| DannyDesario said: I don't like being judgmental or insensitive, but someone who pretends to be someone he or she is not is not being true to themselves in my opinion. They are uncomfortable with the life they are blessed with (to a literal extent, not even religiously), as there are so many unfortunate people in the world that grow up in poverty, born with diseases and missing limbs, ect. So no, while I do support Gay people and gay rights, I am not an advocate of electing genders, someone electing his or her gender is inconsequential to me so I personally don't care. |
When you have met and worked alongside someone who's physical sex is at odds with their gender identity, when you've witnessed the psychological and social anguish it causes them, when you've watched the painful, several-years-long transition through hormone therapy and surgery to realign themselves physically, when you've observed the result to be the same person, but happier, more at one with themselves, and in a gender context that actually makes sense compared with the one they were born in, you'll understand.
I'm not directing this as a slight to you personally for your opinion - I didn't understand why people felt the need to reassign their gender, either. Now, having seen it for myself, I do understand.
One thing I would point out, though, is that someone who finds themself in this situation is not pretending to be someone he or she is not. In the case that I witnessed, the person was brave enough to accept rejection from her family and her female partner so that she could be true to herself and become male. And in fact, after it was all done, his family took him back and accepted him as a son.
In response to the question raised by the OP, and based on the knowledge that hormones can do some pretty strange things during puberty and adolescence, I believe that in general, it's a decision that should be made by the individual when they are adult.
