Some questions about transgender

[Para199x]

In the whole LGBT movement, the T is the thing I've heard least from and know the least about. So I had some questions for anyone who knows more than I (which is almost everyone I imagine).

1) What exactly are the problems facing (some?) transgender people such that they need to be part of a movement, other than (some) people thinking it's strange?

2) A follow up to question 1, what exactly do you (or the people you sympathize with) want to achieve?

3) This one is mainly for transgender people. Do you find that you identify as transgender because of physical reasons or that you fit more with the social expectations of the gender opposite to that which you were born?

4) Again mainly for people who identify as or at least highly empathize with transpeople. Something I've been struggling with is how one can feel like they are a gender beyond what they physically are. To me genders just seem to be a rather arbitrary thing and you're born one and that's your gender. Could you try (I know this might be hard to explain to somebody who doesn't think the same way) to explain what it means to feel gender.

I hope I have not worded this poorly. I do not mean to cause offense I am just trying to understand.

 

[Euryalus]

4) Again mainly for people who identify as or at least highly empathize with transpeople. Something I've been struggling with is how one can feel like they are a gender beyond what they physically are. To me genders just seem to be a rather arbitrary thing and you're born one and that's your gender. Could you try (I know this might be hard to explain to somebody who doesn't think the same way) to explain what it means to feel gender.

I can't explain from experience, but the... not problem... um... state... occurs from exposure to certain hormones in the womb. These hormones affect brain development in such a way the neural structure essentially develops in a way different from what your sex chromosomes would otherwise dictate. A female brain in a male genome and body (or the other way around) essentially

1) What exactly are the problems facing (some?) transgender people such that they need to be part of a movement, other than (some) people thinking it's strange?

People treat "strange" people really really shittily some times. The whole point could be summed up in one sense or the other as "I don't deserve to be treated like crap for trying to reconcile body and mind."

...That's my two cents anyway. Correct me or add details if I'm wrong or skimped out fellow 'pists

 

[Thaluikhain]

1) What exactly are the problems facing (some?) transgender people such that they need to be part of a movement, other than (some) people thinking it's strange?

Well..."people thinking its strange" doesn't go nearly far enough. People get murdered for being trans, the "trans panic defence" is a thing (much like the "gay panic defence"), people don't even want to let trans people have their own unofficial day of remembrance.

Then you have stuff like emergency personnel not caring what happens to them, laughing at someone for being trans while they bleed to death and so on.

Not to mention people generally not interested in trans people's rights and so on, so progress is slow at best.

 

[an annoyed writer]

1: I'm from the United States, and here, there's a lot of terrible things people will do to you if you're transgendered: people will treat you like shit, deny you employment, deny you medical care, kill you in various ways, rape you,and the list goes on. We're viewed and treated like aliens by a lot of people, and we're fucking sick of it.

2: Me, personally? I'd like to live without the fear of some jackass, quoting bible verses while tossing Molotov Cocktails, burning my house down. I'd like the fact that I'm transitioning between genders to not affect anything, and be able to be hired on my personal merits, and not be denied a job because I'm transgendered. I want it to not matter if or when I get into a bad accident, and I have to trust my life to an EMT, so that they will do their job, regardless of my gender. I want to be treated as a goddamn human being, rather than a second-class citizen. That's what I want. Is that too much to ask?

3: I identify as transgender due to the fact that from birth my brain was wired one way while my physical body was built in another. It's actually a physical problem caused by a chemical imbalance that occurs before we're even born, so no, we don't choose this. What we do choose is to do something about it. Changing physical sex and representative gender is our solution, like it or not, as we view preserving the mind to be a higher priority than keeping the body to original specs.

4: I covered this already. You're going to have to update your logic there: sometimes, genes and hormones fuck up, and you get people like us whose brains literally follow the blueprint of the opposite sex that we're born. It will seem like an arbitrary thing to you, since you were lucky enough to have a brain that follows your physical body's blueprint. Someone on this forum once described it as similar to having Phantom Limb syndrome: your brain still recognizes your missing arm or leg as part of the body, even though it is no longer there. We feel a similar sensation, and you are not within your rights to deny us treatment because you think our problems are trivial. If we all worked like that, no one would be capable of working together to build societies like the ones we have today.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

1: I'm from the United States, and here, there's a lot of terrible things people will do to you if you're transgendered: people will treat you like shit, deny you employment, deny you medical care, kill you in various ways, rape you,and the list goes on. We're viewed and treated like aliens by a lot of people, and we're fucking sick of it.

