Donald Trump’s push for narrow gender definition a step backwards, writes Susie O’Brien

US President Donald Trump’s move to rigidly define gender as determined by the genitalia a person is born with is a step backwards that will be detrimental for many, writes Susie O’Brien.

Morgin Dupont, 25 (left,) holds up the flag for Transgender and Gender Noncomforming people at a rally in New York City yesterday. Yana Paskova/Getty Images/AFP

WHEN it comes to gender, I am one of the lucky ones.

My bits match my brain, if you know what I mean.

But it’s not the case for a significant number of people who don’t fall neatly into either female or male category.

PANAHI: FEMALE ATHLETES FORCED TO ACCEPT UNFAIR ADVANTAGE

SUSIE: GAY KIDS SHOULD BE SUPPORTED, NOT SHUNNED

MORE SUSIE O’BRIEN

Some have secondary sexual characteristics of one sex but feel as if it doesn’t match their

gender. Others have a bit of both, or not enough of either.

It’s why many organisations, including traditionally conservative groups like the Victorian Girl Guides, are letting people pick their own gender. Your gender is increasingly what you

say it is, not what your body says it is.

All of this is why US President Donald Trump’s efforts to turn back the clock are destined to fail. A report in the New York Times suggests the Trump administration is moving to rigidly define gender as a fixed status determined biologically by the genitalia a person is born with.

Donald Trump reportedly wants to more rigidly define gender. AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster

People at a rally in New York City yesterday after the leaked memo was made public. Yana Paskova/Getty Images/AFP

This would reverse the Obama administration approach that recognised the self-reported gender of transgender people.

The paper’s report quotes a departmental memo that says gender should be defined “on a biological basis that is clear, grounded in science, objective and administrable”.

“Sex means a person’s status as male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth,” the memo allegedly says.

“The sex listed on a person’s birth certificate, as originally issued, shall constitute definitive proof of a person’s sex unless rebutted by reliable genetic evidence.”

This could leave the estimated 1.4 million Americans who are transgender with a birth certificate that did not match their gender identity.

The concern is also that such narrow definitions would undermine legal protections for gay and intersex people as well.

It’s a real step backwards, and one which will be detrimental for many.

Protesters speak out against the move yesterday. Yana Paskova/Getty Images/AFP

I don’t have a problem with self-defined gender as long as we don’t lose sight of the fact that most people are happily male or female and like to have this fact recognised, such as on our birth certificate.

Although the notion of self-determined gender is challenging for some people — as is the notion of more than two genders — it’s a step forward in any civilised society. Those of us in the great majority need to make sure those in the vulnerable minority are taken care of and are not excluded.

We mustn’t let gender become a complete abstraction that’s so arbitrary it’s meaningless.

When it comes to sport, for instance, there does need to be some standards so there is a level playing field between competitors. But we do not need a return to the dark old days where who don’t fit the binary mould are ignored completely.

MORE SUSIE O’BRIEN:

SMART CASUAL, LIKE ROGER DAVID, IS A THING OF THE PAST

WHITE AUSTRALIANS DON’T NEED THIS