Topic : 01/17 Gender Identity Crisis

Of course God created us and of course we certainly do need your prayers and Jesus, just like everyone else.  The problem is your assumption that you know what is best for us.  Would you pray for him to be a woman, me to be a man or for us to be healthy and at peace?

I think many trans people would agree when you say, "If you are born a girl/boy that's what you are."  The difference is how we define "born as".  Some people are born with varying degrees of sexual ambiguity, physical and mental ~ there aren't just two clear cut boxes. 

Whether you say that people are born different because we are all are imperfect after the Fall or because God delights in diversity (I prefer the latter), we are born this way for a reason even if we don't always understand what that reason is. To not transition would mean I was constantly self-absorbed in pain and suffering and misery for the sole reason because I thought it was pleasing to God.  God doesn't create people to be miserable their whole lives and wrapped up in their problems, God created people to be social ~ to love each other and love him.  Sometimes it takes transition to enable people to do that.  I know I am a better friend and a better person because of my transition, it's made a world of difference for the better and that is what God wants.

In short, some people are born different than other people.  Current medical knowledge is that transsexualism is an inborn condition, possibly arising from hormone abnormalities in the third trimester of pregnancy.  Tests on animals confirm this theory, injecting a mother rat with extra estrogen makes her son socialize as a female rat and try to mate with males, the opposite effect happens when the rat is injected with testosterone and has a female child.  I certainly don't condone the practice of torturing animals in this way, it is bad stewardship however, it is an interesting finding.  It's not a mistake, it's just a difference ~ no different than being born with a physical abnormality like the blind, lame, or deaf (and a good percentage of transsexuals do have physical or genetic abnormalities).  It's not a sin to be born a certain way and it's not a sin to be healed.

I guess part of the question comes down to homosexuality.  If you forbid homosexuality, when is a transsexual homosexual?  I've always been attracted to boys and people thought I was gay but I didn't consider myself gay because I was a girl.  I personally don't believe homosexuality is a sin but that's really a whole 'nother topic.  But if you do consider homosexuality to be a sin can you do that and also accept transsexuals who have relationships that they and their spouses consider straight (an MTF and a man, a woman and an FTM, an MTF and an FTM)?  I guess that's something to ponder.  Oh, and as a note on that topic, contrary to popular belief, not all transsexuals are straight.  Indeed, I have met a great many gay, lesbian and bisexual transsexuals so there's a lot more to transitioning than wanted to be accepted as straight but still getting the men (or women).

God Bless!
~ Anonymous

~~ me and God ~~
[ This is for all the Christians on here who assume that being born a certain way, or at least doing something about it, is a sin and that transsexuals can't be Christians or that they should be not transsexuals. ]

I have been fighting my parents for all my life to just be myself.  They were more okay when I was little and then they became increasingly worried that I was gay (because people associate being gendered more like the opposite sex with being gay) and hoped and prayed that I would grow out of it.  I didn't grow out of it, instead I grew into it ~ I transitioned at the age of 19.  Some may see it as early but it was late by my standards, I had already been "out" as transsexual for three years but my parents threatened to kick me out if I went on hormones.  When I did start hormones, they kicked me out, citing Biblical mandate for expulsion ("treat them as a Gentile and a tax collector", "turn them over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh", etc).

I had lost my faith by fighting with my parents and the conservative moment they were involved in, I also was frustrated that God would make me like this.  Two years later, however, I met Christians who were living Christ and I couldn't deny the power of love from them and from God that I felt.  I embraced the God who had already embraced me.  Still remaining theologically conservative, the Christianity of love was a far cry from the Christianity of judgement that I was raised in.  Same stories, same God, different perspective.

Slowly, through the grace of God, my parents and I are beginning to reconcile.

   There are a lot of kids born with conditions considered "intersexed" or "disorders of sexual development" where things simply aren't cut-and-dried.  It's debated medically whether transsexualism should fall under that category. 

From a personal perspective, however, it certainly feels that way.  As far as I am concerned, I was born in a way that doesn't fit in society.  I was fairly girly my whole life and while I don't consider myself a girly girl, I certainly am not a boy either.  It's not a matter of being a masculine woman or a feminine man, even being gay ("why couldn't you just be gay?"), it's a matter of how we live our life on this earth.

For myself, I went through a lot of physical as well as emotional pain and suffering because of my condition.   My ex-boyfriend would flip out every time he had his period.  Our bodies do not like the hormones we produce naturally, it's more than just a "buck up and deal with it" thing.  People who have these conditions are in real pain and can no longer ignore the fact that they need treatment.  If your child had a broken arm, would you tell them to just "accept who they are" and not get them help?  What happens when it becomes malformed and dysfunctional?  At what point do you realize that some people need help?

