Are there any gay folks that don't feel comfortable ...

[Boudicea]

being in the same category (GLBT) with transexuals?

[jonnyblitz]

1. ummm....no...i have a vew female to male trannie friends

that I met at through anti-war activism. "Don't feel comfortable" is a nice way of saying "are u bigoted towards"....

[Boudicea]

4. Thanks for the label

I posted that message precisely b/c I don't like feeling that way, but have to admit the surgery freaks me out. I recently read "Dress Codes" by the daughter of a male to female. She admitted the same thing, yet still loves her dad. So she's a bigot?

[timbo]

2. What kind of question is that?

Just curious.

[bitchkitty]

3. I don't know

I'm sure there are some, but most of the gay people that I know kind of resist being categorized period.

That said, are they in the same category? Transsexuals are straight people, generally, although I did know one girl that after she had her change, married a girl and lived happily ever after as a "lipstick lesbian".

[donco6]

5. Uncomfortable? No. But . . .

I think sometimes the conglomeration does confuse things. That's inevitable whenever you have a coalition - there's considerable agreement on most issues, until you dig to a certain point, then you get divergence. Not being transgendered, I just can't get quite as passionate about their specifics, probably in the same way that liberal straights can't get as passionate about gay issues as I can.

But I believe banding together is still the best option for GLBT.

[rusty charly]

9. here's my view

where does the transexual issue fit in the gay movement?

if you have truly changed you sex and are a woman having sex with men, then this is no longer a "gay" issue. you have left the same-sex movement.

if you still are a part of the gay movement, then you admit to not changing your gender, so there is no trans-anything. this is where i stand. i don't feel you change your gender. you've just had surgery. i think it's a major assumption to now say "i am a woman. i identify as a woman." because you aren't.

i also feel the transexual issue undermines the choice argument. flying to central america for major surgery, is a choice and the gay movement has struggled so long to convince people that this is not a choice.

there's also the issue of internalized self-hating homophobia: "i cannot have sex with men, or even live my life the way i am. i must "become" a woman. i must conform to the heterosexual construct in order to live."

[donco6]

10. I can see your point.

Where does the transgendered issue fit into the gay movement?

I believe there are some commonalities - primarily in that gay, bisexual and transgendered persons view sexuality differently from the way most straight people do. Not that we view sexuality the *same* way, but our view differs from the mainstream. It's this variance from the mainstream that brings us together.

However, even among the gay community, there are differing views about sexuality. I, for example, tend to believe that my attraction for men is squarely in the same league as a straight person's attraction for women. Drag queens, however, feel more comfortable expressing their sexuality by assuming the guise of the opposite gender. Transgendered folks feel they actually occupy the wrong body. Only by living as the opposite gender - with or without surgery - brings them peace. It really has little to do with homosexuality.

I personally welcome transgendereds into whatever fold we can form to make them feel that they belong. I know I needed a place to belong when I was recognizing my sexuality. I believe we're better off attempting to raise a common voice than to allow our fellows to be strafed without any cover whatsoever.

[David__77]

6. while not uncomfortable...

I've always questioned the transgendered inclusion. Being homosexual is not a gender issue, and being transgendered is not an issue of sexual orientation. I think the "alliance" is more of political expediency than anything. I do think that gender issues must be addressed, but I don't think it'd be wrong to recognize their specificity, apart from gay/lesbian people per se.

[timbo]

7. I feel more uncomfortable being lumped

into the human race with some people. Does that count?

[TheBigGuy]

8. Im not sure.

Im not sure its really like being "gay"

I would suspect if there is a male to female transexual, and that perrsons sexual orientation is towards male, then, after the suregry, she would be "heterosexual" when it came to sexual orientation.

If the persons sexual oreintation was towards woman, after surgey she would become, I guess, a lesbian. (in the sexual orientation sense).

I guess in the sense that this is non-standard sexuality no, I dont feel uncomfortable. I find it sort of awkward to be dealing w. transexuals, tho, as Im dont want to offend them. I do find them somewhat attractive, sexually. Go figure.

[ronnykmarshall]

11. Hell no!

[mitchtv]

12. hmmm, never thought about it

guess I'mkinda used to it already. They seem to face many of the same hudles that we do, or at least similar ones.