In a particularly disturbing and gruesome case, 83-year-old Harvey Marcelin has been charged with murder.
Marcelin allegedly dismembered a 68-year-old woman, leaving her remains in various places, including in Marcelin’s apartment and around the neighborhood.
Marcelin was previously convicted of murder and manslaughter, spending decades in prison before being released in 2019. The victims in both cases were Marcelin’s live-in female partners. At a parole hearing in 1997, Marcelin spoke of having “problems” with women.
In previous court records, Marcelin was listed as male but now identifies as female. Media outlets have accordingly referred to Marcelin as a “woman” and have used female pronouns in reportage of the case.
I want you to take a moment to let that sink in.
Transgender activists have been so effective with their intimidation tactics that preferred pronouns must be used, even in contexts like this.
News consumers don’t always have enough time in a day to read coverage thoroughly. Many only skim headlines. Unless readers make a point to read an entire news article carefully, they may not catch a single reference mentioning that an alleged offender, otherwise described as female throughout the article, was born male.
As someone who has previously worked with violent offenders, including violent sexual offenders, I would recommend being very skeptical when hearing or reading about women committing these types of crimes. That is not to say that female violent or sexual offenders don’t exist, but sexual and physical violence is much more commonly perpetrated by male offenders.
Some offenders who were born male may experience gender dysphoria and prefer to identify as female, but this doesn’t change their biology. If their presentation is typical to that of a male offender, they should be profiled that way.
This has no relevance regarding the rights of transgender people to live as they choose. In fact, one would think transgender activists would want to draw awareness to such cases to emphasize that these people are exploiting activism and are not part of the community.
Women deserve to be alerted when someone with a history of victimizing women has re-offended. If the public is under the impression that an offender is female instead of male, this helps no one.
This brings me to the next relevant point — where are male offenders identifying as female housed when they are convicted? When transgender activism threatens women’s safety, it’s no surprise whose concerns are placed ahead.
Dr. Debra Soh is a sex neuroscientist, the host of The Dr. Debra Soh Podcast, and the author of The End of Gender: Debunking the Myths About Sex and Identity in Our Society.
