The same goes for any orientation or identity a person might have. Hopefully, this and future studies can help people understand that it is not a choice and, in turn, would lead to more people accepting transgender people. This would lead to legal protections, such as protecting people from being fired simply because of their gender identity, to greater accommodations for transgender people, such as gender-neutral bathrooms in public places and gender-neutral accommodations at universities, and to safer environments for transgender youth. coming out, instead of feeling like they have to pretend to be something they're not. Unfortunately, and as previously stated, there will always be bigots in the world and there will always be people who still stubbornly cling to the belief that gender identity is a choice. Even if studies like the one summarized above open everyone's eyes to the fact that there is no choice involved in gender identity, that won't stop people from believing that it's wrong. As surprising and affirming as this study is for transgender people and their allies, I can't help but fear that, in the wrong hands, people will use it to say that being transgender is a mental disorder that needs to be treated. People might use it to justify conversion therapy or, worse yet, to develop ways to change the chemical processes in a person's brain in an attempt to get that person's brain to conform to their body. This is not to say that research shouldn't be done, simply that we need to be careful how it is done