A tiny rule alteration. A simple change. Nobody will probably even notice. Should it even matter? It came from the Secretary of State’s office. It went to the State Affairs Committee. A rule change. It’s on the form used to register voters or to file as a candidate for state office. On line three, after name and address, is the simple three-letter question: sex — M or F. They want to eliminate it. The minute modification was almost missed but then someone asked — why? “Some states are having issues and we just wanted to take preemptive action.” Hummmm. Does it even matter? Is my reluctance silly?

We have used gender identity as a primary key to distinguishing individuals for at least 10,000 years. Did it really not matter all that time? Does it not matter now? Are we eliminating a basic, foundational, traditional human description because of political correctness? Is there anything more basic than identifying a fellow human by gender? Is this the beginning of “no standards” as acceptable standards? Should we even worry about something as innocent or as sinister as gender? If this is the beginning, where does it end?

I know when I was dating, gender was a rather significant consideration. My friend: “I’ve got this human I think you would like to go out with.”

“Is she cute?”

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to specify gender.”

“Do they play on the girls basketball team or the boys?

“I don’t think they distinguish gender in sports anymore.”

“Oh. So how will I know?

“That’s going to be tricky.”

Sometimes simple beginnings and slight alterations don’t always end well.

My daughter was in 4-H and had raised a beautiful white lamb. She loved the sociality of the 4-H organization, wanted to raise some money for school clothes, but she fell in love with her little lamb. It was the end of the season and something needed to be done. So with painful reluctance she decided to sell her cherished pet. A really nice man came by our home to purchase the beloved. When he showed up my daughter was on her knees, with both arms around its neck, crying gently. It was a very sad and tender moment for her. The man patted the precious thing and then lifted it gently by the scruff of its neck and set its bottom tenderly on the ground. With a warm smile on his face he reached behind his back with the other hand, whipped out a large knife and slashed its throat. My daughter was stunned; my wife horrified. The blood was gushing out the neck with steady beats. After a minute or so he threw it into the back of his truck and drove off. I don’t know how long it was before we were capable of speech.

If we turn our beloved traditions and ancient beliefs over to the unstable, politically correct crowd, how will they regard and treasure the standard of beliefs we have held so long and consider so dear?

How will this look in the future? A 911 call: “911 may I help you?”

Convenience Store owner (CSO): “Yes, my store’s just been robbed!”

911: “Do you have a description?”

CSO: “He was black!”

911: “Whoa, whoa, whoa. That sounds extremely racist. That’s out of line and unnecessarily rude. We won’t tolerate that kind of talk here. Do you have anything else?”

CSO: “Well, it was a man.”

911: “We got away from the despicable practice of identifying individuals by gender years ago. Shame on you. Anything else?”

CSO: “The human was really big!”

911: “What kind of an insensitive person are you? Some folks have serious eating disorders, also abnormally large size can come from genetics. That’s entirely out of a person’s control. How boorish to even mention it! Give me some details.”

CSO: “Never mind. Sorry to have bothered you.”

I never realized that serving in the Legislature would place me in front of such pathetically trivial issues or historically critical matters.

Are we presenting these foundational principles, our lamb, to be raised as a beloved pet? Or will our traditional mores soon be bleeding out and thrown into the back of a pickup? Will those values and morals continue to be respected?

Does it even matter?

I guess you will have to decide.

This column was written by state Rep. Randy Armstrong, R-Inkom.