A prominent LGBT activist took to X Sunday with the bold claim that there are at least 18 species of “biologically trans” animals. Australian leftist Peter Tatchell may have grown accustomed to passing off many of his radical views in the current political climate, but this particular suggestion died on arrival.
Tatchell has been roundly ridiculed over his post, which was also slapped with multiple community notes.
A history of bad takes
Tatchell has long courted controversy with his extreme views on sexuality. In the late 1990s, he argued that the United Kingdom should reduce the age of consent to 14.
The Critic reported that Tatchell wrote a letter to the Guardian in 1997, noting, “Ros Coward thinks that it is ‘shocking’ that Gay Men’s Press has published a book, ‘Dare to Speak,’ which challenges the assumption that all sex involving children and adults is abusive. I think it is courageous.”
Tatchell went on to reference “societies where consenting inter-generational sex is considered normal, beneficial and enjoyable by old and young alike.”
Later in the letter, Tatchell reportedly noted, “Several of my friends gay and straight male and female had sex with adults from the ages of 9 to 14. None feel they were abused.”
The activist apparently concluded the letter writing, “Whilst it may be impossible to condone paedophilia, it is time society acknowledged the truth that not all sex involving children is unwanted, abusive and harmful.”
In recent years, Tatchell has called for schools to teach kids “the whole truth about every kind of sex and relationship – including sexual practices that some people find distasteful, such as anal intercourse and sadomasochism” and to deny parents the ability to opt their kids out of such lessons.
Tatchell has also made clear he is not a single-issue leftist, having championed abortion; derided conservative lawmakers; embraced the Russian Collusion hoax; recommended a pause on eating meat; pushed climate alarmism; accused the monarchy of racism; and celebrated porn consumption.
There was an attempt in 2021 to rehabilitate Tatchell’s image in the form of Christopher Amos’ film, “Hating Peter Tatchell,” which stars Ian McKellan and counts Elton John as one of its executive producers. He may soon need a new Netflix special.
Trans-ing the animal kingdom
Tatchell shared an article Sunday from the Gay Times along with the caption, “18 animals you didn’t know were biologically trans[.] Gender diversity in the (tr)animal kingdom blurs the lines of ‘biological sex.'”
The article that evidently caught Tachell’s eye claimed various animals are gender-benders, including swallowtail butterflies, hyenas, seahorses, Komodo dragons, jellyfish, banana slugs, slipper limpets, and oysters.
The author of the article, a former LGBT content creator for Netflix, suggested that the existence of supposedly transvestic slugs and limpets goes to show that instead of reinforcing the sex binary upheld by “Lesbian separatists, right wing lobbyists, the Pope,” and J.K. Rowling, biology actually supports gender theory.
“These animals show that gender is not a simplistic binary, male & female,” added Tatchell. “Trans & intersex are real. Get used to it!”
Tatchell’s post was quickly met with criticism and fact-checks.
One note said, “Tatchell and the article conflate ‘biological sex’ and ‘gender identity.’ None of the examples presented in the article demonstrate that sex is not binary. Humans cannot change sex, and it is misleading and potentially harmful to use non-human animal[s] to suggest otherwise.”
The note linked to an April 2023 piece in the Wall Street Journal wherein an evolutionary biologist explained that “there are only two sexes. This is true throughout the plant and animal kingdoms. An organism’s sex is defined by the type of gamete (sperm or ova) it has the function of producing. Males have the function of producing sperm, or small gametes; females, ova, or large ones. Because there is no third gamete type, there are only two sexes. Sex is binary.”
That same biologist, Colin Wright, responded to Tatchell’s post, writing, “This is absolute pseudoscience, Peter. None of these animals challenge the binary nature of sex. Stop spreading scientific misinformation.”
Another community note, which was accompanied by a link to a 2023 Spanish academic article published in the journal, underscored that “nothing in the linked article is applicable to human beings or the concept of ‘trans’ in humans.”
Among the multitude of critics who descended on Tatchell’s post was conservative commentator Matt Walsh, who wrote, “Just to be clear here: you’re claiming that human males who claim to be women actually are women because banana slugs are hermaphrodites?”
Walsh quipped in a separate post, “18 birds that prove humans can fly.”
Science writer Malcolm Clark wrote to Tatchell, “I thought you’d be much more interested in the fact there is no legal Age of Consent among animals.”
Twitchy highlighted that Tatchell doubled down on Monday, sharing a post claiming when female pheasants’ feathers turn brown and they stop laying eggs, they become “drag kings.”
Once again, Tatchell was roundly ridiculed.
Dennis Noel Kavanagh, director of the Gay Men’s Network, wrote, “You are not a pheasant Peter.”
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Source: TheBlaze
