Trans people say they never felt comfortable in their own gender and I think psychiatrists ever confirm that these people are emotionally more akin to the opposite sex. What do you think of transgendered people? I can't relate to the idea of wanting to change genders but that's just me. Some people I guess are more mentally connected to the opposite.

What do you mean what do I THINK of them?

Is this another one of those trap questions where you have to love them and everything they stand for or be considered a hateful bigot?

stonestatic wrote:

Trans people say they never felt comfortable in their own gender and I think psychiatrists ever confirm that these people are emotionally more akin to the opposite sex. What do you think of transgendered people? I can't relate to the idea of wanting to change genders but that's just me. Some people I guess are more mentally connected to the opposite.

Oh absolutely. I definitely believe some people are trapped in the wrong body. It can be a difficult if not miserable life for them & they need & deserve compassion.

^^^^I am all for compassion. But sometimes I think people make things worse for them trying to be compassionate. Sometimes the most compassionate thing to do is to get people real help. IMO, feeding a problem more is actually hurting the person more. So yeah, I think we should be compassionate, and I think that means sometimes we have to tell people the hard truth, even if they are first don't want to hear it.

I try to be sympathetic and not verbally judgmental, because it is their life and they can live it how they choose. If being trans is what will propel someone to a more contented state of being, then more power to them.

Honestly, though, I don't feel anyone is born into the "wrong" gender. I can understand someone not identifying with the stereotypical social perception of how someone of their gender is supposed to behave, while instead connecting with the stereotypical perception of the opposite gender. I totally support being a nonconformist. If a man likes wearing makeup and getting dolled up the way women do, then by all means he should do it. Same for women who prefer to butch it up. But gender realignment is too extreme from my POV.

But perhaps it is not for me to understand.

I don't mean to be harsh....but I think they're just gay and think being the opposite is somewhat/how just better than being who they are. You can't and never will be able to change your biological DNA.....so get over it. If you're a man, how the heck would you know what it feels like to be a woman and vice versa? Be proud gay man or woman (cross dress if you like) and be done with it.

I don't get it at all. I think somewhere along the line (probably during toddler stage) little boys and little girls get mesmerized by opposite gender aesthetics and from there they start mentally embodying and personifying them. Unlike with gay people, I don't think transsexuals are born that way.

^ I do. Some think that transgendered people get their opposite sex leans from hormonal levels in the brain. Could be a natural chemical imbalance. Who knows??? Psychiatrists mostly agree that they have brain structure much closer to the other sex.

^^^^However, if the idea that a problem of some kind is causing these feelings, then the compassionate thing to do would be to try and find a way to correct the problem and not promote merely declaring that the problem is not a problem. In most other problems, normalizing it would be considered harming the individual. I consider it the same here. Yes, they deserve respect as human beings, but that doesn't mean just saying that it's okay for them to get a sex change and we need to support whatever decision they make. If somebody has a problem and you support their problem instead of supporting attempts to correct it, you are no friend to them and do not respect them either.

Nhaiyel wrote:

I try to be sympathetic and not verbally judgmental, because it is their life and they can live it how they choose. If being trans is what will propel someone to a more contented state of being, then more power to them.

Honestly, though, I don't feel anyone is born into the "wrong" gender. I can understand someone not identifying with the stereotypical social perception of how someone of their gender is supposed to behave, while instead connecting with the stereotypical perception of the opposite gender. I totally support being a nonconformist. If a man likes wearing makeup and getting dolled up the way women do, then by all means he should do it. Same for women who prefer to butch it up. But gender realignment is too extreme from my POV.

But perhaps it is not for me to understand.

I think if society weren't so hung up on gender roles & labels, some would probably be less inclined to make the transition from one gender to the next. I once knew a transwoman who had a very hard life as his original male self and found it virtually impossible to function as a man. Admittedly I can't understand or relate to where they're coming from at all, so that's where showing people basic humanity and respect as human beings comes from.

It's the most extreme case of self-hatred/trying to run & hide from yourself that there is. I wonder how much of a burden it must be to go through the extremities of physically altering yourself to look like the opposite gender, and then spend the rest of your life being haunted by the shadow of your former self on medical records, employment history, old childhood pics, etc. You can become Debbie, but your past life as Dennis will forever haunt you.

^^^^That is why I support truly trying to help people like this because that is what the compassionate thing to do would be.

JM130ELM wrote:

It's the most extreme case of self-hatred/trying to run & hide from yourself that there is. I wonder how much of a burden it must be to go through the extremities of physically altering yourself to look like the opposite gender, and then spend the rest of your life being haunted by the shadow of your former self on medical records, employment history, old childhood pics, etc. You can become Debbie, but your past life as Dennis will forever haunt you.

I guess the ends justify the means. They know they can't erase their history and will always have to account for it, it's more about having resolution in their "here & now" as their preferred genders.

SkwirtB wrote:

^ I do. Some think that transgendered people get their opposite sex leans from hormonal levels in the brain. Could be a natural chemical imbalance. Who knows??? Psychiatrists mostly agree that they have brain structure much closer to the other sex.

I think this is entirely possible. Some kind of physiological reason sounds more realistic. Transgendered people aren't confused or just want to try something new because their current situation isn't working out for them. This is something many of them have known from childhood. I think sometimes there are things people have to either witness or experience to really understand.

Quote :

Some kind of physiological reason sounds more realistic. Transgendered people aren't confused or just want to try something new because their current situation isn't working out for them. This is something many of them have known from childhood. I think sometimes there are things people have to either witness or experience to really understand.

Agreed, especially with your last sentence. I have a close friend whom I known since I was teenager who is now transgendered. Even when she was supposed to be a boy, she was a girl to me. I mean, she dressed like a boy, looked like a boy, but was still all girl in my eyes and it's how she felt. She felt like she was born in the wrong body. Now she lives completely as a woman and she's very happy with it.

^^^^Understanding why a person is the way they are doesn't really mean you have to condone everything they do as a result.

Forgiveness_Man wrote:

^^^^Understanding why a person is the way they are doesn't really mean you have to condone everything they do as a result.

^^^^I love that sound. xD

I may come across as harsh but I happen to think that they need to accept the fact that they're just gay, instead of a man/woman trapped in a woman's/man's body.
I have a friend who recently had a sex change and it caused a huge financial toll on 'her' family but at least they were accepting.

I mean no disrespect, but I think people who want that desperately to transform into another gender need a psych evaluation. Something "happened" at some point. Your DNA will always ALWAYS read you as your original gender. You can't run from it. Turning yourself into this artificial knockoff of the opposite sex is just bizarre. But Once again I really mean no disrespect. Everyone's life is their choice as is how they live it, but they don't live in the world alone so right or wrong others are going to have an opinion.

I don't really see as it is my place to think anything of them as I'm not transgendered.
I will judge an individual based on their character. If a trans person is kind, fun, warm, mean, spiteful, *list your character trait here*, I will treat them the way I would treat anyone else with said traits.
What sex a person is, or was, or will be, has absolutely no bearing on how I treat them except in the romantic sphere. Why on earth should it?
In the perfect world, I think that everybody could look on the outside exactly the way they feel on the inside.

I support someone's right to surgically change their gender; their body, their choice. However, I would be lying if I said I in anyway understood, or even generally agreed with the decision to change one's gender. I'm reminded of the line from Janet Jackson's song "You" ("You cannot run for you can't hide from you.")

In situations like this, I just remember to be respectful to them as people.