Do you support Transgender rights?

[ReineD]

Aye, aye, aye, this thread is giving me a headache!

People are arguing because the message sent in many of the posts is not the same as the message received by some of the readers! It's as if people are speaking in different languages. So how are people supposed to communicate effectively when this happens?

Here's a little something on the theory of communication and the types of very common noise that can cause the message sent to morph by the time it is received by someone else:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Models_of_communication

Back to the topic:

In one of the tangents here, there's a dispute over the word "transgender". It's such an ambiguous word … a lot of people take it to mean an umbrella term for anyone who is not cis-gender. The media describes transsexuals as transgenders, and so a lot of people take it the two are the same. Some crossdressers refer to themselves as TGs, as to some transsexuals! Ouch!

And then there's the difference between the CDs who dress for recreational purposes vs. those who have an internal need to express femininity. I do understand why the recreational CDs wouldn't need any of the rights expressed in the OP. They aren't interested in presenting as women or in a feminine manner in public! Still, surely these CDs would not deny these rights to others? They might still speak up when they witness any bias emanating from others?

And finally, there's the idea that if every CDer (gender variant, bigender, genderqueer, etc) were to be out and proud, then there would be enough of them out in the public to get the rest of society used to the idea. The problem with this theory is a question of numbers. Even if all the CDers who dress out of a need to express inner femininity were out, there still would not be enough to make any difference! We're talking about maybe 1%-3% of the population? Maybe less, keeping in mind that these are NOT the CDers who dress for recreational purposes which, in my opinion, form the majority of CDers … even if they are not members here (have a quick look at all the CD recreational sites out there). Also, I think it's a mistake to believe that the inner-femininity CDers should risk everything to be out and proud. First, the world is not ready to even come close to comprehending this aspect of non-binary gender and secondly, they don't feel the need to live full time as women. If they did then I'm sure they would, just like any TS. Besides - can't someone be supportive of TG rights without jeopardizing their jobs and families if they do not want to be full time?

Back to the OP … do I support TG rights? Yes I do ... for the transsexuals and the gender variants who do wish to be out. But I also respect those who, for a multitude of valid reasons, wish to remain under the radar. But this doesn't preclude them from being supportive in ways they can be, like signing petitions or "liking" supportive TG messages on facebook.