I'm glad this forum exists, because I can't quote statistics on how many of us there are who either don't feel the need to "cross over" physically ie: surgery, or even those of us who are TG and don't feel the need to express ourselves in the "real world" but I personally think that regardless, ANY discussion of "true trans" misses the point that this is a condition, and conditions tend to run in continuums rather than polarities.
For me, being "bigender" or "multiple" or whatever the hell you want to call it, I have my en homme life which is dominant and my en femme life which is private and less dominant. The fact that I feel I have two personalities living inside me, distinct with their own wants and needs means that as long as I do not "suppress" my femininity, as long as I express it in a way that does not have to disrupt my family or my marriage, who the @#$! cares what anyone else thinks about that? This is a personal journey for all of us. For me, the virtual world of second life has afforded me the opportunity to be free to let my inner woman out. I have no problems passing, but even there, identity is under fire for those of us who are transgender. There are those who seek to out us, not just the "dancers" and "escorts", but all persons would be subject to "gender verification" if the homophobic idiots had their way. So far SL has not given in to this but I believe that the point of identity respect cannot be overstated. We are not any one profile. We are not any one point on some @#$!ing chart, and it saddens me that those of us who try to make our way through the mine field of gender identity come underfire by those who feel that we are not as Trans as they are. Well let them crusade in their own lives. For those who say that its a point of Transgender pride, let me ask what they are proud of? Being born different? Why? I am not ashamed of my transgender status, and I admire those who are brave enough should they feel so compelled to live openly as MTF or FTM if that is what THEY need to do. But projecting their own issues of self importance in an effort to feel part of an in group seems to me to be just as superficial or disengenuous as they would like to portray those of us who chose not to transition or do so only on our own terms.
I value resources like this to help me connect with "my people" and we deserve respect and to be proud of ourselves not because we are Trans, but because we are true to ourselves and THAT respect should be given to all.
