This is continuation of some discussion over on CE&P, I don't particularly want to continue a lot of the more bigoted debate that was brought up there however I do want to give those with well-meaning questions a chance to ask them.
This is not an AMA it's an AM(a)A or an ask me almost anything. I don't want people to feel as if I'm avoiding their questions however there are numerous questions I get when opening up about being trans that either function as bait to lead into transphobic arguments or that I have answered so many times before I literally just do not have the patience to repeat myself on.
So before we start let me cover three things, this may be long so I apologize in advance.
First why am I qualified to answer your questions?
I was labelled female at birth after the doctors took a look in my nether regions and said it's a girl, later on I discovered that I am not a girl despite what's in my pants. I am very much a boy and as I got older I grew to be highly uncomfortable being perceived as anything else so over the past 6 years I have transitioned socially and physically, I have come out to essentially everyone in my life and asked that they call me by a new name and use he/him pronouns for me. In 2015 I legally changed my name and in 2016 I began taking Testosterone to modify my appearance and make it simpler to be perceived as a man in my everyday life. I have plans to surgically remove my breasts and to legally change my gender marker as well. My doctors are in full support of all of this and I've honestly seen nothing but improvement in my mental health since I began living as who I am. So to put it in the most simple terms I'm qualified to speak about being transgender because I've lived that experience for most of my life.
Secondly "You admit to having dissociative identity disorder in your other AMA, how can you be sure your trans identity isn't a part of that? Does that mean all trans people are mentally ill/confused?"
I've been waiting for this question to come up so honestly I'm just gonna deal with it now. I do have DID, I cannot prove that in my case identifying as male is not an aspect of that as some of my alters do identify with other genders. That said whether it is a part of my DID is irrelevant to whether or not I have the right to be perceived and treated as a man, because I identify as and am a man I still retain that right regardless of what it is that makes me a man.
You might argue letting me live as a man is enabling a mental illness in that case, however it is also irrelevant to my right to transition. Even if we assume it is related to my DID the only scenario in which I would no longer identify this way is if I were to integrate with my other alters. Integration is not the only treatment path for DID and in many ways can be a harmful one, it is not the path me and my doctors have chosen to pursue. This means no matter how much I address my mental illness and how much treatment for it I get I will always ID as male and if I do not transition I will always have dysphoria over it that worsens my mental health. With the guidance of professionals I have decided in my case social and physical transition is the best option regardless of whether or not my trans identity stems from my dissociative disorder.
As for whether this is evidence to support being transgender as a mental illness, fuck no it ain't. DID is not a horribly common condition and my situation is extremely exceptional. The vast majority of transgender people do suffer from some form of depression, anxiety or PTSD due to how they're treated for being trans but those things do not cause the degree of identity alteration DID does. They don't even come close. Transgender people can be mentally ill however in the vast majority of cases their mental illness is in no way the cause of their trans identity, many trans people are actually screened for mental illness before being permitted to transition and are only cleared to do so when it can be shown their identity is unrelated to any mental health issues. This screening process is something even I had to go through and was only able to be cleared for because my doctors could show transition was still the best choice in my case. Trans people, like anyone else, can be mentally ill but being trans is a natural variation in the human experience and not inherently an illness. That's as far as I'm willing to argue this point and anyone who attempts to use my own exceptional situation to imply every trans person is sick will be ignored as that's not only transphobic but incredibly disrespectful to my personal experience.
Lastly what questions and comments will I not be answering?
With all that covered go on and ask me (almost) anything about what it's like to be transgender!
This is not an AMA it's an AM(a)A or an ask me almost anything. I don't want people to feel as if I'm avoiding their questions however there are numerous questions I get when opening up about being trans that either function as bait to lead into transphobic arguments or that I have answered so many times before I literally just do not have the patience to repeat myself on.
So before we start let me cover three things, this may be long so I apologize in advance.
First why am I qualified to answer your questions?
I was labelled female at birth after the doctors took a look in my nether regions and said it's a girl, later on I discovered that I am not a girl despite what's in my pants. I am very much a boy and as I got older I grew to be highly uncomfortable being perceived as anything else so over the past 6 years I have transitioned socially and physically, I have come out to essentially everyone in my life and asked that they call me by a new name and use he/him pronouns for me. In 2015 I legally changed my name and in 2016 I began taking Testosterone to modify my appearance and make it simpler to be perceived as a man in my everyday life. I have plans to surgically remove my breasts and to legally change my gender marker as well. My doctors are in full support of all of this and I've honestly seen nothing but improvement in my mental health since I began living as who I am. So to put it in the most simple terms I'm qualified to speak about being transgender because I've lived that experience for most of my life.
Secondly "You admit to having dissociative identity disorder in your other AMA, how can you be sure your trans identity isn't a part of that? Does that mean all trans people are mentally ill/confused?"
I've been waiting for this question to come up so honestly I'm just gonna deal with it now. I do have DID, I cannot prove that in my case identifying as male is not an aspect of that as some of my alters do identify with other genders. That said whether it is a part of my DID is irrelevant to whether or not I have the right to be perceived and treated as a man, because I identify as and am a man I still retain that right regardless of what it is that makes me a man.
You might argue letting me live as a man is enabling a mental illness in that case, however it is also irrelevant to my right to transition. Even if we assume it is related to my DID the only scenario in which I would no longer identify this way is if I were to integrate with my other alters. Integration is not the only treatment path for DID and in many ways can be a harmful one, it is not the path me and my doctors have chosen to pursue. This means no matter how much I address my mental illness and how much treatment for it I get I will always ID as male and if I do not transition I will always have dysphoria over it that worsens my mental health. With the guidance of professionals I have decided in my case social and physical transition is the best option regardless of whether or not my trans identity stems from my dissociative disorder.
As for whether this is evidence to support being transgender as a mental illness, fuck no it ain't. DID is not a horribly common condition and my situation is extremely exceptional. The vast majority of transgender people do suffer from some form of depression, anxiety or PTSD due to how they're treated for being trans but those things do not cause the degree of identity alteration DID does. They don't even come close. Transgender people can be mentally ill however in the vast majority of cases their mental illness is in no way the cause of their trans identity, many trans people are actually screened for mental illness before being permitted to transition and are only cleared to do so when it can be shown their identity is unrelated to any mental health issues. This screening process is something even I had to go through and was only able to be cleared for because my doctors could show transition was still the best choice in my case. Trans people, like anyone else, can be mentally ill but being trans is a natural variation in the human experience and not inherently an illness. That's as far as I'm willing to argue this point and anyone who attempts to use my own exceptional situation to imply every trans person is sick will be ignored as that's not only transphobic but incredibly disrespectful to my personal experience.
Lastly what questions and comments will I not be answering?
I've gone over this so many fucking times if I have to talk about it even one more time I'm going to take 7mg of xanax and sleep for the next two days. Read the DSM and talk to any licensed professional that's up to date on their continuing education, they'll tell you the exact same things I would.
Being trans has nothing to do with sex it has to do with what gender you are.
Biological sex is a lie and based on entirely asinine concepts that have a very loose and overall poor basis in any actual science. I could argue this point further but I won't because it's complex and quite frankly tiring to really get into. Anyways anyone who's going to question the validity my gender based on my genitals is obviously here to start an argument not to ask genuine questions, and I don't owe those people my energy.
Keep it in the CE&P thread, this is a thread for people who don't treat hate speech as political opinions and are here to try and empathize with other people instead of dehumanizing them.
With all that covered go on and ask me (almost) anything about what it's like to be transgender!
