How do you feel about the "mutilation" of getting someone's tube's tied or a vasectomy?  

"I would argue that mutilation has a negative connotation that you would never use for other similar medical procedures. "

true, why do you figure someone would use language with a negative connotation to discuss this topic?

" I addressed this when I said I wouldn't call tracheotomies or getting your ears pierced mutilation either."

I suppose at the time I didn't believe you could be making a comparison between cutting off major body parts and tiny incisions for ornaments or for breathing

but now that I've thought on it a bit i have to admit that the comparison makes sense

"Puberty blockers are thus tangential to something you could define as mutilation if you define surgical gender reassignment as mutilation, but they are not themselves mutilation. Thus, small children are not being mutilated. "

ok so lets say we put a kid on puberty blockers and we stop them from going through puberty... which means of course that we've arrested the natural development of their bodies and their primary and secondary sexual characteristics 

what happens next? they just continue through life with an undeveloped body?

How do you feel about the "mutilation" of getting someone's tube's tied or a vasectomy?  

Because they are not as neutral as they wanted to appear, as I stated.

Don't really know what to say here, some people put gigantic gauges in their ears. Is that finally mutilation or does this only apply to gender reassignment surgery?

You take puberty blockers until a final decision is made to transition, after which I believe one goes on hormone therapy, and finally if they so choose, surgery to reassign the gender. Now the arguments you have made so far have only been for how the surgery could be thought of as mutilation, and that part isn't happening to small children so my original point stands. 

"Because they are not as neutral as they wanted to appear, as I stated."

this entails that they are leaning towards a position, what do you believe that position to be?

do you believe yourself to be neutral?

"Don't really know what to say here, some people put gigantic gauges in their ears. Is that finally mutilation or does this only apply to gender reassignment surgery?"

does this cause significant damage or deformation to the ear?

"You take puberty blockers until a final decision is made to transition"

suppose they decide to not transition? 

lets say its a boy and their penis hasn't developed, will he be stuck with an undeveloped penis for life?

"after which I believe one goes on hormone therapy, and finally if they so choose, surgery to reassign the gender."

fair enough, but wouldn't it just be easier though to fix the underlying psychological issue though since its a social construct?

" Now the arguments you have made so far have only been for how the surgery could be thought of as mutilation, and that part isn't happening to small children so my original point stands."

well I was just offering my opinion as to why the other user may have used the word "mutilation"

fair enough, but wouldn't it just be easier though to fix the underlying psychological issue though since its a social construct?

No, I'm for trans rights. If you think the poster I was talking with is actually anti-trans and is happy to be seen as such then I suppose my comment is pointless, but since we were previously talking about P-values of research articles and going where the research led us I was taken aback by the idea that "small children are being mutilated" which has still not been substantiated.  

Deformation of the ear? Absolutely, but I assume you think there's some inexorable difference. 

The medical consensus I'm aware of is that puberty blockers are fully reversible: https://assets2.hrc.org/files/documents/SupportingCaringforTransChildren.pd

my apologies, you are correct that they are reassigning their sex and not their gender. good catch. 

mk, so he was wrong. Small children are not being mutilated by any standard definition. 

"If you think the poster I was talking with is actually anti-trans and is happy to be seen as such then I suppose my comment is pointless"

its not about what I think, you're the one who brought up neutrality are you not?

"The medical consensus I'm aware of is that puberty blockers are fully reversible"

so if I understand correctly they'll be no difference in development between someone like lets say jazz jennings who would be on blockers till they were 17 or so and someone who wasn't on blockers and developed through puberty normally?

"my apologies, you are correct that they are reassigning their sex and not their gender. good catch. "

we all slip up occasionally man, but what i'm saying is that since gender is a social construct, why couldn't we just change it with these children instead of performing these procedures?

"mk, so he was wrong. Small children are not being mutilated by any standard definition. "

he'd have to elaborate on what he mean't by that, I was just making assumptions as to what his position is