Last modified: Sat 07/19/2025 

I'm not sure when Neil deGrasse Tyson (NdT) came on the scene, but many people seem to like him and he's done well as a science popularizer.  Over the years, however, I've come to regard NdT as more of a showman than a scientist as he seems to contribute less to the scientific conversation and more to the social scene.  Still, I occasionally enjoy hearing his thoughts on some subjects, even if they're outside of his field of expertise. But, as others have noted, NdT seems like the type of person who would wake his whole family to tell them he's going to bed.

Neil deGrasse Tyson, the scientist politician.

The conversation between him and Ben Shapiro (linked below) might have been interesting had it not been so sad to see NdT evade any questions that might even slightly question transgenderism.  In his interaction with Ben, it became clear NdT was not interested in the truth of the matter.  Instead of being an advocate for science and a seeker of truth, NdT summoned his inner William Wallace decrying FREEDOM! for the trans-community.  It was a remarkable display of NdT, not as the scientist, but as the politician.  Even when Ben presses him on the scientific aspects of transgenderism, NdT dodged, ducked, dipped, dived, and dodged to a more diplomatic position.  It was Ben, the religious conservative, who was interested in, not only the truth, but the science.  To be fair, NdT is an astrophysicist, so maybe he felt this just wasn't an area that he could provide an informed opinion.  However, to be fair, he did offer to "opine" on the topic, even though he was careful not to entertain any notion of agreement with Ben when it came to opposing the LGBT narrative, lest he become the latest victim of cancel culture.  

This is all about sports?

Initially, NdT seems to welcome the conversation, but then he makes the strange claim that the gender binary distinctions that we've relied on for millennia "only matters now because we segregate almost all sports by gender.  Otherwise, why do we even give a sh*t?"  What?  Evidently, NdT thinks that biology can be reduced to administrative convenience (sorry, science!), nor is he interested in pursuing the truth of the matter (sorry again, science). He also isn't concerned about what we're teaching our children (which Ben points out and NdT masterfully ignores), and he isn't concerned about the mental health of transgender individuals, and he's certainly not concerned about women's rights.  If we surrender the science and the language, we lose any stable ground on which to discuss human health or rights. But, according to NdT, this is all about freedom and sports!  For someone who fashions himself a scientist, NdT really hasn't put much thought into this.

Freedom!

NdT's primary concern seemed to be that bringing the tools of science onto the study of transgenderism could have the unintended consequence of the weaponization of the information whereby politicians could create laws that would restrict the freedoms of the trans-community.  In a way he's right, it's happening today, except it's not affecting the people he thought it would.  We're seeing more and more companies, schools, states (e.g. California and New York) and larger governments (e.g. Canada, UK) that have started implementing and enforcing policies and laws that penalize and/or criminalize certain speech, like the intentional misgendering of an individual (which would be considered hate speech or harassment).  Even the United States Air Force has adopted the voluntary use of preferred pronouns in their signature blocks for those who insist on virtue signaling.  Is this due to information being weaponized?  No.  It's the lack of information that's been weaponized.  The issue of transgenderism has been relegated to "the feelings" of society.  Freedom is vital, but it must be rooted in reality, not in a transient social construct. Science and philosophy need to contribute to the conversation in an effort to determine the truth of the transgender claim if for no other reason than to preserve the right to speak the truth, a freedom NdT obviously seems unable to enjoy when speaking on this topic.    

What changed?

For the better part of the past 50+ years since gender identity disorder (now gender dysphoria) came on the scene in a substantial way, the trans-community has gone about their lives virtually unnoticed by the vast majority of the population and without as much as a whisper of opposition.  So, what changed?  What changed was that gender identity disorder (or, gender dysphoria) went from disorder to doctrine. It went from being a psychological condition that was being treated (similar to anorexia) to a statement of truth of which we were to embrace and celebrate.  What also changed was that anyone who questioned it was deemed a hateful, bigoted, transphobe.  Policies and laws have sought to penalize or even criminalize speech that opposes transgenderism.  So, when Ben suggests that we use the tools of science to "hash out" the truth of the topic and NdT retorts, "yeah, but what's your motivation?"  Here's my motivation: You're a man that thinks you're a woman?  Well, I want to help you out of your delusion, not by force, but by speaking the truth. Then you can experience true freedom. You can reject my help, that's fine. But don't expect me or the rest of the world to join you in your delusion.  That's my motivation.

As a Christian, I firmly believe we're all made in the image of God and if we are to attempt to love our neighbors as ourselves, we need a strong medical community that can address all sorts of human ailments.  I have no doubt transgender men and women sincerely believe that their gender does not align with their sex.  I'm also just as sure that a man or woman with anorexia sincerely believes they are over-weight.  However, both conditions are mental health concerns that need to be addressed and corrected, not affirmed.  Just as we have medical ways of treating physical ailments, we can also treat psychological ailments.  There is no shame in that.