Chastity Bono announces gender reassignment

[innerSpaceman]

I have a lot of issues with Trans people. I need to get to know some more of those folks.

But I kinda resent them being lumped in with da gays. Gender Identity issues have absolutely nothing to do with same-sex orientation. I have nothing more in common issue-wise with Trans people than I do with Latinos and African-Americans or any other oppressed group of people. I want the 'T" from LGBT thrown into Boston Harbor.

Further, while the main issue I'm dealing with right now on the gay side is Marriage Equality, it rankles that Trans people can marry whomever they want. This is not their issue at all, and their issues have nothing to do with it. It doesn't help any that I think there's no surgery or personal belief that can actually change one's gender ... so, to me, a Trans Man-to Woman who marries a man is "getting away with" gay marriage through a legal loophole that I could care less about, but that's what it is to me.


Clearly, I have a lot of work to do. But I just don't get Trans folk. I think everybody should live the life they want ... but thinking you ARE a different gender is a delusion. One may prefer to act like, and have as many attributes as possible as, and think of oneself as a different gender. But that doesn't make it so.

Still, I'm all for complete personal freedom that hurts no one else, so good luck to Chaz Bono in all her or his future endeavors.

[3894]

The piece I read last night (cnn.com???) said that quite a small percentage of all transgendered people have surgery, that it's much more about living as a man or a woman than anything anatomical.

[katiesue]

Originally Posted by 3894

The piece I read last night (cnn.com???) said that quite a small percentage of all transgendered people have surgery, that it's much more about living as a man or a woman than anything anatomical.

Here is the article. I read it yesterday as well. If you don't have the surgery then what exactly is the criteria for legally declaring yourself to be of the opposite sex you were born with?

I thought it was very interesting.

[Alex]

Originally Posted by katiesue

I read it yesterday as well. If you don't have the surgery then what exactly is the criteria for legally declaring yourself to be of the opposite sex you were born with?

I believe in California it does require the surgery to legally change your gender. You can find the forms here. An affidavit from a doctor of sex change is required.

The transgendered people I've known all were simply living as their preferred gender but none had plans for gender reassignment surgery (some because it was just too expensive others because they weren't interested).

Also they weren't all "gay." I haven't known any female-to-male transgendered but the men were split between being sexually/romantically interested in men or women.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Clearly, I have a lot of work to do. But I just don't get Trans folk. I think everybody should live the life they want ...

Why do you think you have a lot fo work to do? I don't think that you (or I or anyone) has to understand or embrace what others choose to do.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Clearly, I have a lot of work to do. But I just don't get Trans folk.

Originally Posted by scaeagles

Why do you think you have a lot fo work to do? I don't think that you (or I or anyone) has to understand or embrace what others choose to do.

Neither Man Nor Woman is a good place to start to begin understanding the role of gender identification has in society and in psyche. We may not have to understand or embrace what others choose to do, but I personally find the attempt to understand what others choose to do helps me understand my own choices better. Gender roles are intensely powerful forces in society, and understanding what (if anything) is "real" about them and what is artificial goes a long way towards understanding why people act like they do.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

Why do you think you have a lot fo work to do? I don't think that you (or I or anyone) has to understand or embrace what others choose to do.

I disagree.

Well, you don't HAVE to understand. But I think it's important to try.

It helps me to try to understand people and their motivations, their needs, their wishes. It helps me to consider others in my daily interactions, and to consider the larger picture of how the human world moves.

So it doesn't matter whether I'm trying to understand gay people or trans-identified people or republicans or illegal immigrants or bullies or animal trainers. Seeking to understand them, hard as it may be sometimes, helps me be a better person - not just to them, but to everyone.

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by LSPoorEeyorick

I disagree.

Well, you don't HAVE to understand. But I think it's important to try.

It helps me to try to understand people and their motivations, their needs, their wishes. It helps me to consider others in my daily interactions, and to consider the larger picture of how the human world moves.

So it doesn't matter whether I'm trying to understand gay people or trans-identified people or republicans or illegal immigrants or bullies or animal trainers. Seeking to understand them, hard as it may be sometimes, helps me be a better person - not just to them, but to everyone.

VLSPEM!

[flippyshark]

Originally Posted by Gemini Cricket

VLSPEM!

VLSPEM? Okay, I've been trying to look up acronyms and tone down my hateful rhetoric about them, but a Google search of VLSPEM got me nowhere. Please translate, and then tell me where I go to get my 21st century compatible brain.

(Sorry for the derail, all.)