Who Am I?

Filed By Dr. Jillian T. Weiss | August 28, 2011 11:30 AM

http://www.bilerico.com/2011/08/who_am_i.php?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

There has been an explosion of debate recently about what it means to be transgender. It's making me think about who I am.

Reminiscent of Dickens' "best of times, worst of times" passage from Tale of Two Cities, we are "the most courageous people on earth," and we are "fetishistic predators." We are "an integral part" of the LGBT community, and we are "holding back gay rights." We are "men trapped in women's bodies" or "women trapped in men's bodies," and we are also "guilt-ridden gays" or "auto-erotic ->-bleeped-<-s." We are "cured" by sex reassignment surgery with a 98% satisfaction rate, or we are made worse by it, with a 20% rate of regretters and de-transitioners. We are the vanguard of freedom from gender restrictions, or the worst defenders of outmoded gender stereotypes.