Off Tangent Comix
See our Annotated List of DSM-related news, research reports, analyses, and opinion pieces.
Visit the TS-Si Article Archive for reports on science, medicine, government, society, and other topics.
DNA Blueprints Guide The Construction Of Specific Human Structures
Chad Mirkin discusses using DNA to build a three-dimensional structure out of gold, likening the process to building a house. Starting with basic materials such as bricks, wood, siding, stone and shingles, a construction team can build many different types of houses out of the same building blocks.
The article includes an audio recording of the full interview. Photo courtesy of the UCSD School of Medicine.
| Why We Don't Fit In The Box You Designed For Us |
 |
 |
| Opinion - Thompson & Gaughan | |
| Lisa Thompson & Sharon Gaughan | |
| Monday, 01 September 2008 16:30 | |
 Springfield, VA, USA. Here at TS-Si.org, we have unusually good discussions with our readers. Some people comment in public (see the comment block at the bottom of this column), while others choose to send us private mail via our Contact Form. The questions we get are numerous and sometimes the comments argue conflicting views of just where our judgment is defective. We are charged with all sorts of mutually contradictory crimes against humanity depending upon the viewpoint of our readers. [N1] We figure that comes with our embrace of the enterprise. But, the misperceptions do stimulate a response. What follows is a general summary of our take on some of the most common questions and comments.
 Misalignment At Birth
refers to the birth condition that misaligns innate neurobiological makeup and external genitalia.
An increasing number of patients and commentators use terms like Harry Benjamin Syndrome (HBS) and true transsexual, viewing them as more precise than the commonly used transsexual.
The latter term has become more loosely applied to include anyone who presents with limited hormone usage and/or alternative social presentation.
The Social Purity Canard
Some advocates use rhetoric asserting that people born with the misalignment would never get married or have children. This is claimed as the true form of HBS.
This quite vocal position is similar to the 110% lesbian extremists who insist that real lesbians would never allow a penis inside them (thus eliminating well over 50 percent — perhaps as much as 90 percent — of the world's lesbians.
The social purity test does not take in account the real world outside of the major cities and universities, the pressure of parents and family and a child’s desire to please their parents, a sense of duty, the personal desire to have children, or the fear of being alone.
Nor does it consider that even twenty years ago, transsexuality (as originally understood) was still talked about in quiet circles and only trotted out for amusement on Donohue and the other talk shows.
Before the internet, there were slim odds of meeting another transsexual (outside of a handful of centers) or finding a knowledgeable and supportive therapist or doctor. One can only marvel at the persistence and serendipity of the earliest transitioners.
Attempts to impose current political and social conditions on the past is a barren exercise in self-satisfied arrogance. The key identifying descriptive is the desire to bring the genitalia into conformance with the neurobiological wiring in our brains. The neurobiological misalignment discussed here is a birth condition that has been present since the womb.
The True Women Canard
Some Transgender activists charge that HBS/TS) women claim to be the true women, exhibiting superiority over other people who have not transitioned or do not pursue surgical correction.
Despite repeated requests for documented evidence to support this claim, none has been forthcoming. This leaves the accused to assume that the charge is an inference from the critics' own emotional states.
The False Conflict Between HBS And Classic Transsexuals
The people we often refer to are those whom Harry Benjamin himself described as transsexual. There is an important difference between Dr. Benjamin's very specific use of the term transsexual and the relaxed version used to include transgendered people.
This has led some advocates to signal the difference by using the phrase classic, or true, transsexual.
For us, the term HBS is built on Benjamin's classic transsexual, but avoids sending an invitation to place HBS in the context of a spurious gender spectrum. The semantics that underly HBS and classic transsexual are the same. The vocabulary terms differ, a reflection of differing tactics. It is not a principled disagreement.
— LJT & SSG
TS-Si.org articles may use the traditional terminology. If so, we annotate the context and usage as warranted to resolve any ambiguities that could affect interpretation. In the eyes of many, thanks to male cross-dresses as much as fundamentalist religions, we are thought to be just a slightly odd flavor of homosexuality. Until we can break that link (and it must be broken within both the straight community and the gay and lesbian community), our futures are inexorably linked to the gay rights movement.
