On Sunday, the New York Times published an op-ed from Richard A. Friedman, Weill Cornell Medical College professor of clinical psychiatry, who asks, “How changeable is gender?” Though Friedman sets up his piece by discussing the biological underpinnings of gender identity and the experience of being transgender, he ultimately explains his “skepticism” about assisting transgender people to change their bodies to match their identities. “After all,” he concludes, “medical and psychological treatments should be driven by the best available scientific evidence — not political pressure or cherished beliefs.”