***At the end of every year we revisit some of our most popular stories from the calendar year. This article shared comments from a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics. According to this person, the brain is the only definitive organ we can use to determine gender. This story was originally published in February of 2022.***
Katie Larson Ode is a clinical assistant professor of pediatrics for the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics. She’s a pediatric endocrinologist. And, according to her, the brain is the only definitive organ we can use to determine gender.
The startling claim came during her testimony against a bill that would help preserve and protect women’s sports here in Iowa.
“Our goal as pediatricians is to keep our children healthy and safe,” she said. “Transgender children are at risk of very poor mental and physical health. They’re at high risk for suicide and this risk is both in childhood and in adulthood.”
She said two of the best supports a child can have to improve outcomes are the support of their families and support from their schools.
“Everybody here knows this — we’re all acknowledging this — school sports and sports for girls are an important part of how girls are part of their school,” she said.
The doctor said it “hurt her heart” to hear people say the science is proven that it is easy to tell between a male and a female.
“Isn’t true,” she said. “I would like to point out that the difference between biological males and biological females is not simple, nor does it come down to chromosomes. It is not as simple as we think it is.
“The reason we use the brain to determine gender is that is the only definitive organ. And the brain is gendered in early childhood. And this is true for all children… Sometimes we don’t get it right when they’re born. And when your gender is determined by your birth certificate, that just doesn’t always fit. Even if we exclude the brain, which is the only definitive answer, we still will have people who will be excluded.”
I have long said, “Your ‘gender’ is in your head. Your ‘sex’ is below the belt.” When we let the Left manipulate our language, they manipulate our society. The Left introduced the word ‘gender’ in place of the historically and accurately utilized, ‘sex’. To replace the word ‘sex’ with ‘gender’ results in a completely amorphous definition which the Left has been redefining for 30 or more years, always further dividing our society against ourselves.