Even if I didn't have so many physical issues, not transitioning would leave me as an effeminate gay man who sometimes was taken for a woman.  People do live like that, like butch lesbians, but it's not the life I want to live, it's not how I see myself.  If you see yourself as a man, then you see yourself as a man, and being a butch lesbian isn't going to cut it. 

My mom told me in high school that it didn't matter if I was attracted to men, I still needed to marry a woman because that's what's required of me by tradition and our religion.  That would be a poor marriage.  Arranged marriages work in some cultures (ala "Fiddler on the Roof") but we live in a culture of love-marriage and a marriage centered around commitment without romantic love would leave us both wanting and would most likely fail.  I am not a lesbian, I wouldn't marry a woman.  I am not a gay man, I wouldn't marry a man as a man.  I am a straight woman and I will marry a man and raise a family.

As for knowing your genetic predisposition to having children with any sort of DSD, most people simply don't go through genetic counseling before they have children, they just have babies.  Even if you did get tested, you'd have to know what you were looking for, we're talking about a great number of different disorders, although a few are the most common.  Also, some disorders are not hereditary but simply occur by chance in the womb.  You can't weed out all the possible disorders your child may have.

Anyway, so what if you could, in theory, prevent all sorts of "disorders"?  What's wrong with people being different?  Why promote eugenics?  A child with AIS is just as much a valuable part of society as a child without AIS.  A transsexual person is just as much a valuable part of society as a non-transsexual person.  An autistic person is just as much a valuable part of society as a non-autistic person.  A blind person is just as much a valuable part of society as a seeing person.  I could go on but what is your reasoning behind wanting to avoid having children altogether if it's possible they could turn out different than other children?  Every child is special and important.

 *blinks*


Transsexuals and crossdressers are now out to harm people, just like pedophiles, rapists, murderers and drug dealers? o_O

Actually, drug dealers are just trying to make a living, not hurt people...  I guess it's we who are the real threat.  I mean, geez, a boy dressing as a girl... might as well legalize murder!

Who is taking liberties away from other people?  "Oh no, we're being harmed and violated because we're forced to go to school with someone we don't like!"  You certainly have a unique view of oppression.

Hello

 

I have seen some really good opinions here on this topic, but I think what people need to realise is, being transgendered has nothing to do with religion and it is only affected by sexuality because every human is.  It is the gender of the person that does not match the physical body and there is still mistaken belief it is mental illness for the unitiated.  This is just the way it is, it cannot be controlled by the person affected, or made to disappear.  If you are gay, bi or otherwise, this is not transgender, that is sexual orientation. 

 

The suicide rate for transgendered people is around 31% and over 50% have had some kind of attempt by the age of 20, for those who have not had transition into the gender role they identify with the risk is much higher. Why would someone choose to live a life of being discriminated against, ridicule, violence, rape or murder?  This is what happens every day worldwide just because people are too ignorant or afraid to do research and actually educate themselves on topics such as this. 

 

The daily struggle that trans people have to endure is enormous, it is not a choice to be this way, but it is a choice on how you choose to treat someone who may be different to yourself. Gender issues rock the very core of who you are and are extremely distressing. How would you feel if everyone treated you as the opposite gender to who you are day in day out?

 

Being trans is often hidden due to fear and shame, so think about that before you judge someone, it could be your kid one day that has to deal with it or are even coping with it now on their own too afraid to tell anyone how they feel, you would want them to be ok in life and be happy, not become another statistic on a government chart.

 

Aaron

 

 Thank you for your reply.

Thank you for your reply

Thank you for your reply

Sorry in not returning a reply . And it has been months. Thank you for your reply and support. I just wonder sometimes what is going on in the surgeon's mind  when they want to perform a surgical task as this. We already know that the individual has some counseling taking place. I just never hear of a surgeon having to go through any counceling.

You are not alone. A family I know has a father who has always felt he was a girl but because of family could not come out as transgendered. Society when he was a child was not educated in this area and so his parents told him that there was nothing they could do so he would have to live as a boy. This family also has a son who at 4 knew he was a girl but again nobody would listen. The father found out about his son when the son was in college. At the same time the son found out about the father. I think it is a genetic condition. I also think that the scientific studies about the developing brain in the child before it is born will give us lots of answers in the future. Many more scientific studies need to be done and society needs to accept people who are different than the average. There are transgendered people who are scientist, doctors, business people and from all other walks of life.
Keep searching for scientific information in this area. Also try Trans-Academics.org and other academic sites.