2: Me, personally? I'd like to live without the fear of some jackass, quoting bible verses while tossing Molotov Cocktails, burning my house down. I'd like the fact that I'm transitioning between genders to not affect anything, and be able to be hired on my personal merits, and not be denied a job because I'm transgendered. I want it to not matter if or when I get into a bad accident, and I have to trust my life to an EMT, so that they will do their job, regardless of my gender. I want to be treated as a goddamn human being, rather than a second-class citizen. That's what I want. Is that too much to ask?

move to Scandinavia it is much better here.

 

[MetalMagpie]

I have a male family friend who was born a girl. I only know this because my mum told me. You can't tell by looking at him, and he doesn't talk about it. I'm not actually sure how many of his friends (aside from my parents) even know.

What still upsets my mum to this day is the abuse he got while he was midway through the change. Apparently, he went through a stage of looking a bit odd (face very masculine, but breasts still obvious). And that was enough to make people stop treating him like a human being.

I don't claim to have any understanding of why he needed to change his gender. I've never asked him about it. But people shouldn't be treated differently because of a choice they make with their own body.

 

[Zeckt]

1) I'm from Canada and to be honest I have had very little issues or problems. Sure I got a couple weird looks while transitioning but work /family / even the public had zero problems with it, especially my family because my low self esteem has gone away entirely.

2) I would like people born both sexes to be able to pick their OWN gender when they can properly identify how they feel about themselves rather then be mutilated into a potentially damning role that could ruin their lives. It's an issue that nearly costed me my life in 2 occassions being a female favored hermaophrodite being made into a male at birth. I don't like to even think about how picking our genders for us makes me feel because it makes me physically ill even thinking about it. LET US PICK!

3) I feel very much more comfortable, as I was absolutely terrible at being masculine even when I tried to be. I was always way too overly sensitive. I was a walking joke to people with very little self esteem and I freely admit to not being all that brainy, coupled in with being physically weaker then normal men I had nothing going for me except a ridiculously feminine appearance and frame.

4) Every time I was in a group of men before transitioning ESPECIALLY if they were rowdy I found I could not relate by any means. It's like a feeling of being a sheep surrounded by a pack of wolves. It was very terrifying. The best decision of my life was when I decided to give up on trying to fit in with them completely and start wearing nail polish, eye liner and earring. etc etc. I started taking the medication and transitioned.

It was suddenly SO much easier to talk to people and make friends when I was just being myself, finally people could visually see me and understand I had no interest in trying to fit in in a masculine way. I had nothing to prove anymore and could feel comfortable. I went to being friendless and suicidal to having plenty of confidence and lots of friends. And I'm a non sexual, not interested in sex of any kind.

 

[an annoyed writer]

1: I'm from the United States, and here, there's a lot of terrible things people will do to you if you're transgendered: people will treat you like shit, deny you employment, deny you medical care, kill you in various ways, rape you,and the list goes on. We're viewed and treated like aliens by a lot of people, and we're fucking sick of it.

2: Me, personally? I'd like to live without the fear of some jackass, quoting bible verses while tossing Molotov Cocktails, burning my house down. I'd like the fact that I'm transitioning between genders to not affect anything, and be able to be hired on my personal merits, and not be denied a job because I'm transgendered. I want it to not matter if or when I get into a bad accident, and I have to trust my life to an EMT, so that they will do their job, regardless of my gender. I want to be treated as a goddamn human being, rather than a second-class citizen. That's what I want. Is that too much to ask?

move to Scandinavia it is much better here.

I'd be lying if I'd said I haven't considered it. The countries of Scandinavia seem to be much more free than places like the US, where freedom is considered crucial... unless you're not straight, white, and in some places, male. Then fuck you, we've got the right to walk all over you because god said so.

