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What is your perception of people with gender identity issues (transgendered), and has it changed in the last 5 years?
Where did you get your perception about transgendered people from, and did it change over the last five years? Have you ever met someone with a gender identity issue, or has your opinion been formed by what you have seen in the news and on popular television?
My aim is to get a rough idea of whether people base their opinions on transgendered people through TV and social media, or through actual interactions with transgendered individuals.
I would also like to hear what your thoughts are about people with gender identity issues?
Lejan . 30+
To me there is no difference in genders, sexual orientation (besides pedophilia) or transgendered identities as they are all respectable people to me as long they behave that way. Over the last 5 years changed quite a bit in my country in terms of acceptance of the 'abnormal' and the process is still going on in the right direction of 'equality'. We have 2012 and it is about time I think ... :o)
Kendra Berg
I am transgendered (Male to Female). I think the general perception of gender variant people is they have "chosen" their path, kind of like someone choosing to be gay, lesbian, or bi-sexual. The truth is gender identity is rooted into the very heart of who we are as a person. If we can't express the gender we feel is true to us, we become compromised persons.
I spent years trying to live as a man. I had to pretend to be someone I was not, so I could get a decent job. I led a very compartmented life, with some people knowing one thing about me, and some another. Very few got to know who I really was. If I made a new friend, I would wonder if the new friendship was based on the person seeing the real me, or just the mask I had to wear to be safe.
Some people question whether we are "safe" to be around. To the best of my knowledge, I have never met anyone who was dealing with a gender identity issue who launched an attack on someone else. I am sure it is possible, but it is certainly not typical. Unfortunately, the reverse cannot be said about people with traditional gender expressions attacking people with gender issues (although this is not typical either).
Choosing to live life in the opposite gender is not something people do lightly. We move from being unhappy but accepted members of society with a normal level of risk to being a visible minority which faces discrimination when seeking a job, finding a place to live, or even to access proper health care. We even risk death! If I met someone who was wavering about his or her gender issue, I would say DON'T DO IT. But if the person was steadfast in his or her goal of changing genders, I would say give it a few years, but if you still feel the same way to GO FOR IT
Kendra Berg
I salute everyone who has the strength and courage to address their gender issues. That is not to suggest that anyone with a gender identity issue should move forward into SRS surgery. But the binary of male or female does not cover all of us, and we need to be true to ourselves.
I know this much: it takes a great deal of courage to move forward and become a visual minority that is misunderstood and at risk of physical injury because the perceptions of who we are has gotten skewed in the popular media.
At the end of the day, most of us want the same things as the majority: a loving relationship, a good job, and the right to live life as we are as long as this doesn't harm anyone else.
zoom zoom
The reason my thinking and perceptions changed about this? I am generally an ally of marginalized groups, and it bothered me that this didn't extend to trans people. So I decided to seek out some trans people and talk to them about it. As a result of these conversations, I learned a great deal and my thinking changed completely (and very, very easily).
John Smith 30+
How other people choose to live is non of my f-cking business, that's basically my perception.
"and has it changed in the last 5 years?"
Nope.
Fredzia Gauna Aranguren
Everything that happened with her really helped me to identify myself as someone who does not identify with any label, ha. I usually just say I'm gay but honestly I think it's much more complex than that, or maybe it's just way too simple to explain it. I think "trans" has become too much of a deal, like maybe if it just wasn't so talked about it just wouldn't really matter that much.
I remember my ex-gf telling me this story. She went on a trip to visit a school in another providence. Kids there were poor and got really happy when they arrived. So my ex-gf was like playing with them and one kid asked her whether she was a boy or a girl. She just told him that she was female, and the kid didn't really care, they just kept playing. I remember her telling me how good it felt, like this boy saw through her enough as to ignore her gender.
Linda Taylor 50+
Luke Hobbs
Jou Pabalate
Btw, being a transgender may or may not involve actually doing a sex change... Some of my friends do ID themselves as trans but when asked if they'll ever take a biological leap, a lot of them are just comfortable as is. :)
Colleen Steen 500+
I suggest your "unease" is fear of the unknown. You are wondering what they may be capable of? Attacking you? I suggest that most people who are in prison for assault are straight. Are you afraid, or experiencing "unease" with all the straight men you encounter? What might THEY be capable of?
I agree with Jou....read up on the topic....engage someone you think may be trans...actually, you probably already have had interactions with people who have different sexual preferences, and you don't even know it because they are people....just like all of us....many of the same feelings, emotions, needs, interests, likes and dislikes as most of us. Many of my friends are gay, bi, and a couple who are trans. I agree with Jou....that biological leap is very traumatic, and a difficult decision to make for some people.
Nothing has changed personally, because I've had friends with different sexual orientations for many years. For society, I believe it is a good thing that we are now talking about it and exploring something that was kept quiet for too long. I think most people would be surprised to discover how many people they interact with on a daily basis have different sexual orientations.
John Smith 30+
Colleen Steen 500+
I agree that issues with unease are probably a result of what we may have been taught in the life experience from parents, peers, society, etc.
I also agree that it matters a LOT when a person is willing to talk about their unease and insecurity with an issue, and not pass it on to someone else, like their children.
I don't agree that there is nothing a person can do about their unease. Don't you think that having more information sometimes helps people feel more at ease with any issue? Knowledge is power? Luke has expressed a fear that "they" may attack him, or be more easily offended at something he says for example.
If he understands that "they" are real people, sharing the same feelings and emotions as we all are, do you think/feel it might lessen his discomfort?
I suggest that it is the "head" where the unease resides, because of what he has been taught as you insightfully acknowledge. The mind/brain/thoughts retain the information that has been given to us. In my humble experience, the information coming from the heart/intuition/instinct is generally loving, accepting and not prejudice.....yes? no? maybe?