General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Calling Bradley Manning a She---Educate me DU. [View all]Zorra
(27,670 posts)better understand the phenomenon.
There's a lot of bullshit floating around about transsexuals, and being transgender. If you are serious about getting a relatively accurate understanding of this phenomenon, I suggest that you educate yourself by studying as many credible sources on the subject as possible, otherwise, you may very well end up believing total bullshit.
(First link below is pdf)
http://www.cpath.ca/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/COHEN-KETTENIS.DSM_.pdf
http://www.tsfaq.info/
http://www.transsexual.org/
http://www.tsroadmap.com/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transsexualism
Here are some thoughts:
We do not know what causes autism. Yet the phenomenon clearly exists. Autism is diagnosed by symptoms common to the phenomenon.
We do not know what causes transsexualism. Yet the phenomenon clearly exists. Transsexualism is diagnosed by specific symptoms that are common to the phemomenon.
I'm not saying that transsexualism is some type of pathology, or mental illness. I believe it is a natural condition, just like being gay, or cis hetero.
What I am saying is that the phenomenon exists, and although it is relatively uncommon, it is nevertheless a condition that manifests in millions of people on the planet, and appears to have manifested in populations throughout human history.
The phenomenon of intersex humans also exists. Some human have aneuploidies of sex chromosomes, such as XYY. Some human beings have both male and female variations in sex characteristics including gonads, and/or genitals. Some have all of the above.
Consider the possible that transsexualism is caused by some physical anomaly, possibly in the brain, caused by an uncommon anabolic event when a transsexual is in the womb.
Whatever, it is what it is, and I am quite happy to accept and allow cis/hetero sisters and brothers the space and understanding to be who they are. I just really wish that more of them would do the same for me and my LGBTI family.
Well done, trumad, thank you.