Justin7 you are making a common mistake that is easy to make which is that you equate sex which is biological with gender which is a social identification. Sex is whether someone has two x chromosomes or an x and y. Gender is a social identity that is formed during a persons life and as such someone can be born a female but form a male gender identity and therefore see themselves as a male although their sex is female.
Transgender is actually a blanket term and covers everything from someone who wants to occasionally appear as the other sex to a person who goes through hormone replacement therapy and gets gender reassignment surgery.
I appreciate the response. I'll just ignore the the standard internet fighting that has broken out in the thread and respond to you.
I don't think I made a mistake. I understand the difference between sex and gender. What I don't understand is
why there is a difference. Is the use of the word gender not just a response to societal constructs of what it means to be masculine or feminine? Men bring home the food and women cook it. Men wear pants and women wear skirts and blah blah blah. We no longer live in that society. I know there are still limits and fighting to break those down is admirable. I look forward to our first woman president. If a man likes the way he looks in a dress then good for him (I hate to use the same example again, but let's face it, men have never seen much sexual oppression in American society.) Without the societal constraints there is little reason to differentiate between sex and gender in anything but a historical discussion.
Because biologically and sexually speaking, we
are of course different. So for now, let's ignore "gender roles" and focus on that. Why do men self-identify
sexually as women? How is this different than any other delusion? If one is born a male he will always be so, regardless of what bathroom he uses or what surgery he has. That is simple science, no? What makes a man, born with a penis, feel the need to remove it and pretend to be something he's not? How is it not a mental illness?
These are honest questions. I'm not trying to score internet points. There have been mentions of liberal and conservative in this thread. I am a Democrat. We are the party of science, not the party of denying it.
All that being said, if someone wants to have sexual reassignment surgery and has the money to pay for it then I have no right to prevent it. If that makes a person happy then I think that's wonderful because in the end, that is all that really matters. If a business wants to build a single restroom or a third restroom or whatever, great. I'm just not sure tax dollars should go towards accommodating a fraction of the population that is in denial of simple fact.