 

[Para199x]

4: I covered this already. You're going to have to update your logic there: sometimes, genes and hormones fuck up, and you get people like us whose brains literally follow the blueprint of the opposite sex that we're born. It will seem like an arbitrary thing to you, since you were lucky enough to have a brain that follows your physical body's blueprint. Someone on this forum once described it as similar to having Phantom Limb syndrome: your brain still recognizes your missing arm or leg as part of the body, even though it is no longer there. We feel a similar sensation, and you are not within your rights to deny us treatment because you think our problems are trivial. If we all worked like that, no one would be capable of working together to build societies like the ones we have today.

I see from the rest of your answers that you clearly have problems with people thinking being trans is wrong. I'm sorry if you got that impression from me I was simply trying to find out what the sensation of gender was. The Phantom Limb syndrome thing made that clear. Thanks for the response.

 

[an annoyed writer]

4: I covered this already. You're going to have to update your logic there: sometimes, genes and hormones fuck up, and you get people like us whose brains literally follow the blueprint of the opposite sex that we're born. It will seem like an arbitrary thing to you, since you were lucky enough to have a brain that follows your physical body's blueprint. Someone on this forum once described it as similar to having Phantom Limb syndrome: your brain still recognizes your missing arm or leg as part of the body, even though it is no longer there. We feel a similar sensation, and you are not within your rights to deny us treatment because you think our problems are trivial. If we all worked like that, no one would be capable of working together to build societies like the ones we have today.

I see from the rest of your answers that you clearly have problems with people thinking being trans is wrong. I'm sorry if you got that impression from me I was simply trying to find out what the sensation of gender was. The Phantom Limb syndrome thing made that clear. Thanks for the response.

Thanks for understanding. Having to put up with that shit day-in, day out is frustrating, and it wears down on you, so sorry if I sound like I'm in a pissy mood. A word of advice though: you might want to figure out how you can word your questions a little better. The way you have it worded at the moment might be triggering to more volatile responses than mine, and I don't think either of us want that.

 

[MorRioghain]

1) What exactly are the problems facing (some?) transgender people such that they need to be part of a movement, other than (some) people thinking it's strange?

Well there is the discrimination as already detailed by others. Furthermore there are also legal and medical issues.
For example if you are a heterosexual trans woman you would like to marry a man. However if the government still considers you male, they will see it as a homosexual marriage which may not be allowed.
Or in Canada some time ago there was a rule in the airport security guidelines saying it was not allowed to present as the opposite gender.
So there is still some institutionalized discrimination going on.
As for the medical side of things, medical transition is expensive and as such it is important for many trans people that their insurance covers these procedures. These procedures can be very important, primarily making the trans person feel more comfortable about themselves and it can also lessen the immediate discrimination they face (by passing as their desired gender).

2) A follow up to question 1, what exactly do you (or the people you sympathize with) want to achieve?

That saying "I'm trans" or someone noticing you're trans has the same social/cultural impact of saying that you like action movies or someone noticing that you have blond hair.
That people can be who they are without being stifled or restrained by law or excessive expenses.

3) This one is mainly for transgender people. Do you find that you identify as transgender because of physical reasons or that you fit more with the social expectations of the gender opposite to that which you were born?

Physical reasons, though that sounds a bit misleading. I think personal reasons would be better. Or to put it differently: "if there were no gender expectations, I would still consider myself trans."
Case in point: there are plenty of butch trans women or feminine trans men.

4) Again mainly for people who identify as or at least highly empathize with transpeople. Something I've been struggling with is how one can feel like they are a gender beyond what they physically are. To me genders just seem to be a rather arbitrary thing and you're born one and that's your gender. Could you try (I know this might be hard to explain to somebody who doesn't think the same way) to explain what it means to feel gender.

It is rather hard to explain.
Maybe try to imagine what it feels like, what it means, to be a honorable person. It's also something that is ambiguously defined and has a strong outward component (htough mostly in the form of actions). It can also be different from person to person, though there are defenitly some societal accepted features regarding it.