In the 1993 hit movie, Mrs. Doubtfire, Robin Williams play Daniel Hillard finds himself suddenly divorced without custody of his kids. To solve this problem, he disguises himself as an old Scottish nanny to get hired by his ex-wife and be closer to his kids.

Mrs. Doubtfire was a comedy but real life transgendering is now becoming a political issue for Liberals.

A California state law that takes effect in January says schools not only can’t discriminate by sex but also can’t take into account “a person’s gender identity and gender related appearance and behavior whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth.”

Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm has just issued a similar order in her state, barring discrimination against state workers based on their “gender identity or expression.” And members of Congress have been trying for several months to add crimes against the transgendered to the list of categories punishable under federal hate-crimes law.

The transgendered are now grouped with gays, lesbians and bisexuals in the abbreviation GLBT. It is estimated by the National Center for Transgendered Equality that between 0.25% and 1% of Americans place themselves in the transgendered category.

As one such individual recently wrote to the San Francisco Bay Times:

“My medical condition was not a matter of nurture and/or a choice but was caused by a biological error in the womb.”

John Nemecek, a business professor at Spring Arbor University, an evangelical college in Michigan, was demoted earlier this year because he started wearing makeup and earrings and calling himself Julie. Mr. Nemecek was diagnosed by a doctor with “gender-identity disorder” and started hormone therapy.

A Christian group called the Advocates for Faith and Freedom has launched a lawsuit to stop the aforementioned California law from going into effect. Robert Tyler, a lawyer for the group, asks:

“What will prevent the 250-pound linebacker from deciding he wants to share the locker room with the cheerleaders?”

A couple of years ago, Pauline Park, a man who feels he is a woman, was stopped by security officers coming out of the ladies room of New York City’s Manhattan Mall. Mr. Park filed a complaint with the city. Under the terms of the settlement, Advantage Security adopted a policy allowing people to use bathrooms “consistent with their gender identity.”

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) notes that

“many transgender people do not experience their transgender feelings and traits to be distressing or disabling, which implies that being transgender does not constitute a mental disorder per se.”

Michael Bailey, a psychologist at Northwestern University, published a book in 2003 suggesting that some men who want to change genders are living in a kind of fantasy. They are motivated by an erotic idea of themselves as women. Dr. Bailey was chastised for his writings with one critic even posted pictures of Mr. Bailey’s children on the Internet with sexually explicit captions under them.

Atlanta hosted the nation’s first transgender career fair in September. According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, the expo drew representatives from 20 major corporations. But logistical questions came up. Should applicants list both their male and female names on résumés? What if a potential employer called an old reference who didn’t know about an applicant’s “change”?

An article in the New York Times revealed how parents of children with gender confusion are now being encouraged to dress their children as members of the opposite sex. “At the Park Day School in Oakland [Calif.], teachers . . . are urged to line up students by sneaker color rather than by gender.”

When officials in Port Ewen, N.Y., decided to let a school principal stay on even after a sex change, most parents didn’t protest. But one resident of a neighboring town told a reporter: “God makes things perfect and people want to screw it all up.” It’s a passing remark but it raises an interesting question. What does it mean that, once conceived, a person was somehow given the wrong body? Should we hold God responsible? And what bathroom does he want us going into?

Source: Naomi Schaefer Riley in Taste at The Wall Street Journal [Subscription]

Happy New Year!