Maybe I have missed the thread but have scrolled and dont see it.
We have discussed/debated the gay issue before. Any takers for trans-genderism/trans-sexualism?
Do you believe an anatomically male person can be really a woman, or vice-versa?
Forgetting the extremely rare cases of physical/medical conditions leading to genuine ambiguity as to the true gender of the person, I am rather talking about persons like Bruce who are physically perfectly healthy and biologically male (or vice-versa) without any kind of ambiguity whatsoever as far as the DNA goes, but yet are convinced they are really the opposite gender and some undergo SRS (Sex Re-assignment Surgery) or seek hormonal treatments that allow them to pass for the gender they identify with.
The little I've read on it suggests a shockingly high suicide rate for this group compared to any other, and some research indicates that these suicide rates may actually be worse after they undergo the surgery. Why should this be so?
Bella
I really don't know what to make about this new phenomena. It is very common even in children as young as 10 years old who are calling themselves transgender and are not comfortable in the sex they were born in. I am hesitant to judge because as you have correctly alluded to....the suicide rate among these kids is very, very high. It is like a misunderstood generation or something. The issue caught my attention after a 16 year old boy who wanted to identify as a girl came out to his parents who were Christians and they would have nothing to do with it. Actually he started early on, maybe at 10 or so, and had been sent to therapist after therapist, most of them Christian counselors to reconvert him or something like that. He wanted to start hormone replacement therapy but as a minor needed parental approval, which his parents' would not consent too. In order to look feminine, he would have had to start the HRT early before his male features were well established, otherwise if he started as an adult at 18 years(legal age of consent), he would just look like a drag queen.
Well, long story short....they were never able to help him and on his suicide note he posted on Facebook about how much he hated his parents and they were the reason he decided to take his life..... he also stated that the counseling sessions made him feel worse. He said they made him feel like a sinner doing the devils work. He had friends, his peers accepted him, but the people who mattered to him most of all...his parents...rejected him. He decided he could no longer exist in this world like that. What shocked me was how articulate this kid was. The letter was as detailed about his experience as no other I have seen before. Which makes me wonder if there is some biological or chemical imbalance going on in the brains of the transgender community....... I don't see how someone can go through something like this just for the sake of it, or coz its fashionable .......my thoughts.
I heard that story and felt really bad for both the kid and parents. I certainly can empathize with not giving your consent so your child can permanently alter his otherwise healthy body in a way that is irreversible, can make them never be able to have children. What if, two/three/five/ten years later, they change their minds, decide it was a phase through turbulent adolescence and then totally blame you (the parent) for not protecting them by refusing to give consent for such drastic things? The problem with such things is that politics gets involved and research into it may not be freely done so that we can understand what is going on.
On another note, that girl/boy Audrey formerly known as Andrew in Kenya....I genuinely see her as a girl, though born a male. I wouldnt have any problems relating to her as a she, she seems totally feminine. Or that South African runner--Semenya--if she said she was really male, I'd buy it.
But Bruce? Damn! Maybe its because I've been watching the Kardashians show too long and have a very fixed perception of him but I just cant see him as a woman and I never ever saw anything feminine about him until the vanity fair cover.
Topic: Why is no one here discussing the Bruce/Caitlyn Jenner issue? (Read 4246 times)