RE: Transgenderism: A Buddhist Perspective

This is one of the more respectful pieces of writing I’ve read that is ‘critical’ of ‘transgenderism’. I do not think it comes from a place of malice, but rather misunderstanding. That being said, I still think Brad’s position is influenced by bigotry and transphobia. Let me clarify, since these are loaded terms; culture is something people become acculturated to. Culture comes with its own norms, mores, stereotypes, things it values and things it devalues. One does not have to be hateful in order to be a ‘bigot’. The term is often used to imply that one is hateful and is often used as an insult and a reason to dismiss someone from conversation. This is not how I am using the term here. Bigotry is inherent in culture, and thus within us. Our culture and upbringing ingrains certain ideals, and which can prejudices. I am stating that I think his views are informed by parts of the cultural lens that are bigoted. I am not stating that Brad or his post is hateful what-so-ever. Although, I think his emphasis on the body and his negative attitudes of medical intervention are informed by this lens, which yes is very presumptuous of me.

Furthermore, I would like to clarify that I am far from an expert on Buddhism. It is very likely I am missing things and have a false and partial understanding of matters. Unlike Brad, I have not been a student of a Zen master. I am just a person online who has read a few books. However, I am still going to provide my under-informed thoughts here, and I think this fact is mostly irrelevant to the points I will proceed to make.

I do highly appreciate that Brad makes careful effort to be clear he is not dictating nor advocating ill-will upon others, I respect that. There is a very commonly expressed and recited narrative among Trans Activism and within the layman understanding alike, which many Trans Activists have become critical of: ‘Being born in the wrong body’. Which, I like Brad, agree is ultimately a bad slogan that causes more misunderstanding and damage than good. This is a reasonable point of misunderstanding due to the widespread propagation of this idea.

The main thesis of his post seems to be:

• Being transgender necessitates a philosophical dualism between mind and body.
• Buddhism rejects this philosophical dualism.
• Thus, it does not make sense to be transgender under Buddhism.

He further makes other claims I will also address. This to my view is his main line of thought.

I think Brad is committing the same error that he says others are. He points out this false distinction between body and mind, and then proceeds to value body over mind.

“I’d say that I think that, rather than trying to alter one’s body to align it with one’s ideas about one’s “true self,” it would be better to learn to live as comfortably as possible with the mind and body that one’s past karma has manifested in this life.“

By trivializing the mind’s appearance, and emphasizing the body’s appearance, he is reinforcing this distinction. Like he points out, these are both appearances of the phenomenological world, not of Ultimate Nature. The ‘body’ and ‘mind’ are both of appearance, so what sense does it make to value the appearance of body over the appearance of mind?

As shown in the quotation, he talks about one’s karma. Why is gender incongruence not a part of this karma? What precludes the altering of the body within Buddhism? Is it following one’s karma to remain near-sighted by the rejecting of glasses? What about QoLQuality of Life surgeries that one could make do without, but would make life more painful? I don’t think being transgender rejects the unity between body and mind. In order to live in the phenomenological world, we undertake many different actions on the phenomenological level. We eat and sleep, we desire and strive, and we lose and grieve. We do actions to avail ourselves of our ailments. I do not think this is any different. Doing actions to alleviate the ailment of gender incongruence is not rejecting the karma of one’s body. If mind and body are in fact one, then a sickness in the mind is inseparable from a sickness in the body. For some reason or another transgender people have this vāsanā. It is part of their karma.

“Fundamentally the duality of things is an illusion. But it is a very deep illusion. It’s not something one can overcome merely by intellectually understanding it isn’t so. Human beings have evolved from a line of billions of years of living things that came in male and female varieties. We find ourselves manifested in this life as a male or female human being. We do not know why. But I believe that we should respect that how we manifest in this life is not arbitrary, and it is not something that was forced upon us against our will.”

I think it is easy for someone who has not experienced this phenomena to label it as an “intellectual” exercise. The lived experience is quite different. It is an embodied, whole being experience. Language is a messy way to encapsulate experience, and in trying to explain, defend and advocate for this experience, the common slogan has led to a confusion that narrows the scope of the transgender experience. Gender incongruence isn't an arbitrary manifestation, it follows the law of cause and effect just the same.

“Therefore, using drugs, hormones, and surgery to try to make the material body compatible with the immaterial mind is a futile endeavor. It cannot possibly work. It cannot lead to happiness. It cannot fix the fundamental problem. At best, such an approach might temporarily relieve some superficial aspects of a person’s suffering, but it cannot hope to get at the real root of the problem. It is more likely to cause more suffering.”

Firstly, I would like to address a few things I find factually wrong from the post. The idea that more suffering is caused, is factually not accounted for:

“Previous research has found that transgender youth who are able to socially transition and simply have their gender identity, name, and pronouns affirmed report higher levels of resilience and positive well-being and lower levels of depression, anxiety, gender dysphoria, and suicidality, relative to transgender youth who are not affirmed.”
—The Human Rights Campaign, Get the Facts on Gender-Affirming Care

Elsewhere in the post he states: Yes, there are exceptions. But these are rare. And, in any case, human beings are not among those rare exceptions. Which I also take to be false. Yes sex within humans is bimodal. However, deviation in sexed characteristics is quite common. If we take even the lower, commonly provided figure: 0.018% of people who are intersex, that is still 1.4 million earthlings. Secondly,

Any kind of striving for and clinging to the impermanent ever-changing material of the world will have this effect. I think it’s a disservice for this to be framed as being something unique in this respect. Any phenomenological appearance will cause the same. Just because we cannot assert full control over the phenomenological world, does not mean we do nothing. I do not think the experience of gender incongruence is any different than the expression of the four universal sufferings of birth, aging, sickness and death. We still try to heal and stave off these ailments. It’s the person’s karma to reap. We should be compassionate, and help the individual to deal with their karma how they so act. Whether that be as Brad suggests, learning to accept their physical body, or undertaking actions to alter their physical body to lessen their discomfort.

There is a wider conversation to be had on gender in relation to sociality norms at large, outside the scope of Gender Dysphoria, and that is an important conversation, but not within the scope of my post.