Mark Wilcox/Daily Mining Gazette More than 50 protestors, many chanting "Hey, Ho, Keranen must go," demonstrated in front of the Houghton County Courthouse prior to Tuesday's County Board meeting. The crowd was opposed to a resolution, introduced by Commissioner Joel Keranen, to recognize only two sexes for county documents such as birth and death documents.

HOUGHTON – Tuesday’s Houghton County Board of Commissioners meeting attracted more than 400 residents to the Courthouse regarding a proposed resolution declaring there are only two sexes, which are determined by XY Chromosomes and XX Chromosomes.

During the public comment period of the Board meeting, for two hours, more than 150 people addressed the Board, the overwhelming majority of whom opposed the resolution, while there were some who favored it.

Among those in opposition was Dr. Shelby Owens of Lake Linden. Like many members of the public present, she said, she was appalled to read the resolution, which she said was rife with medical misinformation. “I believe it is intended as an affront to the rights of transgender and gender non-binary people and to cause discord in this community,” she said. “The third whereas clause states that a male has x-y chromosomes and a female has x-x chromosomes, and the fifth whereas clause states there are no other options.”

Owens challenged both clauses saying “Speaking as a physician and as a scientist, I can tell you there are in fact many other options. Turner syndrome, which is a single x chromosome, happens in about 1 in 2000 births. Klinefelter syndrome, which is XXY chromosomes, she said, occurs in about 1 in 600 births, whileTriple X syndrome is three copies of an X chromosome, occurs in about 1 in 1000 births.

“And these are just a few examples,” Owens said “Even people with two x chromosomes can be born with a penis and testable if a copy of the S-R-Y gene is translocated onto an X chromosome.”

Speaking in opposition of the resolution, Denise Heikkinen said she was speaking on behalf of her brother, Raymond. “He was born in 1936 and throughout his life he behaved differently than the others,” she said. Extensively bullied, often physically beaten, she said he dropped out of school and enlisted in the military, but was rejected. “It was at that time that he was informed that he had XXY chromosomes, meaning he had Klinefelter syndrome.” Raymond was a large man, Heikkinen said, so his condition was not obvious when he underwent a double mastectomy.

Maddie Manderfield, who supported the resolution, said its passage was necessary for the protection of children. “Children need nurturing care and direction from healthy, loving, mature adults,” Manderfield said. “They need stability. And if the adults are confused, how can the children be healthy and secure?”

Manderfield recalled an incident which occurred when she was in a Taekwondo organization at Michigan Tech, before the COVID outbreak. “We were made up of adults, college students, high school and grade school students,” she said. “We were a uniform, we were working out. This uniform was to be worn only at Taekwondo functions out of respect.”

She said students changed in bathrooms located in the basement of the facility, while the gym was on the first floor. “We were the only ones there at that hour. One day a student named Sophie and I went down to change out of our uniforms,” Manderfield said. “We went into stalls and I stretched up a conversation. I asked where she lived on campus. She said at Wadsworth Hall on the transgender floor, I was shocked. First of all, I was shocked that Wads had a transgender floor.”

Subsequently, Manderfield said she realized Sophie was male. “A six-foot, two inch-guy, changing next to me and I was changing next to him,” she said. “He was a big guy, not only tall, he was big – and I only five foot. And I felt totally vulnerable after that. This was an unoccupied basement.”

Manderfield and the instructor changed rules to ensure the safety of the girls, she said. “They needed to change upstairs for their ensured safety, Manderfield said. “My granddaughter was one of them.”