An associate professor at the University of New Mexico says she fears being compelled to “lie” to her students by teaching that only two genders exist.
Georgiann Davis, an associate professor of sociology at UNM, expressed her concerns in a Thursday op-ed for the Los Angeles Times titled “I’m an intersex professor. Am I supposed to lie by teaching ‘only male and female’?”
In the essay, Davis referenced a viral video showing a Texas A&M student challenging professor Melissa McCoul about classroom discussions on “gender and sexuality.” The student questioned whether teaching about concepts such as the “gender unicorn” — a visual tool used to explain differences between gender identity and sexuality — was legal, saying, “According to our president, there’s only two genders. And this also very much goes against… a lot of people’s religious beliefs.”
Texas A&M later dismissed McCoul, citing inconsistencies between her course content and its official description. Then–university president Mark A. Welsh III stated that senior college leaders had approved “plans to continue teaching course content that was not consistent with the course’s published description,” prompting their immediate removal from administrative roles.
Davis wrote that incidents like these have left her afraid of the professional fallout from teaching what she considers accurate science. “As someone who also teaches in the Southwest, I find myself scared — scared of what consequences might follow if I teach well and honestly,” she said.
She blamed rising political hostility for creating a hostile environment for educators. “Especially now, as misinformation about bodies spreads, with President [Donald] Trump and others insisting people are exclusively male or female — a narrow, politically charged ‘gender ideology’ of their own invention,” Davis wrote.
Born with “a vagina but no ovaries, uterus or fallopian tubes,” and with “XY chromosomes and internal, undescended testes,” Davis identifies as intersex. She said that teaching otherwise would mean denying her own biological reality. “Should I lie to my students?” she asked in the column. “Should I deny that intersex people exist as a biological reality? Should I pretend, as the Texas A&M student wishes and Trump supports, that sex is a simple binary that perfectly aligns with gender and a simplistic view of sexuality?”
Davis, author of Contesting Intersex: The Dubious Diagnosis and Five Star White Trash, emphasized that intersex people are “a biological fact” and that political rhetoric claiming there are only two genders is “scientifically wrong.” She cited estimates from the Cleveland Clinic that about 1 in 100 Americans are intersex, with roughly 2% of people worldwide displaying intersex traits.
“This is why I’m scared to do my job,” Davis concluded. “Should I stand before my students and lie to them about biological reality? That would be the only way to comply with an order to acknowledge only males and females; informed and honest teachers cannot go along with that fiction.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Davis reiterated that teaching there are only two sexes would be dishonest. “Sex isn’t as simple as male or female, which any honest biologist, endocrinologist, gynecologist, [or] geneticist will tell you,” she said. “And I refuse to lie to my students about the existence of intersex people because of some political ideological war. I prefer facts. I was born with a vagina and internal testes. That’s not an ideology. That’s reality.”
She could be honest and tell her students that sometimes people are born with traits of both sexes. That, however, doesn’t mean there are multiple genders and that only male or female is inaccurate.
As a graduate of UNM, it will be interesting to see how the school deals with this. My guess is they will fully support her by allowing her to teach whatever garbage she wants. One of many reasons UNM receives no support from me.
Some people are truly stupid and need to have there mouths sewed shut
what salary is this person paid to act the fool ? mental illness through the roof in the USA
Another loon who should be fired.
(S)he claims to have some parts & not others. I won’t ever believe anything a left lunatic says, esp re their “sex” or “gender”
SHE SHOULD READ THE BIBLE GOD SAID THERE ARE 2 GENDERS MAN AND WOMAN NOT TRANSSEXULS OR QUEERS
Why must ‘she’ even bring the subject up? Yes, there are those like her, but what has that to do with what she’s teaching? UNM and New Mexico’s other universities are filled with Marxist professors and regents. The need to go back to basics is enormous!
People are ridiculous.
There are 2 sexes – “genders” can mean multiple things, much of which is meaningless.
Davis likely has Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, a DSD of males. There are still 2 sexes. “Intersex” is an outdated medical umbrella term, not an identity. Intersex people have a sex, too. We really need higher educational standards.
So, a student pays how much for this sociology course? Accepted and proven science for centuries points to only two genders. Just because this professor has a vagina and internal nuts means she is an anomaly, a mutated gene somewhere, just like a hermaphodite, Down’s syndrome, club foot, webbed feet, etc. it does not mean there are more genders. It only means this professor and people of her mindset are trying to legitimize their anomaly to make themselves feel better about themselves. Meanwhile, we 98% of people who don’t have this issue, shake our heads at why the 2% have a say at all!