Hello,
I have always felt a little at odds with convincing myself a class of person is inherently worthy of dignity, praise, honor and respect. In my eyes the LGBT population, myself being Male to Female, benefit more by mutual respect. I would feel uncomfortable if everyone around me started walking around saying I can respect this about you, and that about you. Is being male to female honestly about needing respect, or at a closer look is it really about gender identity, and how we identify naturally. Identifying naturally as the opposite sex, is not the same thing as needing to be respected for one's choice and decision. I don't expect respect for wearing a dress. I only expect that I am not ostracised or outcast from society. That my very human needs for pleasure, and self esteem do not have to be sacrificed because someone else considers me to be freaky. I am worthy of self appraisal, personality development, and trust in a Higher Power whom I choose to call God, but the last thing I need is for the red carpet to be rolled out because I make the transition, the transition I make in my case begins purely with self expression, it is not one for which I need a medal of courage for, it is one that must be considered human, and a fundamental characteristic of how some LGBT are born, evolve and develop. Does that mean respected, I suppose, but for the present it is safe to say we need to be respected enough just so we do not have to remain isolated within a framework of a minority, and a tiny social network of people exactly like ourselves.