Texas may strip away transgender marriage rights

InkWeaver wrote:

I don't really think the internet can give you the answers if you didn't know to question in the first place.

Malganis wrote:

Personally, I think that part of educating people is being polite and gentle to them, not condescending and rude. Like how it's easier for a person to learn from a professor or teacher in real life if said prof isn't a jerk who abuses the person for not knowing something.

And that's all I was trying to say. Fuck me for trying to be logical.

I myself wasn't aware that the term "intersex" even existed to describe people or animals with ambiguous genitalia until I took a freshman psychology course, and I have several gay, lesbian, transgender, and otherwise queer friends, many of which are gender and sexuality rights activists. People aren't born knowing everything. If the subject never comes up in conversation, how is anyone supposed to know about it?

Also, I've never heard of a veterinarian doing sexual reassignment surgery on pets. It'd be a damn useless procedure, and anyone who could afford to pay for it would be getting the animal neutered anyway. I'm pretty sure a dog's not going to care either way, and the risk for infection would outweigh any... okay, so there really is no benefit for the dog at all.

The Alien from Uranus wrote:

Also, I've never heard of a veterinarian doing sexual reassignment surgery on pets. It'd be a damn useless procedure, and anyone who could afford to pay for it would be getting the animal neutered anyway. I'm pretty sure a dog's not going to care either way, and the risk for infection would outweigh any... okay, so there really is no benefit for the dog at all.

This. Unfortunately, it is known to happen--some people can't stand the thought that their pet isn't one or the other. I once had a pet guinea pig who had the sex organs of both (I also had a gay male guinea pig, but that was a different animal and was definitely male--he just preferred boys to girls). The vet who diagnosed the guinea pig as being a hermaphrodite (yes, that word again; that was the exact term the vet used), offered to do surgery to make the animal one or the other, but I declined (since I thought it was interesting and it didn't seem to bother the guinea pig). I have no idea of the animal's male sex organs worked for reproduction (some babies were born to a female that resembled this guinea pig, but since I didn't know the guinea pigs' backgrounds, it was impossible to tell, especially since some babies were born that looked nothing like any of the guinea pigs), but the female ones definitely did, to the tune of three litters.

Lady Anne wrote:

This. Unfortunately, it is known to happen--some people can't stand the thought that their pet isn't one or the other. I once had a pet guinea pig who had the sex organs of both (I also had a gay male guinea pig, but that was a different animal and was definitely male--he just preferred boys to girls). The vet who diagnosed the guinea pig as being a hermaphrodite (yes, that word again; that was the exact term the vet used), offered to do surgery to make the animal one or the other, but I declined (since I thought it was interesting and it didn't seem to bother the guinea pig).

In the veterinary community, the is no distinction between gender and sex. The sex put on an animal's medical chart is based on genetics and the sex organs present, since whether or not an animal identifies as it's physical gender has nothing to do with running tests to diagnose a disease. But as far as anyone knows, animals don't have gender identity issues the way that humans do.

Lady Anne wrote:

I have no idea of the animal's male sex organs worked for reproduction (some babies were born to a female that resembled this guinea pig, but since I didn't know the guinea pigs' backgrounds, it was impossible to tell, especially since some babies were born that looked nothing like any of the guinea pigs), but the female ones definitely did, to the tune of three litters.

I'm not sure what the case was for your pet, but it's entirely possible it was born with one testicle and one ovary, and if the testicle was producing sperm, your pet could have impregnated the female. It's also possible that the guinea piglets in those litters had different sires, including your ambiguous little friend.

Penguin wrote:

XLT-100852.0 wrote:

You're on the fucking internet, there's no excuse for ignorance, period.

If you're not running Google Omniscience 4 every time to fire up your web browser, you fail as a human being.

Bah! Mozilla Knowzall 2.5 is far superior!

Lady Anne wrote:

The vet who diagnosed the guinea pig as being a hermaphrodite (yes, that word again; that was the exact term the vet used), offered to do surgery to make the animal one or the other, but I declined (since I thought it was interesting and it didn't seem to bother the guinea pig).

So far, I haven't seen anything that says "hermaphrodite" is incorrect for animals. In fact, everything scientific I've seen is the opposite way.

Preferred terms for groups of people are usually separated from terms for the same or similar type of condition as applied to animals. We can't automatically assume that just because "intersex" is the new correct term in the case of humans that it would apply to animals too.

For example, it is considered a slur to call a person with albinism an "albino", yet "albino" is the correct term for an animal with that condition.

An albino rabbit? Correct.

An albino woman? That's a slur. You should say "a woman with albinism" instead.

People generally do not want to be called the same term as a bunch of animals. They may reserve more offensive terms specifically for using on animals alone in order to emphasize their own humanity.

Notanoni wrote:

An albino woman? That's a slur. You should say "a woman with albinism" instead.

But that changes so little, it practically uses the same word.