The first is one of scientific fact. GID does not conform to the definition of “mental illness” in the DSM. Moreover, anyone who is sufficiently “mentally ill” to request mutilation is obviously incompetent to consent to it. The whole system of treatment is based on a fundamental contradiction, and the only reason it is still in existence is that it works, and nothing else does. It’s a Kludge, and a bad one.

The second, and entirely separate, issue is what to do if GID is removed from the DSM-IV. Since we now have enough evidence to classify transsexuality as a form of neurological intersex, that’s how it should be so diagnosed. As a biological problem that has psychological implications. At the same time, we can clean up the other issues regarding Intersex too, preventing surgery without consent, and not just allowing but recommending surgery with consent.

In passing, I don’t care who says something, Dreger, Bailey, Zucker, whoever. If it’s right it’s right, if wrong, wrong. I agree wholeheartedly with the first half of Dreger’s essay. I think her proposed solution though is at best flawed and incomplete, at worst rubbish. More of the same kludges.

The third issue is of rights for the Transgendered. While I do not identify as TG in any way, and in fact the existence of TG is a barrier to my getting my own human rights, the point is that I cannot in all conscience argue for my rights and not theirs too. I also don’t identify as Patagonian, or an Aleut Eskimo, but I don’t think they should suffer discrimination either, whether or not others in their ignorance classify me as Patagonian or Aleut.

Not much from where I stand. No matter how much we attack TGs the right wing normborns are not going to assimilate us into their class. Not that I much care as left wing hip progressive people are more accepting, have better art and music and are generally more fun to be around.

But they are also not likely to be accepting of people who would rather fight each other than fight real oppression.

In America at the bottom of the social economic classes there isn’t much difference in status between poor whites and poor people of color yet I have seen the way fighting among those groups of equally poor serves the capitalist pig masters.

I think it is important to recognize the real enemy and not get distracted by fighting with equally oppressed people.

Now I think I know better. And the discussion over at Sophias new fantastic blog offers better insights into the “TG-Problem” then any hate filled comment did before that ignores individuals.
Its for example somewhat funny for me. When the problem is, that TG Lobby furthers Nurture vs. Nature Ideoligy I get stamped a TG activist, when I state that there most likeley is a cause to some TG conditions that are typical biological variants. When BabyBattyBats gets hit, when she states the same, yet in complete opossition of one of the more common point is that TGs further the thought of a changeble Gender, where they place GI which then is of no more use for Women born TS who see the correction of their body, not their social role.

As a woman born transsexual I know the cause of my depression and anxiety. Mostly it comes from pieces of shit like Dreger and the rest of the pseudo scientific assholes.

The solution is revolution. Let the the Ph.D.s in the pseudo science get real jobs as baristas and burger flippers.

Deal with the real world causes not the symptoms.

But I also do not believe in throwing people under the bus to curry favor with Christo-Fascist bigots.

But over and above that I do not have to like individuals to look beyond the shortcomings of individuals to see the reasonableness of working on class issues.

I am simply tired of wasting my time on fighting with transgenders when they are equally powerless to impact my life. I would rather go after the real oppressors than do the oppressor’s work for them and waste my energy as well.

“I was struck by that too-typical language of the “true
identity,”

and the stuff that follows in that paragraph…

Do you see the (not so) subtle spin there? She dumbs down the transsexual condition to being one of identity by calling it transgender throughout the peice, then brings it to a head in that paragraph. We are to subordinate our identities as women to those whose experience is “more complex” that ours. And it is all spun up in the guise of help.

Do you see why some of us have such a problem with transgender Suzan? It isn’t just that we don’t like crossdressers speaking for us. The connection without respecting who we are opens us to all sorts of attacks like the one Alice Dreger has written. Honest activism can’t come from a lie, and women should not be asked to subordinate their interests to others, no matter how transgender they are.

I don’t want to start a fight with you on your blog, I just wanted you to know how some of us feel about the tangential relationship we have to transgender. We weren’t asked to ally, and I don’t think any good can come of it at this point, even if there was a miraculous change of heart among the “activists” and they suddenly respected us as women.

That’s all I wanted to say, I don’t mean to start an argument with you about this trans business. I just hope you can understand my concern about the continuing linkage of our birth condition to other things that don’t relate to it.

She would know this how? What a narcissistic piece of work she is.

What is going on with this person who continues try to speak for others? Who is paying her to write propaganda and hit pieces? How did she come to be involved in these gender games? Who asked this interloper to the table?

And most importantly, why are people staying so nice towards these assholes who try to dominate us? Don’t people understand that at some point trying to be “respectable” is just a pair of handcuffs slapped on your wrists that your enemy takes advantage of?

Alice Dreger, fuck OFF!

WPATH, DSM revision, both APA’s and any other pathologising assholes who claims transsexualism is a mental disorder, clings to transsexualism being a mental disorder as a support mechanism or needs transsexualism to be mental disorder so they can play a ‘woe is me; activist, all need to be told to fuck of.

Transsexualism is not a mental disorder.

Transsexualism is in the DSM purely so that clinicans can bleed transsexual people dry and live of the backs of transsexual people. Those clinicans would not get a job flipping burgers in the real job market, they are so useless.

What good would that be for? Each of the named conditions are already covered without a GID prefix?