Patrick Pullicino suggests (December 1) that the conclusions of research on the physiological distinctions between male and female brains, as well as psychological differences between the sexes, are reflective of some absolute truth relating “original sex” to hard-wired brain structure that is much more reliable as a basis for gender identification than proposed legislation based on “each person’s internal and individual experience of gender”.

However, before jumping to agree, we should note that the conclusions upon which Pullicino bases his argument are not absolute truths but merely regularities that were statistically established.

In other words, they reflect findings about a large sample of cases that are carefully chosen to be representative of the average.

In this case, the burning question is not so much whether such conclusions apply to the average but to a minority such as those who desire or have undergone transexual surgery. It is plausible that the brain structure of such individuals is not determined by their original sex in the same way as it is for the majority, and that this is precisely the underlying cause of their desire to undergo surgery.

This is a hypothesis that is open to scientific investigation that, so far as I know, has not yet been undertaken. It if turned out to be true, then “original sex” would not be more reliable an indicator than the proposed definition of gender to which Pullicino objects.

In short, Pullicino’s assertion begs the question of whether the scientific evidence adduced is actually relevant to the cases it concerns. In order to shed light on the highly complex relation between given sex, brain structure and psychological make-up, which remains only partially understood, further research is needed on the special cases, not the average ones.

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