The ICD-10 is used to define Transsexuality:

Transsexualism (F64.0) has three criteria:

1. The desire to live and be accepted as a member of the opposite sex, usually accompanied by the wish to make his or her body as congruent as possible with the preferred sex through surgery and hormone treatment
2. The transsexual identity has been present persistently for at least two years
3. The disorder is not a symptom of another mental disorder or a chromosomal abnormality

Anyone who has a chromosomal abnormality cannot be considered Gender Dysphoric by the GRC. And as the existing caselaw on Intersex has been overturned by the GERBIL, there is no avenue open for those with Intersex that is, or may be, of genetic etiology.

It *is* possible for Intersexed people to obtain an amended (not new) Birth Certificate. But it requires that two attending physicians at the birth attest to the fact that the appearance at birth does not match that recorded on the Birth Certificate.

With permission of both parents, a new BC can be issued, rather than an amended one.

If born at home (as I was) with no attending physician, or with ambiguous genitalia that is not contrary to either sex, tough. There are also few physicians who attended births in the 1950′s still alive.

It is no exaggeration to say that the GERBIL has been a complete disaster for Intersexed people in the UK.

From what you say, we actually agree on the issues.

Regarding the Gerbil. Some weird stuff has been popping up about that, which we did not know about when it became law. It appears it may have removed some rights from a few intersex groups, such as Klinefelters and 5 alpha reductase. How that has come about is beyond my comprehension.

It appears a lot more went on behind closed doors than anyone realises.

Employment rights in the UK came about because a WBT took a ccourt case the whole way to the European Cout of Justice. That was absolutely nothing to do with PFC.

Due to it being a European court rulling (P V S), all the transsexual people in the Area covered by the European Court of Justice, got empoyment rights. That case covered people INTENDING TO, UNDERGOING or who have COMPELTED sex reassignment surgery. She was not a member of PFC at the time, contrary to anything you may have been told.

As for the Gender Recognition Act. Both women who took those court cases (Goodwin V UK and I V UK), were not members of PFC. One of the women went so far as to go on TV condemning the proposed new law. A lot of transsexual people complained about the law. I was moderating a number of lists at the time and had to restrain a lot of people’s language over it. There was a lot of genuine anger at PFC’s anti under 18 stance and preference for non-ops.

No member of PFC has sucessfully challenged any law in court to my knowledge. Stephen Whittle is a good example of court failures.

PFC hijacked the law change consultation process that had to legally occur after the Goodwin V UK and I V UK cases and changed it into a transgender law. All people who apply through the GRA are now put on an electronic register, which holds details in a similar manner to the sex offenders register, which the police can access. In the UK they may as well be wearing an electronic yellow star.

In PFC some of the activists on the ground level achieved a lot. Most have left PFC due to it being a dictatorship, complete control of all activites, constnat attacks by vice presidents on activists, betrayal and an extreme animal farm mentality.

There are “Bois”, “Boyz”, and many more that have come about after I left the LGBT groups. There are the FtM’s who claim a male identity yet remain in the Lesbian community. Some still teach their Women’s Studies classes, and remain tenured faculty members (perhaps it’s “gender studies” now).

It’s appears comvenient for those folks to embrace “transgender” — in addition, it seems easier to be a “gender outlaw”, or be in opposition to the “oppressive gender binary” when you have a secure job, in a welcoming (or, if not quite “welcoming”, then accepting) place.

I know I sound cynical, but I’ve met too many “gender freaks” who clean up after a night partying and go to their VERY “straight” jobs every day. A WBT does not usually have that liberty.

We (WBT’s) work at being accepted as women every day, as being seen as what we are. There is no glory or celebrity in being WBT. Even though some activists are “out”, most still have private lives as just “regular folks”, just women.

Few, if any post-ops will march with any of the various “T” groups in Pride Parades. If they march at all, it’s with other affinity groups within the LGBT community.

I marched with a group promoting sobriety. Not AA, but one that supported grass roots organizing to provide education, alternatives, and harm reduction (we were funded by a Federal grant — wasn’t very effective, though the idea was good).

I was unable to attend any of the Gender Identity Project groups after SRS — all I wanted to do there was yell out, “WTF are you folks talking about?”.

Until folks at the various LGBT Centers “adjust” their attitudes toward, opinions of, WBT’s / post-ops, I do not think much headway will be made toward reducing the power TG’s have over these groups.

Of course, the demands of acceptance by some brand new post-ops, many of which are couched in rather male terms, do not help any of us in the fight for acceptance. One of the keys might be to REQUEST, rather than DEMAND.

We started open publication in March 2006 and kept our focus despite a lot of complaints. Even then, dedicated venues were few. The online world has changed a lot since then, what with the rise of blogs. It is still hard, though; our site comes under regular attack (verbal and system).

The physical world is another matter. We keep hearing about local support groups that turn to the TG agenda preferences, the pre-ops are confused, and the post-ops flee. That has to change before any serious and coordinated TS/TG cooperation can occur.