Transitioning: The Halakhic Ramifications
http://media.www.yuobserver.com/media/storage/paper989/news/2008/10/03/Features/Transitioning.The.Halakhic.Ramifications-3467993.shtmlBy: Olivia Wiznitzer
10/3/2008
If an Orthodox Jewish transsexual desires to transition, which will
set him on a course of taking hormones and finally having SRS [Sex
Reassignment Surgery], is this permitted per halakha? Are there any
differences if this is MtF (male to female) or FtM (female to male)
transitioning? What prohibitions, if any, does this course of action
violate? Does pikuach nefesh [danger of life] play a role in
determining the halakha? And assuming that someone goes forward with
this surgery, rightly or wrongly, under halakha, is this person seen
as being the sex which he was born, or the one he presents as and
physically resembles? This is aside from the question of how Orthodox
Jews ought to treat such a person on a whole. Is he to be included
within the community, or summarily excluded?
