Dedicated to the acceptance, medical treatment, & legal protection of individuals in the process of correcting the misalignment of their anatomical sex, & supporting their transition into society.
Lisa Jain Thompson says political correctness normally prevents modern society from an honest examination of the transgender movement: The transgendered may be critical of society, but society cannot be critical of the transgendered. I am under no such constraints. Where men and women born with the medical condition Harry Benjamin Syndrome (HBS fna transsexuality) are focused on bringing their outward sexual organs into agreement with their actual sex, the transgendered community's key concern seems to be gaining access to random public bathroom facilities and complaining that life is unfair.
This column by Lisa Jain Thompson is one part of a four-part series. What follows is an examination of the very vocal demands of the transgender political movement and community.
Part 1.The Differences Between Us. An investigation into the basic differences between HBS men and women and the transgendered. It would seem that where HBS men and women are focused on bringing their outward sexual organs into agreement with their actual sex, the transgendered community's key concern is to be able to choose public bathroom facilities at random. An HBS man or woman is driven to correct their misassigned genitals, the transgendered seem driven only to change the noun on their bathroom door. More
Part 2.The Transgender Need For Legal Deceit. An investigation into the transgender initiative to obtain two drivers licenses, each with a different names and sex marker. Harry Benjamin Syndrome (HBS) is medical condition that originates during fetal development inside the womb. HBS is not, intrinsically, trans-sex, trans-gender, or even trans-active. HBS, in and of itself, is not queer. HBS men and women fall along the normal bell curve for the human race for sexual preference. Some, if not the majority, of HBS men and women are straight, some are gay or lesbian, some are bisexual. More
Part 3.Why HBS Men And Women Threaten Transgenders. An investigation into the transgender Passing and the need for absolute approval and confirmation that drive their charges of HBS separatism. We have stated repeatedly that someone who cannot have surgery due to valid MEDICAL issues (other than fear of surgery) is HBS, albeit pre-op. We have been consistent in that position since day one. Financial considerations may also slow an HBS's progress towards surgery, giving them a long period of being pre-op but they keep working towards SRS and are still HBS. Not treating HBS is not an option. More
Part 4.A Look Inside the Transgender Mind. A non-politically correct investigation into the root causes of transgenderism. Political correctness normally prevents liberal modern society from subjecting certain subjects to scientific scrutiny, e.g., race, religion, intelligence, and, most recently, transgenderism. I have never been bound by political correctness (you can ask the third grade nun who taught me) or reluctant to poke into subjects that might give rise to great moral indignation by the offended cultural guardians. This is my fourth column that discusses the transgender and it takes a deeper look at the root causes of transgenderism. As Anton Chekhov wrote, Man will become better when you show him what he is like. More
Springfield, VA, USA. Political correctness normally prevents liberal modern society from subjecting certain subjects to scientific scrutiny, e.g., race, religion, intelligence, and, most recently, transgenderism.
I have never been bound by political correctness (you can ask the third grade nun who taught me) or reluctant to poke into subjects that might give rise to great moral indignation by the offended cultural guardians.
This is my fourth column that discusses the transgender and it takes a deeper look at the root causes of transgenderism. As Anton Chekhov wrote, Man will become better when you show him what he is like.
Before we begin, some definitions:
Harry Benjamin Syndrome (HBS fna transsexuality) is a medical condition that originates during fetal development inside the womb. HBS is not, intrinsically, trans-sex, trans-gender, or even trans-active. HBS, in and of itself, is not queer. Named after Doctor Harry Benjamin, a pioneer in treating the birth condition, HBS men and women began to apply the term to themselves in the early 2000's to deconflate true HBS from the appropriation of the term transsexual by male transgenders.
Transgender. Virginia Prince, a male crossdresser and a staunch promoter of heterosexual transvestism since the late 1950s, invented the term "transgender" in the 1990s to distinguish himself and other male crossdressers from men and women born with HBS. The term has since been expanded to as a popular means of uniting all those whose gender identity did not mesh with their gender assigned at birth, taking on a political dimension as an alliance covering all who have at some point not conformed to gender norms.
Transexuality. Former name for HBS, now appropriated by the transgender movement for its own political purposes. As currently used by the transgender community and their spokesmen, transsexual applies to issues of gender identity unrelated to any medical condition at birth. As such, the term no longer has application or relevance to men and women born with HBS.
The righteous glow of transgenderism and its unending drive to recruit others to the movement obscures its root causes and behaviors, perhaps intentionally. The need to believe in their own innate moral goodness motivates them to insist that we all must be transgendered (HBS, lesbians, gays, cross-dressers, drag kings and queens, anyone who dares dress or act out on the fringes of social norms) so that transgenders may feel validated in their own worth as human beings.
If transgenderism is universal, there is no reason for the various elements of the transgendered community to examine their own motivations and emotions. If they can convince everyone that transgenderism is universal, they won't have to worry about what society thinks, their families believe, or what religion might say about them.
