Regarding Facebook comments about transgender indivduals
Jan 2, 2015 22:52:33 GMT 8
Taka, Patty, and 4 more like this
Post by EchelonHunt on Jan 2, 2015 22:52:33 GMT 8
This is what I posted as a Facebook status after seeing many ignorant comments regarding the aforementioned individuals - usually on news articles. One of the reasons why I avoid reading FB news articles involving transfolk because ignorant, damaging comments about transfolks is triggering but this particular day, I had a FB friend comment on said news article - FB brought it to my attention in my newsfeed, he was basically agreeing with one's person comment that "being transgender is a mental illness." It upset me to the point of feeling absolutely enraged. I do not know if this "friend" will see my status, I don't care if he makes the connection because it's likely he will not care in the slightest.
That's the problem. Stubborn, ignorant folks will refuse to be educated and remain close-minded. That is their right after all. I've accepted that now.
That's the problem. Stubborn, ignorant folks will refuse to be educated and remain close-minded. That is their right after all. I've accepted that now.
The amount of ignorant statements I have seen on the Facebook news articles regarding Angelina Jolie's son, John or the sad tragedy of Leelah taking her life makes me very sad.
"It's a phase."
Like one's sexual orientation, one's gender identity is personal and shouldn't be treated as a "phase" or an "experiment".
"If you are born a boy, you are a boy. If you are born a girl, you are a girl."
It would be so much easier if everyone's identities were really that simple, wouldn't it? But it's never that simple. Nobody's identity should be defined by their sexual organs, it's the brain that develops one's sense of identity after all.
"Being transgender is a mental illness. They just need to be cured!"
Yeah, just like being homosexual was originally considered a mental illness. (AHS: Asylum anyone?) Conversion therapy for both homosexuals and transgender folks are considered barbaric in this age and time, it is more likely to drive them to suicide than "cure" them. You cannot suppress who you are. For some, their identity may be fluid but for others, it is innate. It can be the same with sexuality.
Being transgender itself, having an identify that doesn't reflect one's biological sex is not a mental illness. Gender dysphoria, on the other hand, the feelings of intense discomfort and unhappiness that come with being transgender (although, to clarify: not all transgender folks experience dysphoria nor seek medical treatment, boom, another myth bites the dust). Gender dysphoria, generally speaking, requires hormone therapy and surgery to alleviate the symptoms.
Regardless of what is between our legs or what we identify as, please remember, transgender individuals aren't "choosing" to be this way. Being transgender is never a choice and medically transitioning can sometimes be the only option that will alleviate gender dysphoria so they can live happy, healthy lives.
You are free to believe whatever you like to believe about transgender individuals but it is vital to remember, at the end of the day, transgender folks are human - just like you and me. Compassion is needed. Asking questions is encouraged, even appreciated.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me, either public or PM.
"It's a phase."
Like one's sexual orientation, one's gender identity is personal and shouldn't be treated as a "phase" or an "experiment".
"If you are born a boy, you are a boy. If you are born a girl, you are a girl."
It would be so much easier if everyone's identities were really that simple, wouldn't it? But it's never that simple. Nobody's identity should be defined by their sexual organs, it's the brain that develops one's sense of identity after all.
"Being transgender is a mental illness. They just need to be cured!"
Yeah, just like being homosexual was originally considered a mental illness. (AHS: Asylum anyone?) Conversion therapy for both homosexuals and transgender folks are considered barbaric in this age and time, it is more likely to drive them to suicide than "cure" them. You cannot suppress who you are. For some, their identity may be fluid but for others, it is innate. It can be the same with sexuality.
Being transgender itself, having an identify that doesn't reflect one's biological sex is not a mental illness. Gender dysphoria, on the other hand, the feelings of intense discomfort and unhappiness that come with being transgender (although, to clarify: not all transgender folks experience dysphoria nor seek medical treatment, boom, another myth bites the dust). Gender dysphoria, generally speaking, requires hormone therapy and surgery to alleviate the symptoms.
Regardless of what is between our legs or what we identify as, please remember, transgender individuals aren't "choosing" to be this way. Being transgender is never a choice and medically transitioning can sometimes be the only option that will alleviate gender dysphoria so they can live happy, healthy lives.
You are free to believe whatever you like to believe about transgender individuals but it is vital to remember, at the end of the day, transgender folks are human - just like you and me. Compassion is needed. Asking questions is encouraged, even appreciated.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me, either public or PM.
But growing up without technology kind of makes me immune to the insults and offensiveness through written media. Younger generations that grew up with it may take it differently. But just remember anonymity gives people more assholiness than they may have in real life.