Quote from: Tessa James on October 01, 2014, 04:02:33 PM
I would be interested in any helpful and peer reviewed research about transgender people but doubt the efficacy of a test that would be anything but 100%.  We are so many shades of grey and colors of the rainbow for me to believe one size or test will fit all.

Nailed it.  I don't believe that gender is a binary either.  The so-called binary is purely a social construct.

After a lot of introspection, it turned out that I just happen to be pretty far over to the "F" side of the spectrum.  I also wonder why most professionals and providers can't wrap their heads around the fact that a brain either masculinizes or fails to do so at varying degrees.

Carrie:
I agree with you that if there was a test like that and that it is 100% accurate with no % failure rate and no lab technician making a mistake in the test.. I would take it as well. It would be wonderful and put one's mind at ease that one would be making the right decision for self. The test might also tell you that you also would have a certain percent for being trans.

One should also do it twice to be absolutely certain.

I would take it, because I know I'd pass. If they said I didn't — no matter how supposedly accurate the test was — I'd say it was wrong. Although, a test determining one's true gender is about as possible as being able to record your dreams and watch them when you wake up. That's just far too deep in one's consciousness to arbitrate. If such a test was possible, though, we'd all be getting our SRS yesterday!

It depends - is this hypothetical test always 100% accurate?  If so then yeh, that would be great.  Like some of the others have said, I hate the "not knowing for sure" part.  I mean yeh, I sure as hell *FEEL* I am, accentuated by the fact that I've had persistent thoughts of being female in numerous aspects of my life ever since my early teens, and my natural behaviour is certainly a-typical of females.  But do I *KNOW* with certainty?  No.  I could well be deluding myself.  This could all be some kind of strong empathy for women that I have or something.  Perhaps I've idealised / admired women in such a way that my brain has fooled itself into thinking it is one somewhere along the line.  I'm pretty sure none of this is the case, but I can't say with total certainty, and that's the problem.

A 100% accurate test would be great from a confirmation standpoint certainly.  Heck even if it wasn't 100% accurate, it'd still be good as an advisory / guideline piece of info.  Using it as a gatekeeping device that you *HAVE* to pass before getting treatment may be a little too much though.  Such a test should be used as evidence along with all the other evidence of your trans* state.

Having said all that, in an ideal world we wouldn't have any tests at all.  Anyone could transition back and forth at will, and their body of choice at any given time would be 100% functional as their target sex.  Transition would be cheap (or even free) and happen in the time it takes to press a button.  That way, everyone could snap their fingers, and wake up the next day as a different gender.  In such a world, you wouldn't need all of these tests, because everyone would be able to do the greatest test of all - trying it out!  If they don't like it, they could snap their fingers again and change right back to how they were.  No harm, no fowl.

Sounds fantastical?  Lol yeh, probably.  But saying that, brain transplant technology may be closer than people think, and that kind of tech could certainly offer such a world.  an MtF and an FtM could principally "donate" their respective bodies to each other.  Alternatively (and tbh this would be my preference), you could principally transplant into a machine, and build yourself a body (mechanical, biological, or a mix of both).  If you're not happy with it or you get bored after a while, you can just modify it yourself.  In principal your brain doesn't even need to be in the body (remote connection using technology akin to WiFi), opening up the possibility of having multiple bodies that you can pilot and switch between at will.  You could be a 6ft tall hyper-masculine dude in the morning, and then switch over to your beautiful, slender female form for the afternoon, and then switch to an androgynous one for evening dinner.  You get the idea

Anyway, point is that's the kind of thing I'd prefer to see happen, and like I said, that may be closer to science fact than people think.  All they need to do in principal is figure out how to keep the brain and spinal cord (i.e. the central nervous system (CNS)) alive outside of the body (which is something that's an active field of research), how to disconnect the CNS from the body without damaging it, and then how to go about hooking it all up at the other end.  Obviously those aren't trivial tasks, but at the same time there not impossible either.

Lol sorry, kinda went off on a tangent there <3

Quote from: captains on September 30, 2014, 03:15:50 PM
...Hell, I'd take a Sorting Hat at this point. ''Welome to Hogwarts, you're a man/woman/non-binary person, as degreed by this magical talking hat!''

Lol, I feel the need to point out that the Sorting Hat does take your own choice into account.  Remember how Harry was nearly put into Slytherin but wanted Gryffindor? <3

Quote from: KiraD on October 04, 2014, 08:06:17 AM
Lol, I feel the need to point out that the Sorting Hat does take your own choice into account.  Remember how Harry was nearly put into Slytherin but wanted Gryffindor? <3

Okay, you got me there. I'd have to trust the hat to know me better than to give in if I whispered, "not trans... not trans... not trans..."  :')