And most importantly, they will no longer have to worry about passing. [cf. Note]
How the transgendered plan to escape the pressure from peers and society to conform to the current mores is never addressed. Perhaps the human animal will undergo some miraculous change to our nature. Laws do not alter human nature. Legal mandates do not suddenly mutate society into something other than it is: only the passage of time can bring a sea change. There is no magic wand.
The question goes unasked, however, as to why people want to dress and act in the manner of the opposite sex (male as female, female as male), adopting the societal expectations of gender the desire of the transgendered but not be that sex (realign the genitals to conform to the brain's birth sex the HBS condition). Succinctly,
Why does someone only wish to change their gender
the clothes, the social role and expectation
but not their sex
bring their genitals into conformance with their true sex identity?
Numerous reasons for transgendered have been suggested:
The most ancient is religious. Depending on the religious milieu, the transgendered person has either a special connection with the gods or nature, or the person is possessed by an evil spirit or soul. Possession by god or devil is a matter of personal belief, not science, and as such, is not part of this discussion.
Freudians and others would suggest a psychological obsession with wearing the clothes of the opposite sex. In the extreme case, an ever increasing need for sexual excitement and pleasure fixates the transgender, usually male, fixates on the superficial aspects of binary sex the clothes, the make-up, but not the genitals to the exclusion of adult sexual relationships. This view is politically incorrect and, as such, is excluded from any examination or explanation of the transgender movement. Its validity remains in question.
A more generous explanation believes that transgendered individuals are uncomfortable with the social aspects of their natal sex and adopt the social dress of the opposite sex, conforming to the societal role expectations for that sex as an escape and refuge from what they see as the unacceptable pressures of life in the cultural role designated for their birth sex. They are not escaping their physical sex they like their genitalia, gain pleasure from having a penis or a vagina as the case may be only from the cultural role. Having sex realignment surgery is the farthest thing from their mind.
Springfield, VA, USA. What is a transsexual? Is there such a thing as a non-op transsexual? What is the difference between a non-op transsexual and a full time crossdresser? Are transgender and transsexua...
Springfield, VA, USA. A strong current of post-modern fundamentalism runs deep in the Transgender movement, leading to an outright rejection of science and lubricating a preference for the safe, non-intel...
Springfield, VA, USA. Well we have heard from the Transgenders again. I'm not talking about the rank and file transgenders, but the capital "T" sort who act like they can make a serious li...
Others believe that the transgendered are merely acting out an extended rebellion against society, against the "man". While this may be true of younger transgendered (rebelling against mom and dad is normal for college age young adults enjoying their first taste of life without active parental control), it fails to explain the middle-aged transgendered, most of whom are male, most of whom act out only in private. Immaturity, however, knows no age; neither does extended adolescent it would seem.
There is a section of society that believes that the transgenders are crazy, sexually obsessed, or, in some cases, simply perverted. Depends on your view point, I guess, but we can probably agree that the extremes on either side of this argument are outside the social norm (politically incorrect as that term is). Crazy is crazy. Some of us are crazy.
The transgenders themselves offer no explanation, only that a transgender has gotta be what they gotta be. This is a copout and a refusal to address the issue. The angry, self-righteous refusal to address the basis for transgenderism is disingenuous and suggests that the reason is known, at least on a personal, one on one basis, but the individual transgender is unwilling to discuss his or her innermost thoughts and desires, preferring to hide behind a veil of inane academic generalities.
Perhaps the differences between HBS men and women and the transgendered are rooted in the design of the human brain. The scientific method has discovered that some parts of the human experience are products of our biological makeup. The difference between shocking pink and dark blue, the sourness of lemons and the sweetness of a chocolate cake, the smell of death and dead bodies, the cuteness of babies, the pleasure of sex these are intrinsic to the design of our common nervous system.
But we will never know unless we are willing to examine and discuss the sources of our actions. Is transgenderism rooted in physical causes or is it driven by psychological needs? Why do more males claim to be transgendered than do females? If we agree there is nothing morally wrong with cross-dressing (and most of us really do not care one way or the other), why are so many transgenders closeted and fearful of the opinion of others? Why are so many transgenders obsessed with passing?
There will never be answers if the questions are continued to be met with righteous anger and indignation rather than scientific research and open discussion. Transgenderism is not a moral crusade it is a variant of human experience that requires systematic examination if we are to understand it. Making the subject of transgenderism off limits by imposing political cultural taboos on any public discussion helps no one.
Note. Passing refers to a person's ability to be accepted or regarded as a member of the sex or gender with which they physically present. Typically, passing involves a mixture of physical gender cues (e.g. hair style or clothing) as well as certain behavioral attributes that tend to be culturally associated with a particular gender. Irrespective of a person's presentation, many experienced crossdressers assert that confidence is far more important for passing than the physical aspects of appearance.
Ms. Lisa Jain Thompson is the Co-Founder & President of TS-Si, Inc. She also serves as a Contributing Editor and columnist for the TS-Si website. Ms. Thompson's signed articles contain her own opinions and do not necessarily convey an official position of TS-Si, its partners, or affiliates.
Lisa welcomes your comments. You can use the public form below or send private correspondence via her TS-Si Contact Page. We will not divulge any personal details or place you on a mailing list without your permission.
Ms. Lisa Jain Thompson
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