Great article, Shawn Banks! I really like how you walk us through your process and spell out your conclusions. If I could just make an observation, though, not to be pedantic or hypercritical, your use of the word “transgendered” throughout the piece is likely to be offensive to many transgender people.

Transgender is an adjective all on its own and as such describes an immutable characteristic at the core of a person’s being.

Transgender people often say they feel, when the ed suffix is tacked on the end, like they’re being described as people who have had something done to them, or who did something to become transgender — when science leads us to believe they were born that way.

In any case, it is rather a hot-button issue, so perhaps you can add the subject to your personal education to-do list.

Actually, come to think of it, I just read a good article on the subject the other day. Let me see if I can find it.

Ah, here we go, by Martie Sirois:

https://medium.com/@martiesirois/heres-why-it-s-best-to-avoid-using-transgendered-8fd6fa82f6ba