in 10'°iOlTf’l june 2001 RethinkingOur Origins By Karen Kerin As the tension between cre-V - ation“ and evolution. theory feeds the debate concerning who we are and how we got this way, startling evidence is accumulating that indicates a whole new examination is ' needed.Genetic science teach- es us pretty conclusively that the XX and XY only can pro- ducethe same patterns and hence either XX or XY off- spring. But that isn’t true, because there are a number of other configurations possible, - such. as the XXY and at least several others. So if XX is always femaleand XY- is‘ always male, whatinthe world are these others and how did‘ they come into being? Science hasn’t provided any firm .answers to that question yet. The next big question is per- haps much more on point for the ‘Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Inter-sex (GLBTI) community. (Inter- sex, for those not familiar with the term, is the group of folks We must first understand, unambiguously, the simple truth that for the GLBT portion of the community, there is very little evidence of any - physical manifestations to account for why we are who we are. who, at birth, have undefined genitalia. The Intersex Society .of North America has a very ’ good “ ' website at www.ISNA.org).- ‘ What explains the GLBTI communi- ty, if it isn’t genetics? That question may be on the verge of an answer and the answer comports with the Biblical words of Genesis, “we are all created in the image and like- ness of God”. Is this possible? To answer, we must back up just a decade and review some history. ' I . In-the early l990’s diverse events occurred’. Ailake in cen- tral Florida had been allegedly cleaned up‘ after a chemical spill. The water was spectacu- larly clean and free of pollu- tion, yet the alligators and tur- tles were all inter-sexed. 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In England, where .the effluent of waste- water plants is discharged into lowland rivers. where it is reused for potable waterdown stream, some irregularities led to an interesting experiment. Adult male trout were caged near the outlet of the sewage treatment plants and in three weeks they had become inter- sexed. In the U.S., a researcher was using new lab containers and getting odd results. This led her to test a new empty container and discover it tested positive for the presence of estrogen. The story of all these events is detailed in a book first published in 1996. (Theo Colborn, et al, Our Stolen Future, Penguin Books, USA, NY) The substances, "which were responsiblefor —i»n‘dic‘atinig5 0 positive for esfrogen,' were T termed “endocrine disrupters” or “endocrine mimics”. Note that the forward to this book was written by. then ‘Vice President Al Gore. By 1999, the National Institutes of Science had writ- ten a significant authoritative text on the subject and renamed the families of sub- stances “hormonally active agents” (HAA’s). (National Institutes of . - :'°fScience, 'Horm'onally Actfvef.7Agents, National Institutes of Science, Washington, DC) The text list- ed a large number of identified ‘ chemicals by families, which had proven to be of the dis- rupter or mimic type. And yes, they are very active. Interestingly, to show just how non-partisan this matter really is, the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave them sig- nificant mention in press con- ferences dealing with the arsenic in drinking water stan- dards. Governor Christie Todd Whitman madeiit clear that she understood the terrible threat these substances pose. Do note that the media has not picked up on this, much less informed America about it. Now, history lesson com- pleted, we move on to the “who, what, when, where and how” these substances relate to ' the GLBTI community. But to do that, we must first under- stand, unambiguously, the sim- ple truth that for the GLBT portion of the community, there is very little evidence of any physical manifestations to account for why we are who we are. The subject has been in the province of the voodoo doctors of medicine, the psy- chiatrists and ‘their handmaid- ens, the sociologists and psy- chologists. Yes‘, they have claimed it is all‘inthe head or brain chemistry, to be more specific. Okay, there are tens of thousands of endocriries or honnones as they are popularly understood. These are the chemical messengers of the body. We’re fortunate to have‘ two messenger systems and both are bi-directional. The nervous system sends mes- sages to and from the brain and so does the endocrine system. The nervous system largely deals with input to the brain from the mo_re voluntary parts"... ._ '3of thebody, skin and muscleiifl The brain in turn sends mes- sages via the nervous system to the muscles to tighten or relax so that motion. becomes a rather seamless action of the. body. ‘ The endocrine system is very different, yet the same. It is the messenger betweenthe brain and the organs. You never have any sensation from the pancreas, the kidneys,’ the liverior any of the other inter- nal organs. Yet, they release all sorts of endocriries at the need- ed doses at the time they are required. How do they know? Endocrines are dispatched to them to tell them there is not enough or too little of some— - thing and the organ responds accordingly. Does one organ talk to another by this system? Possibly, but no one has ever really gone out on a limb and affirrnatively stated that to be the case..On the other hand, brain chemistry is a fast grow- ing field and there have been many regular discoveries of new brain chemicals. So, we certainly know that the brain is involved in some, if not all, of . the chemical messaging. Now a few missing facts and we shall tie all this up with a rainbow or a shroud as you the reader may choose to view it. Some, or possibly all, of these HAA’s can cross the-pla- cental barrier, that wallof the womb which isolates the grow- _ing fetus from the mother’s ' accumulate biochemistry. But for the pla- I cental barrier, every birth would be female oriented because the mother’s estrogen would bathe the fetus in femi- nizing hormones. That may be the explanation for the differ- ent brain chemistry for GLBT folks. Note that all HAA’s are not estrogenic, and some are not understood at all at this early juncture. The chromo- somes give a person the physi- cal body, but the brain is dependent on the HAA’s pres- ent at certain times in vivo. For the inter-sexed folks, it may be that the disrupters or mimics -(HAA’s) can lead to the condi- tion as a result of fetal expo- sure to certain HAA’s or com- binations of HAA’s. _There you have it. For the first time, science has an expla- nation that appears to account for all of God’s children being Created in His image and like- if-Infconclusion, dw ____, note the untoward"conse- quences of this discovery. Few members of the GLBTI com- munity procreate. The.-straight community would live-in-‘terror of losing the abilityito procre- ate if they knew about this late breaking science. That ‘explains why the EPA is con- cerned about HAA’s. Think about it. If people know about _ this, they would recognize that a sterile planet is the likely out- come of failingto rein in the prevalence of the HAA’s in our environment. Even if a sterile planet doesn’t happen as the result of inter-sexing, there is still a huge possibility that straight folks will be on the endangered species list along with virtually every other liv- ing organism. Yes, we may well be the precursor of events not yet fiilly identified, owing only to the fact that we bio- these HAA’s because humans are at the top of the food chain, just like the . turtles and alligators in the central Florida lake. I am 57 years old, married, and live in South Royalton. I am a dual professional having degreed in both engineering and law. I am an ardent envi- ronmentalist who resents the iconoclastic approaches of government agencies to deal"-_ ing with our natural environ- ment. 1 am also a transsexual.