Wow! Those were some strong opinions stated above, so I just wanted to provide another perspective, especially for any transgendered EmpowHer Users and Guests who read the post above saying "it is gross."
Gender reassignment, or a "sex change operation", is the last stage in a very long process for a transgendered person. Transgendered adults live their life feeling, and "knowing" that they are a certain gender in the wrong gendered-body. It is similar to people asking you how you "know" you are male or female, irregardless of your physical sex traits. You just"know" that you are female (or male); you can't describe it. Same goes for being transgendered.
I don't have enough information on treating pre-pubescent children; it does seem extreme to give children drugs and other medication that permanently changes their body, before their body has finished going through it's normal progression of changes via puberty. But, being in the wrong body is extreme, too. Think back to your highschool days, and feelings of not fitting in. Imagine "knowing" with your heart-of-hearts that you are NOT female, but are forced to live in a female body. Do you befriend boys or girls? Then, you start developing breasts... There is a reason the suicide rate is so high in transgendered people. But as I write this, I can't imagine allowing my child to do permanent damage (infertility) to his body before he reaches "adult status" to make up his own mind. Conversely, I can also not fathom my son committing suicide or being severely depressed, with the possibility of these outcomes being prevented.
However, I did have a MAJOR problem with the expert opinions against this issue, provided in this article. Saying that changing someone's gender is a "rejection of the lawfullness of nature" is completely missing the point, and has a religious component here that I don't think belongs. Is "nature" always "lawfull" (following rules, I presume)? I think we can all come up with many examples of ways in which "nature" surprised us and did not abide by predetermined rules. What about babies who are born with both male and female sex characteristics, from no fault of their own? Are these babies "rejected by nature"?
Gender reassignment is a complex issue, and I encourage everyone to speak with someone who is transgendered; and there is a continuum of "trans", just like any other group of people.
I do not believe this is merely a "social issue" as suggested in the article, and it is definitively a medical and psychological issue that needs to be addressed appropriately. The "appropriateness", however, is not with this being "gross", but with a real look at how these children are living day-to-day, if they have any psychological issues that have not been addressed, and then it is up to doctors, parents and society to determine what age is too young.
So, the real question is: if we, as a society, agree that gender reassignment is too severe in anyone under the age of 18 (adult), how can we help the "T" population (in the "LGBT") be as healthy and happy as possible?
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Wow! Those were some strong opinions stated above, so I just wanted to provide another perspective, especially for any transgendered EmpowHer Users and Guests who read the post above saying "it is gross."
Gender reassignment, or a "sex change operation", is the last stage in a very long process for a transgendered person. Transgendered adults live their life feeling, and "knowing" that they are a certain gender in the wrong gendered-body. It is similar to people asking you how you "know" you are male or female, irregardless of your physical sex traits. You just"know" that you are female (or male); you can't describe it. Same goes for being transgendered.
I don't have enough information on treating pre-pubescent children; it does seem extreme to give children drugs and other medication that permanently changes their body, before their body has finished going through it's normal progression of changes via puberty. But, being in the wrong body is extreme, too. Think back to your highschool days, and feelings of not fitting in. Imagine "knowing" with your heart-of-hearts that you are NOT female, but are forced to live in a female body. Do you befriend boys or girls? Then, you start developing breasts... There is a reason the suicide rate is so high in transgendered people. But as I write this, I can't imagine allowing my child to do permanent damage (infertility) to his body before he reaches "adult status" to make up his own mind. Conversely, I can also not fathom my son committing suicide or being severely depressed, with the possibility of these outcomes being prevented.
However, I did have a MAJOR problem with the expert opinions against this issue, provided in this article. Saying that changing someone's gender is a "rejection of the lawfullness of nature" is completely missing the point, and has a religious component here that I don't think belongs. Is "nature" always "lawfull" (following rules, I presume)? I think we can all come up with many examples of ways in which "nature" surprised us and did not abide by predetermined rules. What about babies who are born with both male and female sex characteristics, from no fault of their own? Are these babies "rejected by nature"?
Gender reassignment is a complex issue, and I encourage everyone to speak with someone who is transgendered; and there is a continuum of "trans", just like any other group of people.
I do not believe this is merely a "social issue" as suggested in the article, and it is definitively a medical and psychological issue that needs to be addressed appropriately. The "appropriateness", however, is not with this being "gross", but with a real look at how these children are living day-to-day, if they have any psychological issues that have not been addressed, and then it is up to doctors, parents and society to determine what age is too young.
Here are some resources for further reading:
PFLAG: http://community.pflag.org
YouthResource: http://www.youthresource.com
So, the real question is: if we, as a society, agree that gender reassignment is too severe in anyone under the age of 18 (adult), how can we help the "T" population (in the "LGBT") be as healthy and happy as possible?
May 20, 2008 - 3:05pmThis Comment
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