Hey everyone,
Where are all the psuedo-transsexuals? There must be a lot of them since there is this ridiculous series of hoops we have to jump through to transition. Did you know that 1 in 200 gastric bypass patients will die from complications of the surgery? Yes, no psychological evalution is needed to have this surgery. In fact one can have virtually any kind of plastic, silocone, or saline implant one wants. In the nose, cheeks, chest, buttocks, breasts, hips, calves one can have implants or liposuction and one need not be psychologically evaluated. There are significant complications that arise and the results can be disfiguring and life threatening, yet no psychological test is needed to get these surgerys.
The reason for validation of our transsexualty, is simple. It's required. We must somehow convince a whole bunch of people, who can't imagine what it is like, that our minds do not match our bodies. Why? Why is it that no other major body altering surgery requires the approval of others? Again, where are all these alledged psuedo-transsexuals. I hear vague reference to them, but have yet to meet one. I mean, for all the money, time and resources dedicated to making sure no one makes the wrong decision, you would think this is a very common problem, yet other than hearing that someone once knew of someone that regretted transition, I personally do not know one.
I see other transsexuals telling people they may not be transsexual because they exhibit this behavior or they don't exhibit that behavior, but still I have not met anyone that has said, "you know what?, I made a mistake, I really don't want to be a girl after all".
I have read a lot of articles by a lot of so called psychologists over the years and the only thing that seems clear is that, based on their track record, they are probably wrong in their thinking about GID. A lot of them are clueless people putting forward theories based either created data, or no data at all, just best guesses. I have read theories that all transsexuals are really homosexuals who are too embarrassed to admit they are gay and becoming a woman is the only way they can live thier dream of being with a man. I have read that one can only be attracted to same biological sex to be transsexual. I have read that "true" transsexuals don't have a sex drive at all. I have read that "true" transsexuals don't have sex with opposite biological sex partners. I have read that fetishism is a contraindiction of transsexuality, yet the DSM-V will probably eliminate paraphallia's as as mental disorder, and have already changed their diagnosis criteria where a person can only be diagnosed if these behaviors interfere with thier lives.
Now, I figured out I was transsexual sometime around my 10th birthday. I was not a sexual person yet and had not even learned to masturbate. Still somehow, I remember being quite sure was born into the wrong body. I lived in a small town in Wyoming at the time. SRS had not come to the US yet. Crossdressing had only recently become legal through a Supreme Court ruling. Abortion was still illegal. This transsexuality thing looked to me to be a serious long shot. There were just not many people afflicted with it. For all intents and purposes, I was alone in the world. There was no chance I could ever become a girl. The few transsexuals I seen on TV were all freaks. Because of this, there was just no way I could ever really consider transitioning. I came from poor coal miners. My parents both had 9th grade educations and no accumulated wealth.
Just like all the transsexuals that came before me, my only recourse was to stay in the closet and maybe someday find a way to transition my life in stealth. You see, before surgery, and when crossdressing was illegal, transsexuals would secretly live as the opposite sex. The deal is though, one had to be 100% passable to live and work as the opposite sex without getting caught.
Also there is this crazy notion that all transsexuals transition. In fact, most transsexuals do not transition. Now those who do transition will say that those who do not, must not be "true" transsexuals, but that is simply not true. The truth is, there are a lot of transsexuals out that can not transition for a whole variety of reasons. This does not mean they are not transsexuals. In fact I have never heard anyone but other transsexuals say that.
In the end, the criteria is simple. If you think you are a transsexual, then you are. This is not something that anyone can tell you. Either way. No one can say if anyone but themselves are transsexual. There is just no way to know how someone feels about themselves. I personally am not really interested in what anyone else thinks of it. I will jump through the hoops they tell me to, but in the end, I will make the decision to transition. If it comes down to telling them what they want to hear, so I can get what I want, I am not afraid of that either.
Love always,
Elizabeth
