That really doesn’t prove Michael’s point. In order for this to prove Michael’s point, it would have to be easier to fit in when you are transgender than when you are cisgender. It is simply not the case.
I never changed, I want to stress that nothing ever changed. All that ever changed was the presentation; this is the core of the point I am trying to make with the article in its entirety. You CANNOT change your gender, it doesn’t work that way. It is not something that you as an individual have control over. I didn’t “ choose to present as a man,” I was born with intersex genitalia and then surgically corrected and FORCED to be a man. If I COULD change my gender, you don’t think I would be a man? I don’t want to be transgender either! It sucks dude! It’s TRASH! It’s horrible, I don’t know how else to express that it isn’t fun and has caused me so much stress in my life. I wouldn’t be doing this if there was literally ANY OTHER OPTION. I never changed this, I never had any say in it, so what sense does it make to say I adopted this to fit in? I didn’t adopt anything.
I am sorry, but I have dealt with so much discrimination, been assaulted, beat up, denied service, EVICTED, for being transgender — so it really grinds my gears when people act like being transgender is going to give someone some kind of “ leg up” in society. Because it doesn’t. I know what it is like to pretend to be a cis male, and to be a trans woman, and the way people react to me just merely existing; let me put it this way, it makes sense that so many of us kill ourselves.
It feels inescapable. Like I will never get to be accepted as myself because your ideology stands in my way. It feels entirely hopeless. I wish you could feel it, I wish you could feel it so god damn bad. And out of anger, out of spite. I wish you could feel it. I wish you could have all of my pain and then maybe you would finally understand. Maybe you would shut up, maybe if all of you felt it you would finally shut up, and I could finally be free. You have no idea what this is like.
The number of people who are diagnosed as transgender who are not transgender is incredibly low. There is an air of suspicion around all transgender people “ not truly being transgender.” It doesn’t make it any different just because you put some justification to it. What this does is provide a platform for skepticism on anyone’s claim to personal gender identity. In your world, WHO exactly is the arbiter of “ who is actually transgender and who is just faking it”? Who determines who is and is not? Why are we gate-keeping something as simple as clothes and hormone supplements behind some arbiter for transgender people?
And even so, I don’t understand what the big concern is with people being transgender, anyway. Is it really so bad to have characteristics of the opposite sex? The only thing that makes having mixed-sex characteristics horrible to live with is the exact things you are defending, so… Not really.
The only context in which it matters that a man has breasts, for example, is when he is treated differently or like a freak because he has breasts. Remind me, which group of people is it who advocates for normalizing men with breasts? Normalizing diverse sexual features for different gender identities?
I appreicate the aside for me, but no. If you’re going to talk about transgender people as a group — you include me. I am just as valid as every other transgender person, so if you don’t think they are really the identity they align with then you do not think I am the identity I align with. I am tired of this “ well you might be, but — “ why do you believe me over anyone else?? It is bullshit, the reality is that when you are listening to these people spew these ideas you are disconnected from the reality; me and thousands just like me. If you are going to continue advocating for this kind of thing, you are advocating for ruining the lives of people just like me, and for that; you are my enemy. So don’t try to ally with me against other transgender people.
Once again, what do you think highschool is like for transgender people? Being transgender is not going to make you fit in, and if you believe that you are completely delusional and know nothing about what we go through on a day to day basis. Especially HIGH SCHOOL, like have you never been to a highschool in your entire life?? Not a very transgender-friendly place. Don’t you think it is a bit of a stretch to say someone would change their entire identity, switch their clothes to clothes they don’t like, do things they don’t want to do and hangout with people they don’t want to hang out with just to fit in??? You seriously think someone is going to take hormones and grow breasts just to fit in? Give me a break!
No, it was not to avoid “ psychologically torture from others,” whatever that means… Thanks for assuming though. It has nothing to do with other people. It has everything to do with me. Because gender-identity is personal. I wanted to dress how I have always wanted to dress, I wanted to look how I have always wanted to look. I wanted to be able to express myself without someone asking “ why are your nails painted?” or whatever else. I wanted to feel pretty, I wanted to feel desired, and I wanted components of my personality to be assumed. You don’t get it, probably because you aren’t transgender, you’re not supposed to get it… You’re also not these people’s therapist, or their doctor, so how do you have any say whatsoever in the actions or “ real motivations” of other people?
