"Gender is not completely disconnected from sex" - Actually, in the realms of biology and psychology, it is. Sex is the physical, external characteristics, it can either be male, female, or intersex. Gender is the psychological traits typically associated with male or female.
Sorry for taking so long to reply. To put the issue of "intersex" to rest. It is nothing more then a birth defect that people are trying to use as apart of the transsexual debate which is a disorder as intersex is a defect. People that are dealing with transgenderism much like people dealing with bipolar disorder can lead to heavy depression and lead to suicide.
As these sources will explain the "intersex" issue better.
Links below:
The presence of the Y chromosome is supposed to trigger a whole series of events which will result in a biologically distinct male, but just because something may interfere with and distort the original design such that it does not function in the way it was intended does not negate that it was supposed to have a specific function. This is why we speak of brain damage, heart deformities, sterile sperm, and other such abnormalities by using qualifiers which indicate that something is failing to function according to its biological intent. The heart remains a heart; the sperm remains a sperm, and the brain remains a brain even if they are not functioning properly. A deformed heart remains a heart, even if it is an exception to the norm. Likewise, a person’s biological sex remains male or female even if it is an exception to the norm and does not function according to its biological intent.
An analogous example is the story of Jaxon Buell who was born with a rare birth defect that occurs when the beginnings of the nervous system develop incorrectly. This condition prevented most of Jaxon’s brain from forming, leaving half his skull flat.Most likely he will never be capable of talking and of walking independently. Nevertheless, he remains human. Without most of a brain, he does not fit into the normal classification for humans, but the mere fact that his brain did not develop according to its biological intent does not negate his humanity. In the same way, the mere fact that sex organs may not develop according to their biological intent does not negate the individuals’ biological gender.
Intersex conditions are not evidence of a third gender; intersex conditions are evidence of the effect of sin upon God’s creation. More importantly, intersex conditions are evidence of our need for a Savior who will redeem not only our souls, but also our bodies.
Do Intersex Individuals Disprove the Gender Binary? | Transitioning
In times past, doctors would perform surgeries without first testing the infant to find out its true sex, and the child would sometimes grow up very obviously a man, with female genitalia. Now, specialists can perform an ultrasound, blood test, chromosome analysis, and even do exploratory surgery to find out the baby's true sex. The treatment is still controversial, however.
Babies are not born with physical disorders to punish their parents in any way. Although God created the earth perfectly, it soon brought destruction upon itself with the onset of human sin (
Romans 5:12). Before the Flood in Genesis chapter 7 that wiped out almost all living things on the earth, people had the potential to live for several hundred years.
After the Flood, human life spans grew progressively shorter, indicating a change in the environment which resulted in damage to the human genetic structure. This also explains why incest was necessary for the population of the earth in Genesis, but was forbidden later in the laws of Leviticus (18:6-18). Now, thousands of years later as sin continues to permeate the world, the human race has been bombarded with every kind of sickness, disease, disorder and birth defect we can imagine.
What does the Bible say about hermaphrodites?
That has been the painful plight of a few female athletes through history. And apparently that is the situation for South African track star Caster Semenya.
Two Australian newspapers reported Friday that gender tests show the world champion athlete has no ovaries or uterus and internal testes that produce large amounts of testosterone. The international sports federation that ordered the tests would not confirm the reports.
Experts say Semenya should be allowed to race as a woman and they cringe at how her case is exploding publicly in the news media. They worry about psychological scars. Two years ago, a star female track athlete who tested male attempted suicide.
Unless she took some illicit substance, Semenya is a female with a birth defect, simple as that, said Dr. Myron Genel, a professor emeritus of pediatrics at Yale University. He was part of a special panel of experts convened by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1990 that helped end much, but not all, genetic gender testing.
"It's no different in a sense than a youngster who is born with a hole in the heart," Genel said. "These are in fact birth defects in an area that a lot of people are uncomfortable with."
What is a hermaphrodite?
True hermaphroditism, clinically known as
ovotesticular disorder of sex development, is a medical term for an
intersex condition in which an individual is born with
ovarian and
testicular tissue. More commonly one or both gonads is an
ovotestis containing both types of tissue.
True hermaphroditism - Wikipedia
Intersex conditions occur when there is a defect in the normal process of sexual maturation that results in abnormalities in any of these features.
Surgery for intersex
More links that dives more into this subject:
Ovotesticular Disorder of Sex Development - NORD (National Organization for Rare Disorders)
Ovotesticular Disorder of Sexual Development Clinical Presentation: History, Physical, Causes
Ovotesticular Disorder of Sex Development
