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In reply to the discussion: Transgender people must use birth-gender bathroom, says Chattanooga lawmakers’ bill [View all]LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)I'm sure we've all seen a few people who were't fooling anybody, but chances are we've also all seen people who were, and didn't notice.
I had a classmate in school who was trans. If I pulled out my yearbook and covered the names (she used her typically male birth name but used female pronouns for some reason, so I apologize if that's confusing) you'd never know which of the young ladies in there was born male.
There are a lot of factors involved, including underlying bone structure and the age at which one begins their transition. Younger people who are able to make the change before all of the gendering effects of puberty shape their bodies have a definite advantage, as do slightly built people transitioning to female, and stockier sorts transitioning to male bodies.
My point is that for every six foot tall woman with a five o'clock shadow and a bad wig, you're probably missing a few people whose appearance falls in the normal range for their perceived gender. For that matter, Six Foot Stubble and Wig lady might just look like Really Tall Lady when you run into her again a few years later, if she's been on hormones and maybe had some surgery to feminize her features. Trans people are generally expected to live in their desired gender for a while as part of their therapy process prior to hormone therapy and surgery, so people who look as if their sex perfectly matches their gender probably didn't when they started the process.