Read: Empathy often missing in debate on transgender identity

I am writing in response to Evy Jacobs’ letter regarding assigned sexes (“‘Assigned sexes’ should remain through puberty,” July 25). In her letter, she states that God assigned genders, and that is the way it is and that children should be required to wait until they are adults before they can make alterations.

Is Ms. Jacobs aware that biology shows that male and female are separate poles on a spectrum? Combinations of chromosomes that do not match the expected XX/XY configuration are common. The SRY gene, which typically is found on the Y chromosome, may be missing or found on an X chromosome. It is more complicated than is taught in high school biology.

The diversity of creation and human existence is far more beautiful than a simple binary.

In 2014, Leelah Alcorn, a transgender American girl, committed suicide. She described the torture of being forced through conversion therapy by her parents, who refused to accept her as a girl. She begged for people to make her death mean something and to fix society. For a while, there was a shift in public sentiment.

I have several friends with transgender children. One friend tried to raise her child as she thought God wanted. Her child withdrew, acted out, showed signs of depression and more. The parent overheard her child praying to God to take her home. When my friend finally accepted her child as her daughter, she watched her child begin to thrive, as is the experience of so many parents of transgender children. Read the lawsuits against these kinds of laws and the testimony of parents who spoke in their legislatures. This is what their experiences show.

But now, after finally watching their children thrive, these treatments are being pulled by people who simply refuse to walk a moment in a transgender person’s shoes.

It is a sad day when empathy is abandoned.

Kristine Read

Milford