Thank you to all those who replied, and who support my point of view. I will take this chance to respond to those who disagreed, just because I love a good debate.
To Patrice: My point was that everyone is normal at their core. We all share the common bond of humanity. This post isn't about judging, but suspending judgment, at least when it comes to the harmless activity of crossdressing.
To Cindi Johnson: In response to your first comment, it depends on the methods you use. I used the word "fight" intentionally, because when there's a fight over something, there's at least two sides. I think that drawing the line between sides would do more harm than good. Those who oppose people like us would feel the need to defend their views, creating a counter-productive situation in which every small success on our side is hard earned and strongly opposed. Why not simply exercise the rights we already have, and let the world get used to that, so that there's no need for a fight at all?
As for your second comment...I think about lots of things on a daily basis: the weather, my favourite foods, video games, school, books, my computer, etc. That doesn't make any of these things a fundamental part of who I am. Sure, they may all be a part of me, or at least an expression of who I am, but they're not fundamental in the sense that I would be irrevocably altered without them. Just as I would still be the same basic person even if I lived the rest of my life without the desire to wear skirts and dresses.
TGMarla: My point regarding the clothes was that there is nothing in the clothes which makes them necessarily linked to one gender. Tell me what it is about skirts that makes it so that only a woman can wear them. Or what is it about a woman that makes it so only they can wear skirts? I could ask the same questions about makeup and hairstyles as well, and you would be hard pressed to find an answer other than "nothing."
As for the beard cover/tucking/breast form issue. I debated whether or not to address that in my first post, and since you brought it up, I will address it now. Not to condescend to you or anyone else on this board, but it any basic psychology or sociology class, you learn that there's a difference between sex and gender. Sex is a biological thing, and gender is a social/cultural development. Genders are ascribed to sexes. There is no necessary link between any gendered behaviour and a corresponding sex.
Without that link, any argument against a man behaving in a feminine manner falls apart. There is no necessary connection between being a man and being masculine, nor is there one between being a woman and being feminine. So yes, when it comes to breast forms and beard covers and tucking, it is a little more than just clothes. Still, all it is is a person expressing a gender role. Once again, this happens all the time. Everybody you see expresses a gender role. And since a gender has only as much necessary connection to a sex as does an article of clothing, there's really nothing abnormal about a man expressing a feminine gender role.
To Shannen: We may not be accepted by social norms. Unfortunately, many of us internalize this and believe that there is something inherently abnormal in what we do. So we run off and join the CD subculture by becoming members of a forum like this one. The problem is that even when we're here, many of us buy into the illusion that there's something wrong with or abnormal about the way we live. We help perpetuate the social norms despite the fact that there is nothing inherently abnormal about us. Our goal should be to change these social norms, not through conflict, but through gradually exposing the world to us in all our normal glory.
