Comments for Sex, Gender, and Bathrooms: A Discussion of Transgender (Part 3) at http://ts-si.org , comment 0 to 6 out of 6 comments http://ts-si.org Wed, 20 Aug 2008 08:11:55 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://ts-si.org/content/view/2883/995/#pc_223 http://transadvocate.com/transphobia/with-apologies-to-radical-feminists.htm#respond Want to see what we are up against? I invite you all to follow all of the links. It will be interesting to see what the other major GLBT blogs have to say about this. - Susan Thu, 24 Jan 2008 07:38:27 +0100 http://ts-si.org/content/view/2883/995/#pc_220 Yes, as post-ops there are temptations to move on from these issues. However, there is a pressing need to counter the mis- and dis-information. Those who follow us need a basis for rational decison-making. If someone decides they are transgender and not HBS, so be it. We wish them well and hope they find a path suitable for them. For the HBS-born (or those who suspect they are), read on ... - Sharon S. Gaughan Mon, 21 Jan 2008 19:21:41 +0100 http://ts-si.org/content/view/2883/995/#pc_219 I have to concur with the other comments. I do not believe in special rights. I also find it despicable when MID`s (men in dresses) use their male priviledge to invade womens space in order to live a fantasy. - Holly Mon, 21 Jan 2008 18:17:52 +0100 http://ts-si.org/content/view/2883/995/#pc_218 Most of the people I know that categorically reject surgery are not living as women in any normal sense of the word. True they may have (different) compulsions -- or none -- but they have deliberately chosen a life that is far different from that of a natal woman or a transitioned person with HBS. People with true transsexuality (or HBS) by definition want to correct their birth defect and move-on. They have no desire to prove anything to anyone. They have no need to "pass" as anything but what they are. For me, the notion of passing is now amusingly irrelevant. This is not because I am any great beauty, but because I have absolutely no need to hide anything or fool anyone. The temptation is enormous post-op to just move away from these issues, and I commend the author and the managers of the site for resisting that temptation for the purpose of providing truth. - Diana Mon, 21 Jan 2008 17:52:53 +0100 http://ts-si.org/content/view/2883/995/#pc_215 My attitude is rather simple in that I tell all that transgender is nurtured and HBS is nature/inborn so that puts me in full accord with Lisa and Kelly. I also strongly feel that to be HBS one had to be very aware of being 'different' before the onset of puberty. HBS is not a learned behavior nor a condition that raises its head about the same time when the excitement of puberty stimulates fantasy. I do feel though that many of the so-called transsexuals, (many non-op and/or pre-op), invite excuses. Any excuse will do in an attempt to mask the fact that they are basic transvestites/transgender. At age 20 the excuse is lack of money; at 30 family ties; at 40 job or retirement preparation needs; at age fifty often comes the excuse that serves them so well...medical. Sorry but if one waits until they approach the age when medical conditions are age related then that in itself is not a valid excuse since only then did surgery become a medical issue when it was not an issue before. It is just another in a long line of excuses...all of which served their purpose to maintain behind the mask their real and primary 'lifestyle'. Many of us had surgery in the face of critical medical conditions; many of us went bankrupt or at least close to it; many of us were cast out by family and friends; many of us lost our careers and even linkage to our professions; many of us faced a challenge others latch onto as if they too shared our travails. They did not! That in itself makes us different and distinct from their standard of what is and what is not a woman or a man. And when we self identify we are accused of not being part of the community and declare us as elitists. Duh!!!! I find it offensive for someone to claim they are HBS/transsexual when their effort is only to exclaim they would have surgery if only........? 'Trans' means to move, not to stand still. Much like standing at the arrival station and tell all that you came in on the 'Trans'-Siberian railroad when they all know you never did anything more than sit in the lounge of the station keeping warm and cozy. 'Trans' in the case of 'trans'gender is fitting for it allows one to move in and out of gender moods, urges, demeanor, and even fetishism whimsically. It does not describe permanence but simply a temporary need that often is tempered by a simple 'trans' of thought or perhaps changing the cloth on their back. - Diane Kearny Mon, 21 Jan 2008 08:35:35 +0100 http://ts-si.org/content/view/2883/995/#pc_214 Trying to describe HBS to the non-HBS is like trying to describe sight to a blind-since-birth person...in both cases, you must be born with it to understand its essence. Describing the color red to a blind person is futile. If anyone can earnestly argue against HBS as a reality, as above, If fanatical conviction [having SRS] is the sole discriminator, you're promulgating an insult. SRS may be desirable but it is not essential. then they are not HBS and will never understand its unrelenting, debilitating, life-threatening nature. Fanatical conviction!?! My dictionary defines FANATICAL as: Possessed with or motivated by excessive, irrational zeal, whereas it defines COMPEL as: To exert a strong, irresistible force on. The former describes irrationality (i.e. not endowed with reason), the latter irresistibility (i.e. a force which cannot be resisted). As an HBS survivor I can unequivocally and authoritatively state that it is the latter that drives our conviction, not the former. Regardless of circumstances, the HBS born will continue - by whatever means possible - towards surgical correction...even if years must ensue, as is often the case. We cannot rescind the sentient urgency that compels us, it is built into our brains. Resistance invites eventual annihilation, often sooner than later. Does this sound like there are any 'alternative' options to corrective genital surgery? If you cannot understand this, you are not HBS born. - Kelly Sun, 20 Jan 2008 20:47:22 +0100