly discovered research, it was found that a number of these Tasmanian lizards change sex from female to male in a climate-based adaptation.”
Most animals with a backbone have their sex determined by the working genes on their chromosomes. Some don’t. Some have temperature as the mechanism which determines the development of their sex.
The eggs laid by some reptiles are affected by the incubation temperature in the middle third of development of the embryo. This thermosensitive period determines the sex in Ocellated Skink. It doesn’t determine the sex in humans.
Humans are not Ocellated Skink. Sex in humans is determined by working genes on chromosomes, not temperature.
7. Boyd’s Forest Dragon
Gay Times says this is ‘the world’s first reptile to change sex after birth’. One female in captivity appears to have changed from female to male after the male in their cage died.
Humans are not Boyd’s Forest Dragons. Humans cannot change sex.
8. Komodo Dragons
Gay Times says “These Indonesian dragons are also capable of immaculate conception, a rare method of asexual reproduction called parthenogenesis — essentially “virgin births” of perfectly healthy eggs without any present males. Biblical!”
Only females can reproduce parthenogenetically.
Humans aren’t Komodo Dragons. Humans cannot reproduce parthenogenetically. Humans cannot change sex.
9. Jellyfish
Gay Times says “Some jellies can be male and female at the same time, where others exhibit sequential hermaphroditism, switching genders in order to procreate.”
Jellyfish don’t switch genders. They change sex, because they change the type of sex cells they produce.
Humans aren’t Jellyfish. Humans cannot change sex.
10. Starfish
Gay Times says: “When mating, they cannot see or detect their potential partner: they simply extend their “mating arm” indiscriminately.” So what?
There are two sexes and Starfish can’t change sex.
Humans aren’t Starfish.
11. Oysters
Gay Times says: “A typical male oyster spends spawning season releasing an ungodly and essentially uncountable amount of sperm — ranging into the tens of billions. After spawning, their sex radically changes to egg-making.”
Oysters are sequential hermaphrodites. We can tell that because they produce sperm when male and eggs when female.
Humans aren’t Oysters. Humans aren’t sequential hermaphrodites. Humans cannot change sex.
12. Black Sea Bass
Gay Times says “Black sea bass are protogynous hermaphrodites.” Yes, they are. Black Sea Bass are another species which had sequential hermaphroditism. They start as females (protogynous) with eggs and then their gonads change and they start producing sperm, so they are males.
Humans aren’t Black Sea Bass. Humans aren’t sequential hermaphrodites. Humans cannot change sex.
13. Banana Slug
Gay Times says: “Like all gastropods, these chic little slugs possess an intersex-like hermaphroditism, both male and female at the same time.”
Banana Slugs are simultaneous hermaphrodites. They are male and female at the same time because they produce both sperm and eggs. Getting it yet.
Humans aren’t Banana Slugs. Humans aren’t simultaneous hermaphrodites. Humans cannot change sex.
14. Marsh Harrier
Gay Times says: “Like the ruff, marsh harriers are the only bird of prey with “female mimics.” Males of this species are known to violently attacking each other, so as much as 40% of the male population “cross dresses,” developing the brown feathers and white eyes of females in order to find their peace.”
The Ruff has a ‘stealth’ mating strategy with some males appearing like females. Marsh Harriers have males appearing like females to avoid male on male violence. We know they are males because they are the sex which produces sperm.
Humans aren’t Marsh Harriers.
15. Green Honeycreeper
Gay Times says: “The green honeycreeper is another new addition to the tranimal kingdom. Along with chickens, parrots, and cardinals, the honeycreeper can possess a biological trait known as bilateral gynandromorphism. This means that if you cut the bird open, you’d find both testes and ovaries inside, split down the middle as “half male, half female.” “
It’s fascinating to see a bilateral gynandromorph. It’s particularly amazing in species where there are bright colours, like butterflies and birds. Gynandromorphs occur in arthropods and birds but not in humans and organisms where sex determination is more complex.
Humans aren’t Green Honeycreepers. Humans can’t develop as bilateral gynandromorphs.
16. Mandarin Duck
Gay Times says: “Though it’s rare, Mandarin ducks are one of a few bird species where females transition to male if their sole ovary experiences a failure of some kind. This adaptation leads the bird to develop masculinized plumage and sex traits.”
Nearly all birds only have only one developed ovary out of their pair. When it gets damaged it stops producing hormones which inhibit masculinising genes.
Humans aren’t Mandarin Ducks. Humans can’t change an ovary into a testicle.
17. New Mexico Whiptail Lizards
Gay Times says: “This one-of-a-kind reptile species is known for being the only lizard species on the planet with a 100% female population, making them feminist asexual icons. Through the process of parthenogenesis, the whiptail lizards essentially clone themselves to lay eggs — but that’s not even the queerest part. Despite having no biological incentive, the all-female population will still engage in sex and mating behaviors, bumping their cloacal purses with abandon.”
There used to be two sexes of this Whiptail. There’s only one now.
Humans aren’t New Mexico Whiptail Lizards. Humans have two sexes.
18. Slipper Limpet
Gay Times says: “In a 2015 study, it was found that these snails are able to change gender by simply touching each other.”
Slipper Limpets are sequential hermaphrodites. They start as males and if two males are together the larger one can stop making sperm, change to female, and produce eggs.
Humans aren’t Slipper Limpets. Humans can’t change sex.
I’d much prefer it if Gay Times did some articles on how young autistic gay men have been significantly harmed by poorly evidenced medical and surgical interventions enthusiastically supported by the gender identity ideology they promote.
Humans can’t change sex.