It's natural

Gender variation...it’s only natural.

By Mac Richardson

EDITOR'S NOTE: a version of this letter ran in the Westerly Sun. Mac gave us permission to run this original version of his letter.

Dear Editor,

As a zoologist and former science teacher, I would like to focus on an important misconception regarding the notion that, “marriage is only the union of a man and a woman” (genetically XY and XX, respectively). 

We hear this argument all the time to counter same-sex marriage proposals. On the surface, we can generally agree that this person is a man and that person is woman. But in reality, there is considerable variation in our human male and female genders. 

Besides our standard XY male and XX female, there are chromosomal variations such as XO, XXX, XXY, XYY, XX male, and XY female. Gays, lesbians, and transsexuals are only an extension of this considerable variation in human genders. 

From my way of looking at it, these gender variations are all God-given natural traits, no different than blue eyes, curly hair, and left-handedness. So, let’s not deny the right to marriage because someone is blue eyed, left-handed, or lesbian.

Count 'em: four genders

We don’t have to look very far to see gender variation in our back yard. The common bluegill sunfish, which we can catch in our local ponds, has one female and three male genders. 

The white-throated sparrow, a common visitor to our bird feeders, has two male genders and two female genders. Throughout nature, there is considerable gender variation and likewise in our human species.

Gender variation...it’s only natural.