Or, fuck it, let’s choose each other again

The United States and the world are waiting for the Supreme Court to rule on two cases (Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. BPJ) that will rule on whether young trans women can play girls’ sports in schools. Transgender journalist Erin Reid explainedThese two incidents are not just about transgender sports. These cases are litmus tests for transgender rights before the U.S. Supreme Court and will have far-reaching implications for the rights of transgender and non-binary people in the United States.

And these incidents will impact cis women. As Orien Ramler reported, 19th and theyanti-trans laws and rulings threaten the rights of all women, especially cis women of color. A prime example of this is the suspicions surrounding female boxer Imane Kerif during the last Paris Olympics.

The gender policing Kerif faced illustrates how police who are perceived as male or female are prohibited from being legitimized and mandated in the sports world. invasive medical testsa form of medical abuse against all women and girls who want to play sports. And, let’s be clear, there is historical precedent for this.

The Nazi regime actually used genetic testing to crack down on people who might bear children as part of its “racial hygiene” program. This includes genetic testing of marriage partners, which flags those with “contaminated” genetic lineages. Prisoners in concentration camps and detention centers scary medical experimentNazi officials conducted experiments using their own followers. promote reproduction It sterilizes people with undesirable genetics only among people with desirable characteristics, especially those with blonde hair and blue eyes.

In fact, transgender and gender nonconforming people first few It has been a target of Nazi violence, with the first book-burning occurring in 1933 when Nazi youth and members of the Stormtroopers ransacked the Institute of Sexology and burned one of the largest libraries of medical texts on gender-affirming care. Nazi officials first controlled for gender before extending restrictions to include race and religion.

And this was not limited to Nazi Germany. As I have written before, the United States has used eugenics to: Justifying forced sterilization Women of color, women with disabilities, women who are poor, and women who are incarcerated. Forced sterilization was part of forced or coerced medical testing of Black and Indigenous women.

This medical violence and nonconsensual experimentation includes: Dr. James Marion Sim’s Gynecological Experiments This issue for enslaved Black women is rooted in systemic racism and medical abuse, contributing to a legacy of mistrust and health disparities in medical institutions and practitioners.

When sports organizations like the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee require women to undergo “gender verification,” set a precedent Mandating genetic testing violates everyone’s privacy and could very well result in many cis women being excluded from sports if they fall outside of what is defined as “female.”

The best example is a cis woman with polycystic ovary syndrome. Some people with PCOS experience hyperandrogenism, hyperandrogenism, or hirsutism (i.e., the development of more traditionally masculine characteristics, such as increased muscle mass or more pronounced facial hair). Forced gender confirmation can result in women being diagnosed or “outed” as intersex without their consent. Differences in sexual development, another term used to describe intersex experiences, is most people would expect.

Are women with PCOS not considered women? What about women whose natural changes include more prominent facial hair or increased muscle mass? It’s important to note what American standards of femininity are thought to be rooted in. white supremacy – One of the reasons women of color have been, and continue to be, targets of anti-trans violence.

The people making these decisions themselves are beginning to ask similar questions. According to Erin in the morning Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett is even concerned about the impact of these two Supreme Court decisions. Alejandra Carabello, a legal educator at Harvard University, said: Erin in the morningthe decision to uphold an anti-trans sports ban “could result in the segregation of women in many other areas of public life, based on the rationale that biologically men are different and need to be segregated.”

Barrett, a conservative judge appointed by President Trump in 2020, appeared to acknowledge the risks, saying, “Your position in this case all depends on whether there is a substantive difference.”

there is no. According to science, gender doesn’t matter Strictly binary but spectral It is determined by biological, psychological, and social factors, including cultural norms surrounding gender.

The best illustration of this is that intersex people exist. Intersex people are individuals born with sex hormones and characteristics that differ from the strict male-to-female binary. Some people are born with atypical genitalia, especially external genitalia that do not look male or female or are underdeveloped. Some people are born with a penis. This is a disease in which babies are born without a penis, and some are born with a “mismatch” between internal and external organs.

In all these cases, the idea of ​​normal, mismatched, and properly developed genitalia and bodily expression is conditioned by the male-female binary reinforced by medical institutions. And obviously this gender binary is hurting people. For decades, intersex babies have been subjected to medical abuse. This is because doctors performed unnecessary surgeries on intersex babies to “fit” them. female/male binary. These medically unnecessary surgeries performed on children who are unable to consent are a type of surgery. medical assault.

To be clear, this is not the same as gender-affirming care, which is given to consenting individuals undergoing hormone therapy or surgery to align their gender expression with their identity. As major medical and mental health organizers argue, gender-affirming care is Medically necessary and life-saving care For transgender and non-binary people.

And the majority of children undergoing gender reassignment surgery are cis children. a June 2024 Survey found that the majority of minors undergoing gender reassignment surgery are cis children. This does not include intersex people who have had surgery or people who have had surgery due to illness or injury. Of the 150 cases in which minors underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2019, approximately 97% were breast reduction surgeries performed on cis boys. This surgery is often performed on boys who have gynecomastia or whose breasts are enlarged due to a hormonal imbalance.

So while to many the anticipated decisions in these Supreme Court cases may seem limited to sports, they actually have significant implications for not only cis women, but also for the continued escalation and legitimization of eugenics in the United States.

Earlier this month, Dr. Elisa von Jorden-Forgey, director of the Lemkin Institute, was right. said He said the United States is in the “early to mid-stages of a genocidal process against transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people.” Dr Gregory Santon, former president of the International Association of Genocide Researchers, has warned against the “reinforcement of categories” around gender in a “totalitarian” way.

Stanton argues that this is rooted in the same regime that murdered many LGBTQIA individuals in the name of the gender, or innate “duality” surrounding Nazi ideology. As von Jorden-Forgay said, the queer community tends to be a kind of canary in the coal mine, along with other “minority groups.”

The fact that the debate over banning trans sports foregrounds the potential impact on cis women (or even that this is the primary concern Barrett expressed) shows whose bodies are being prioritized.

This framework reflects how members of the feminist movement have used, and are currently using, the movement to justify the very anti-trans exclusions that harm them. Some call themselves Trans Exclusive Radical Feminists (TERFs). These women believe that codifying and protecting the rights of trans women threatens the rights of cis women. Even if there is a partnership They collaborate with some conservative groups in their efforts to enforce what it means to be a “biological woman.”

As history shows, it’s quite the opposite. First, feminism is rooted in equity for all people and all women, not just cis women. Because protecting trans women from medical violence such as gender confirmation tests, and challenging the people and institutions that police who they are, protects all women.

Emma Cieslik is a museum worker and public historian.