Even more so, the science involved with confirming the underlying physical basis for homosexuality and HBS overlaps, just as it does with a variety of other neurobiological conditions. In many cases, biological research done on gayness and other phenomena parallels the research done (or that needs to be done) on our birth condition. TS-Si provides ALL the puzzle parts (including research done on natal men and women) so that interested doctors and research scientists can begin to synthesize the results into a coherent, predictive description of Harry Benjamin Syndrome (HBS). [cf. sidebar]
If we chose to address only those few research articles that focus exclusively on HBS, we would probably miss the key that unlocks everything.
Gay Rights Movement. Why do we publish articles about the Gay Rights movement since most HBS men and women are heterosexual?As for our support of the gay rights movement, there is both a logical reason (a combination of genomic and genetic factors, like HBS) and a moral imperative (right and wrong) from which we cannot run. As the gay community was the first to accept HBS men and women (for whatever reason) [N2] , we cannot now reject that historical acceptance for political expediency. We do not tolerate homophobia, no matter how it is justified. TS-Si has no special pipeline to God (but we will let God write an opinion column, if He wants, as long as we can verify His true identity beforehand.
Additionally if we cede LGBT space to the transgenders and cross-dressers, we will do nothing to keep the HBS men and women who wander into the Big T Umbrella from drinking the Transgender Kool-Aid. With TS-Si an annoying presence in LGBT space (along with other HBS men and women), we can offer an alternative path for early transitioners and present HBS as an alternative to the Transgender (all over the darn world) Umbrella.
The Transgender Viewpoint? Why do we allow columnists and commentators to express a transgender viewpoint that has little to do with HBS? Does that make you transgender?We question the premise of the question. We have had a number of HBS (and some "true-transsexual") advocates ask this question. Frankly, we find it puzzling that anyone could assume that making the case for HBS automatically relegates those who disagree to some other venue. Worse, many of the comments are accompanied by distaste for any show of understanding or compassion toward others. And no, we are not transgender, nor do we advocate the activist Transgender viewpoint (cf. below).
Some of our visitors react strongly to those who have drunk deeply from the well of liberal Transgender Kool-aid, especially the ones who are still transitioning after surgical correction. Both pre-op and post-op, some individuals have a viewpoint that is a work in progress, still moving towards full realization of what being born with HBS means.
As such, they represent a viewpoint that is different from TS-Si but presented in the interest of fairness and the possibility that they might shed some light, however obliquely, on the reality of living with HBS in an urban environment (for many, the viewpoint is the very liberal — almost academically liberal — environment of the major metropolitan areas).
We have been told by critics that we should not allow individuals who identify as transgender to use our facilities and, most especially, leave comments on our articles. That will never happen: we encourage mature discussion and mutual understanding. There are, of course, closed forums where affinity can be disrupted or even destroyed by interlopers (as examples, consider an autism support forum, or one for patients under treatment for breast cancer).
But it is different for TS-Si.org — we provide an open site: close-minded isolation is no answer to the many important issues of interest to the HBS-born and those interested in the subject. As always, respect and compassion must prevail. TS-Si, of course, reserves the right to disagree with any of the articles published on the site (and we have repeatedly pointed out discrepancies and errors in the articles we publish).
It should be noted, however, that we follow traditional journalistic practice for professional news publications: the bylined articles in our Op-Ed pages represent the opinions of the author (not the publisher, TS-Si). We check the news articles and scientific research for accuracy and try to remove any personal biases that may have slipped into the article.
Anti-male? Why is TS-Si so negative toward males?The references to negativity toward males is another puzzle. Certainly, we have used negative examples of male behavior to counter the gender blind bathroom philosophy that there is no difference between men and women. The liberal, socialist, and academic refusal to admit to innate differences between the sexes demands a direct assault on their orthodoxy.
We like men. We have gone to bed with men. We enjoy the company of adult, responsible men. We count our sons as among the most responsible of all.
But we will not hesitate to point out the immaturity of extended — and increasing — male adolescence so prevalent in modern society and the historic need of women to civilize the men around them. Much male behavior borders on the instinctive — we know the effect of testosterone on the brain and adolescent behavior. Any woman who denies that men think and act differently than women simply has lived a overly protected life.
