The transgender community is enthralled that people should be allowed to choose their gender, and some jurisdictions have incorporated that idea into law.
But that is so 2000s, according to a new poll indicating a substantial portion of British adults believe people also should be allowed to choose their age.
And race.
And even species.
The survey, a project of ComRes, interviewed 2,002 British adults ages 18 and up online in September.
One in three respondents support those over 18 being allowed to self-define their race.
Twenty percent supported those over 18 being able to define their age.
Stunningly, it also found 10 percent “support those who wish to define as a non-human species.”
The marriage organization said the survey found that 51 percent believe those under 18 should not be allowed to self-define their gender.
But over 18? Forty-four percent said those people should be able to self-define gender.
Colin Hart, the chairman of the U.K.’s Coalition for Marriage, which supports traditional marriage,
said the survey shows the public is “deeply concerned at the government’s obsession with pushing transgenderism on all.”
“There is, after all, nothing progressive with children who are so ashamed of their bodies that they think they must change gender, something that has risen at an alarming rate in recent years,” he said.
Hart’s concerns have been raised by news that British Equalities Minister Penny Mordaunt wants to know why there has been a more than 4,000 percent increase in the number of girls seeking support from “transitioning” services in the last decade.
But gender may be only part of the puzzle.
The coalition said: “Worryingly the poll found significant support for those who want to self-define their race (32 percent), their age (19 percent) and even their species (10 percent). Among young people, these figures were higher in every category. Thirty-four percent of 18-24 year olds backed the right to choose your race, 23 percent their age and 18 percent their species.”
It also found only 5 percent of parents would be pleased if their child wanted to change gender.
Forty percent said it would make no difference.
“This poll shows conclusively that the public remain highly skeptical about the direction of government policy and want children to be protected from the irreversible treatments such as suppressing puberty with powerful hormones or the removal of genitals,” Hart continued.
“It also shows that there is concern about the fairness of transgender individuals competing in sporting competitions if they have what many would see as an unfair advantage because of the bodies they were born with. This is an echo of the debate raging in the U.S. about young men who transition to women and compete in college wrestling.”
He noted the survey shows that for young people, race, gender, age and species are “increasingly becoming fluid” and can be “changed at will.”
In the survey, 211 of 2,002 respondents supported or strongly supported “the ability of anyone above the age of 18 to self-define as a non-human species.”
Six hundred thirty-two out of the 2,002 supported or strongly supported the idea of self-defining one’s race.
About 400 said the same about age.
