I'll gladly endorse that claim, and I proudly support our trans male brothers.

[–]0nlyL0s3rsC3ns0r 0 points1 point2 points 6 years ago (1 child) | Copy Link

[–]Wsing1974[S] 2 points3 points4 points 6 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link

[–]goodmod[M] [score hidden] 6 years ago stickied comment (0 children) | Copy Link

[+]EvilLothar -6 points-5 points-4 points 6 years ago (13 children) | Copy Link

[–]mensmod 5 points6 points7 points 6 years ago (3 children) | Copy Link

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[+]EvilLothar -6 points-5 points-4 points 6 years ago (1 child) | Copy Link

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[–]Wsing1974[S] 4 points5 points6 points 6 years ago (8 children) | Copy Link

[+]EvilLothar -6 points-5 points-4 points 6 years ago (7 children) | Copy Link

[–]Wsing1974[S] 1 point2 points3 points 6 years ago (6 children) | Copy Link

Transgender people are not mentally ill or delusional. I understand why you would think that, because it's not an easy thing to wrap your head around. I believed that once as well, before I knew any trans people.

My son is trans, and he's not confused at all. He knows he's a man. He also knows that he was born with female parts, and he has to contend with female biological functions. But that doesn't confuse him. He's not deluded in the least.

Would he have an easier life if he just accepted that he was born in a female body and is therefore a woman? Yep. That would undoubtedly be easier. And that's the reason I know that he's truly a man. He'd prefer to go through all the difficulty of transitioning - socially, medically, and legally - than to take the easy path and live as a woman.

He doesn't want anyone's attention. He doesn't want to be part of a political movement. He just wants to be a regular guy. I'm very proud of him for having the courage to be true to himself, despite so many obstacles in his way. I can't think of anything more manly than that.

[–]EvilLothar -3 points-2 points-1 points 6 years ago (5 children) | Copy Link

[–]Wsing1974[S] 2 points3 points4 points 6 years ago (4 children) | Copy Link

[–]EvilLothar 0 points1 point2 points 6 years ago (3 children) | Copy Link

[–]Wsing1974[S] 2 points3 points4 points 6 years ago (2 children) | Copy Link

You're right, transitioning doesn't fix the issue. That's why it's called a treatment and not a cure. My son will always have issues with dysphoria, but with transitioning he can at least have a normal life.

Suicide rates before vs after transition haven't been studied, so there's no real science to go on there. In that area, I can only go by what I see, and my son is much happier, more confident, and seems much more comfortable now that he's presenting as male. While I do miss my little girl, I'd rather have a happy son than a miserable (or dead) daughter.

As far as the whole "mutilating children" thing, I must admit I'm still on the fence with that one. Thankfully my son is 18, and it's not something I have to worry about. I do feel bad for parents that have to make those decisions for younger children, and I'm glad I don't have to.

[–]SwiggityStag 4 points5 points6 points 6 years ago (1 child) | Copy Link

[–]Wsing1974[S] 2 points3 points4 points 6 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link

[–]DemocratTears2020 -3 points-2 points-1 points 6 years ago (9 children) | Copy Link

[–]Wsing1974[S] 1 point2 points3 points 6 years ago (8 children) | Copy Link

Transgender people are not mentally ill or delusional. I understand why you would think that, because it's not an easy thing to wrap your head around. I believed that once as well, before I knew any trans people.

My son is trans, and he's not confused at all. He knows he's a man. He also knows that he was born with female parts, and he has to contend with female biological functions. But that doesn't confuse him, and he's certainly not a fetishist.

Would he have an easier life if he just accepted that he was born in a female body and is therefore a woman? Yep. That would undoubtedly be easier. And that's the reason I know that he's truly a man. He'd prefer to go through all the difficulty of transitioning - socially, medically, and legally - than to take the easy path and live as a woman.

He doesn't want anyone's attention. He doesn't want to be part of a political movement. He just wants to be a regular guy. I'm very proud of him for having the courage to be true to himself, despite so many obstacles in his way. I can't think of anything more manly than that.

[–]DemocratTears2020 -2 points-1 points0 points 6 years ago (1 child) | Copy Link

[–]Wsing1974[S] 2 points3 points4 points 6 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link

I think you're a little confused. That's understandable, because there's a lot of bad information out there. "Gender dysphoria" was previously classified as a disorder, not a mental illness. It was removed from disorder status in May of this year. Some do argue that it shouldn't have been.

Either way, whether you consider it a disorder or not, people affected by it still need treatment. Drugs and/or therapy has been tried for decades, and had never shown any evidence of being effective. There has only been one treatment that has shown any effectiveness, and that is transitioning.

Allowing a person suffering from gender dysphoria to transition to their neurological gender has been proven to relieve the symptoms. Most transgender people can go on to live normal lives, especially if they are supported in their transition.

[–]TheStumblingWolf -3 points-2 points-1 points 6 years ago (5 children) | Copy Link

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[–]Wsing1974[S] 0 points1 point2 points 6 years ago (2 children) | Copy Link

Because we still don't know what it means to be a certain gender. We know that men and women behave differently. How much of that is sociological, and how much is biological? Different factors influence the developing of the mind and body. So what happens when the body develops as one sex, and the mind develops as the opposite gender?

Aside from the science, we know that there is a small, but not insignificant, amount of people who suffer from gender dysphoria. We know that drugs don't help them. We know that therapy alone doesn't help them. We know that transitioning does help them.

So why wouldn't we follow a treatment path that is proven to work? Would we tell tell blind people, "I'm sorry you're blind, but only old people can use canes, so you'll just have to figure out a way to see"? No, we use what works. That's what transitioning is - treatment that we know works.

[–]TheStumblingWolf 1 point2 points3 points 6 years ago (1 child) | Copy Link

[–]Wsing1974[S] 0 points1 point2 points 6 years ago (0 children) | Copy Link

No, it's actually trans people in general who are extremely prone to suicide. Research in this area is extremely lacking, so there isn't any data that would show rates of suicide for those who transition vs those who can't. However, the highest rate is among teens, so it would be safe to assume that a large factor in that would be lack of family support for transitioning.

From a purely anecdotal standpoint, I will say that my son seems much happier, calmer, and more confident since I took an active role in allowing his transition. Before coming out he was binding (wearing a binder to reduce the prominence of his breasts), wearing boys clothes, getting male-style haircuts, and had a small social group that would use his male name. After coming out, nearly everyone is using his male name and pronouns, and he will be starting testosterone therapy soon. Eventually there will be a legal name and gender change, and I imagine he'll be getting breast reduction surgery (although we haven't discussed that yet).

So often trans people take steps to present as their preferred gender, even without support of family, friends, or the community. I can't imagine that being supported by those close to them would make them more suicidal.

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