We have found, however, that discussing only the subtle behavioral differences between the sexes falls on deaf ears within the transgender movement (and runs counter to the fantasy of gender blind bathrooms). Any subtlety we may use is met with cries that "society has imposed the apparent differences in the behavior patterns of men and women" and the very popular utopian belief that "if we just change society, what we see as the basic nature of men and women will change."
Sexual Identity. Why does TS-Si talk about transsexuality (well, ok, HBS) as if it were a sexual identity? People born with HBS identify as men and women.As a result of this continuing irrationality and intransigency by transgenders, we find ourselves needing to use a two by four at times to get the mule's attention.
We believe, like most post-op men and women, that transsexuality is a transient condition and Harry Benjamin Syndrome (HBS) something we have been born with. [N3] As such, we too have been in loud disagreement with those people who identify as Transsexual or Transgender first and men or women only as an afterthought.
The career Transgenders and/or Transsexuals seem to fall into one of six categories:
Personally, we identify as women and do not think it necessary to announce our past medical history whenever we enter a room. We are females and that is that. If asked about HBS, we respond truthfully and completely, but we do not offer unsolicited information or feel any obligation to do so (outside of the honesty inherent prior to long term commitment with a sexual partner).
A Closing Word or Two
TS-Si.org is a site that focuses on men and women with a particular medical history: the misalignment at birth of their neurobiological makeup and external genitalia. We explicitly disassociate ourselves from transgenderist and gender theory and reject the Big T Umbrella as a fabrication of political opportunism.
Where our interests are parallel, we support the plight of other people and their search for equal rights. All members of humanity have the innate right to an equal chance in life, the liberty to do so, and the opportunity to pursue their own personal happiness. Of course, the opportunity to succeed goes hand in hand with the opportunity to fail. Opportunity in itself does not guarantee success, nor should success be expected without hard work and dedication.
But we can identify no systematic, major denial of rights for HBS men and women. Any problems that arise during transition stem most always from confusion of HBS with cross-dressing, transvestism, or homosexuality (since homophobia still runs rampant). Once through with transition and surgical correction, we are normal men and women integrated into society. Any discrimination we encounter is that directed at all women (or men), our skin color, our ethnicity, and other arbitrary factors — not HBS.
Knowledge, education, and handful of legal changes will smooth HBS transition, including issues of medical insurance coverage, and facilitate entry into society.
Notes[N1]
Well, they'll stone ya when you're trying to be so good, They'll stone ya just a-like they said they would. They'll stone ya when you're tryin' to go home. Then they'll stone ya when you're there all alone. But I would not feel so all alone, Everybody must get stoned. Bob Dylan — Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 [N2] In the United States, acceptance by the Gay and Lesbian community is by no means universal and can vary by region. However, there has been considerable progress; we think it is a fair statement that what acceptance did come generally arrived from gays and lesbians before other groups in society. [N3] Please review the sidebar to this opinion column for more on Harry Benjamin Syndrome (HBS).   Ms. Lisa Jain Thompson is the Co-Founder & President of TS-Si, Inc. She also serves as a Contributing Editor. Ms. Sharon Gaughan is the Co-Founder, VP, and Executive Director of TS-Si, Inc. She also serves as the Managing Editor and columnist. The TS-Si News Service is a collaborative effort by TS-Si.org editors, contributors, and corresponding institutions. The sources can include the cited individuals and organizations, as well as TS-Si.org staff contributions. Articles and news reports do not necessarily convey official positions of TS-Si, its partners, or affiliates. We welcome your comments. Use the form below to leave a public comment or send private correspondence via the TS-Si Contact Page. We will not divulge any personal details or place you on a mailing list without your permission.
Set as favorite
Bookmark
Email This
Comments (0)
 Write comment
|
|
| Last Updated on Tuesday, 16 December 2008 16:32 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
The TS-Si News Service is a collaboration of TS-Si staff, contributors, and corresponding institutions. Contents do not necessarily convey official positions of TS-Si, its partners, or affiliates.We welcome responsible comments. Use the public article forms throughout this site or send private correspondence via the TS-Si Contact Page. We will not divulge personal details or place you on a mailing list without your permission.
Except where noted, all works on this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. Copyright © 2005-2009 TS-Si, Inc. Some rights reserved.