Something that seems to be specifically absent from the transgender worldview is the innateness of HBS and its incredibly purpose-driven manifestation. HBS is a life-threatenin g, all-consuming, ever-present (not intermittent) condition unlike anything transgenders know. HBS is uniquely evident to those who are born with it, and only HBS born people will ever understand its essence, the manner in which it can rule and destroy lives, or its deeply held motivational impetus to correct the biological mistake prenatally formulated. All these things are part and parcel to the HBS born, whereas they remain totally foreign concepts to the politically motivated transgender crowd. Our numbers remain few, theirs many. We've a long road ahead to overcome their distractive obstructionism I'm afraid, but we have one advantage in our favor - science. Facts is facts, ma'am, and we know how to use them.

Lisa, that was very well put! What you mentioned is true - the TGs want to legitimaize what is fantasy, and insist that we treat it as reality. They are typically guys in dresses. Their mindset shouts it out - my way or no way. I knew a person who insisted that the old term of transsexual was dirty - it connotated sex. I beg to differ. If anything TGs have nothing but sex on the brain most of the time, whether it be in the form of sexual fantasies, or doing what I consider to be the nonsensical thing of stating that their sexual preferences define their identities. Those of us who have been through the HBS wringer, do not define ourselves by our sexual preference. I define myself first and foremost as a woman. Not a heteresexual.

Hugs,
Ellen

Stay tuned.

Before I came across the concept of "Harry Benjamin Syndrome" I had for years, about 22 actually, pondered and then formulated what it was that made me different from those who identified as transgender. All those years ago I came to the conclusion that it was the source of what it is that caused me to be so disassociated with my physical body. For up until physical correction I lived a life where my mind was in one place and my body another.

Kelly talked of "innate" and it is that which separates the two conditions. I can understand why people are confused about the difference between transgender and HBS because to the casual observer they appear to be the same thing. But the confusion actually arises from the term transgender. Let me explain what I mean; transgender does not actually exist, the real term for these people is "transvestite" so let us start by calling a spade a spade and a transgender what they really are; a transvestite. Suddenly the muddy pool clears does it not? Charles Prince coined the term because he lived full time in female clothing and did not desire to undergo surgery; he thought it a waste of time, to put it mildly. So he coined the term “transgenderâ € to describe "full time transvestite" He told me that himself and in person!

For those born with Harry Benjamin Syndrome it is about the physical it is not about the cloth that adorns the body. It is about that sense of self that identifies us from within. My sense of self was in direct conflict with my physical body and I was aware of that conflict from the age of two in fact as far back as I can remember. It was a conflict that did not suddenly materialize with the sudden rush of pubescent hormones. (In my case I never did get much of a hormone rush! But that is another story).

So, what we have here is two conditions that to the casual observer are similar but have quite different motivating sources for their manifestation in the person who experiences them. A simple way of putting this is the transvestite wishes to appear to be a woman the HBS wishes to confirm what they already are, a woman! The crux of this is the source of the motivation. For the HBS it comes from the very source of her sense of self. The way her brain is wired, for the transvestite, full time or not. The source is a psychological based desire.

There is no hierarchy here; one is not better or worse than the other; lets face it the religious right can't tolerate either. A large part of the medical profession will have nothing to do with either condition and medical insurance companies duck any responsibility.

However, the militant transgender brand of extremism has begun to threaten and to invalidate those who are HBS born in the eyes and minds of those who might otherwise be sympathetic to HBS women and men. The extreme and frankly unbalanced demands of the transgender movement threaten the existence and well being of the HBS women and men. They must no longer be allowed to ride on the back of the HBS narrative to satiate the transvestite lust for privileges to which they are not entitled.

You say you "live fulltime as a female" but also say you are "ambivilient or nonplussed about going through full sexchange surgery". Which is it? Are you female or not?

I know that Lisa Thompson made a point in her series to say that transgender people deserve respect and understanding. She also says that transgenders and what you might call "classic transsexuals" in transition are in very diferent situations. Among other things, the latter have distinct and important medical needs.

Besides, having a vagina, etc. is really really different from having a penis.