Gender isn't a choice. [View All]

(Mods: this is NOT a continuation of another argument, but a thread intent on dealing with a larger issue.)

Transgender issues are new to me, but I'm a quick learner. Today, I've been reminded of the fact that GID is a very real condition, and that those born the sex opposite their gender - two distinct, separate traits - do not receive the respect we afford even gays and lesbians.

I am bisexual (well, technically, probably pansexual, as I could date any/all genders/flavors of sexuality, given the right person - including transsexuals), and it strikes me as interesting, and disturbing, that even well-meaning liberals can unconsciously reinforce outdated and wrong assumptions about transpeople. The obvious example, expressed repeatedly in the other thread seen today, is the idea that transsexuals only become their 'preferred gender' once they've undergone surgery, or lived as that gender.

To me, this rankles my sense of respect for equality and diversity, and reminds me of someone saying I'm not really bi, but just 'uncommitted'. It also seems arbitrary - do we tell gay and lesbian children that they are not gay or lesbian until they've had sex with someone of the same gender? Do we not all agree, as most informed decent people do, that gays and lesbians are born that way, and are just as human as us?

The idea that transsexuals aren't really the gender they profess until some nebulous goal has been reached seems to be of the same mindset as "gay is a choice". It's not. Neither is being born the wrong sex. It simply is what it is, and I find it disappointing that anyone here could argue otherwise with a straight face.

Transsexuals are just as human as you or I, and just as certain of their orientation as you or I. Do you ever question your gender, or do you take it as fact that you are what you are? What would make anyone think they could know a transperson's innermost identity?

This transcends prison health care and false claims of 'elective' surgery. This speaks to the heart of acceptance - will people here and in our society continue to cling to their old ideas about transpeople, or will learning and understanding win out?

Failing to accept a transsexual's gender self-identification shows an arrogant need to define others as you need them to be (much in the way some religious folks vainly attempt to redefine my atheism for me, as if I don't know my own mind and beliefs/lack of beliefs better). I'd like to think that liberals are better than that.

Until we are, society definitely won't be.