Quote from: Beyond on March 10, 2009, 07:21:47 AM
It is not elitist to state what is a reality for us.  What you want if for us to say we're all the same and that is a fallacy.  If we're all the same why does Susan's have like 20 different forums?  You're trying to force us under an umbrella that we don't feel comfortable in and comments like those above highlight why.  Because our experience is different.  This is always a problem in a spectrum like forum, transsexuals get bullied.  And when we stand up for ourselves we're called "elitist".

The problem tends to be when people stray from simply explaining what they experience to telling other people they're not allowed to claim that they have similar feelings, motivations or experiences.  A lot (but not all) of HBS proponents do this frequently.  They try to assert that the 'transgenders' (people who don't want surgery or people who don't identify as a binary gender etc) don't experience things that a lot of them do (gender dysphoria, body dysphoria etc) and claim that other trans people's identities are somehow less valid.  Being told you're not allowed to police other people's identities and experiences isn't 'bullying'.  Claiming "we're all the same" is very different from claiming that we have similarities. 

Ok, guys and gals. I think we have reached a place here where we are tending toward that lil personal thang that Dennis mentioned earlier.

I believe that before we go to pistols at ten feet or broadswords or bows and arrows, I'll just lock hings for a bit and allow everyone to cool their tempers and feelings and back off from each other a bit.

Of course, one might also be uncharitable and point out that this is why the topic has been banned altogether. It begins innocuously enough and then the ante ups.

Nichole