Help me to understand transgender identity

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What if someone came up to you and said, "Hi, I'm George Washington." You laugh and say "nice try." But they continue and say that they really are GW in the flesh and insist you refer to them as "Mr. President." Would you do it since that's how they choose to identify? Would you instruct your kids to stand up when that person enters the room?

What if someone came up to you and said, "I choose to believe that I know everything about gender and identity, and I refuse to listen to the actual experiences of real people that contradict my belief, because I already know everything ?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am relatively liberal, and don't really "get" transgender identity either. I believe in science and genetics. Chromosomes are chromosomes and anything else is just wishing. However, I don't have to get it. There is zero harm done to me by someone who has decided to live as the opposite gender, and kindness never hurt anyone. And I'm really not going to do a "look-inside-the-pants" test nor require a genome sequencing to use a bathroom, so this whole thing is completely ridiculous and a total waste of legislator resources. What actual work needed to be done and wasn't because of bozo laws like this? That may actually be doing me harm.

Science is irrelevant to some liberals -feelings matter more.

I grew up with someone who is transgender. She had a penis but her hormones were much more female before she transitioned. I have know her since she was in first grade (we are in our 40s). My parents who are extremely conservative were not surprised in the least when she transitioned! My mother said, "oh so much makes sense now!" She, too, felt there was something up with my friend at a young age. These threads make me so sad because my friend is a wonderful person and it pains me to think that people would dislike her based on something so shallow. I have no issues using a restroom with her. I am not sure what people think will happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You people worry about the stupidest things. It freaks me out that you pay so much attention to the other people in a public restroom.

This! Move on people. There are so many other problems in our world than this!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What if someone came up to you and said, "Hi, I'm George Washington." You laugh and say "nice try." But they continue and say that they really are GW in the flesh and insist you refer to them as "Mr. President." Would you do it since that's how they choose to identify? Would you instruct your kids to stand up when that person enters the room?

Just shut the hell up.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^^This.

I don't see why this is so hard to understand. I was born female and I identify as female. My parts are female (sex) and I feel female (gender). Easy for me because stuff matches up.

Frankly I don't personally care what bathroom I use or what other people use because everyone has the right to express their identity, whether or not I understand it.

Additionally, I think single sex bathrooms are dumb. It's not like we have them at home.

Well, I for one do not want to share a bathroom with male-identified males. Especially at work! I do NOT want to see my boss in the ladies' room! Other than that, I have not problem with anyone female-identified using the women's room.

What WOULD be nice at work would be a one-person private bathroom on every floor.

[Anonymous]

OP, If you are biologically born male but you identify as female. Maybe you dress as female. Hair, makeup, etc. and then you have to pee.

I wouldn't want to have to go into the men's bathroom in a dress, heels, etc. Do you think it would be safe for a trans person to have to do that??? I don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You DO realize that people who have penises can pee into a toilet, right? That they don't NEED a urinal. It's not like you'll walk into the women's bathroom to find a man peeing into the sink. And that most male bathrooms have a stall or two for people who have vaginas and can't pee into a urinal?

Lastly, they're more scared of us than we are of them. Am I startled to see a man in the women's bathroom? Yes. Do I smile and just ... get on with my business? Yes.

When my DD asked "why was that man in here?" I said 'Because he feels like he should have been born a girl instead of a boy so he just does the girl things."

The stalls are for taking a dump, not in case of vagina.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am relatively liberal, and don't really "get" transgender identity either. I believe in science and genetics. Chromosomes are chromosomes and anything else is just wishing. However, I don't have to get it. There is zero harm done to me by someone who has decided to live as the opposite gender, and kindness never hurt anyone. And I'm really not going to do a "look-inside-the-pants" test nor require a genome sequencing to use a bathroom, so this whole thing is completely ridiculous and a total waste of legislator resources. What actual work needed to be done and wasn't because of bozo laws like this? That may actually be doing me harm.

+1

I don't need to understand why some people feel they were born the wrong sex. I have been told by transgender people that they may face threats or even violence if they use the bathroom that matches their genitals rather than their overall gender presentation. For some reason, some men are angered by the presence of another man dressed as a woman.

Frankly, I'm in favor of single-stall bathrooms not designated by sex anyway, because they are more family-friendly (especially to parents caring for opposite-sex children) and tend to equalize the men's and women's lines for the bathroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Well, I for one do not want to share a bathroom with male-identified males. Especially at work! I do NOT want to see my boss in the ladies' room! Other than that, I have not problem with anyone female-identified using the women's room.

What WOULD be nice at work would be a one-person private bathroom on every floor.

I don't either, but nonetheless, that's the restroom that both she and I use.

[Anonymous]

I am a female identified female. When I go to the bathroom I go to the one that I feel safe in. That is always the female bathroom. I will use the men's room if it is labeled men's but is private with a locked door. I GO WHERE I FEEL SAFE.

ALL PEOPLE should go where they feel safe! If an early transitioning woman comes into the bathroom with me I would notice, then go on with my day. Honestly, I might feel a little unsafe at first if they were a bigger person and still presented as male. But, mores because it would be a surprise. Then... go on with my day. I am glad they could go where they felt most safe. I would much rather her come into the female bathroom then have to go into the men's room. Women have been attacked, threatened, and have died from this.

We have all been sharing bathrooms with trans people for a long time, we just wouldn't know it, and haven't cared. We should't start caring now.

[Anonymous]

How about WTM though would they feel safe in the men's room even if they dress most comfortably as a man and address themselves as such, but with female parts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How about WTM though would they feel safe in the men's room even if they dress most comfortably as a man and address themselves as such, but with female parts?

There might not be the same risks, since they will look like they "belong," and presumably would use a stall rather than a urinal, so their genitalia aren't visible to others. But really, you'd have to ask them.

[Anonymous]

I personally am not concerned about where people go to the bathroom, and am happy to respect people's right to do what makes them happy. However, I do have some difficulty understanding how someone can know if they feel like a man or woman inside. I don.t. My 71 year old mom says she doesn't. My 40 year old sister who
spent a year at the age of 5 dressing and going by a male name says she doesn't, and that she just lost interest in the idea of being a boy after a while.

I am also concerned about the negative aspects of accepting cultural gender stereotypes about maleness and femaleness that seem somewhat inherent in all of this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can not understand all this worry about men in the woman's bathroom. Being a woman, I've been in women's bathrooms. There is nothing to see there. Just some woman standing in front of a sink, washing their hands and putting on lip stick. Women's bathrooms have stalls. It wouldn't matter if normal men came in. They won't see anything.

I am a woman and I can tell you that 9 out of 10 doors of the stalls are crooked and you can actually see a lot just passing by looking for an available stall. Also most public restrooms have stalls with partial walls I.e. They don't go from floor to sealing. So there are opportunities for peeping. I think the concern is about men posing as transgend

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How about WTM though would they feel safe in the men's room even if they dress most comfortably as a man and address themselves as such, but with female parts?

There might not be the same risks, since they will look like they "belong," and presumably would use a stall rather than a urinal, so their genitalia aren't visible to others. But really, you'd have to ask them.

Yes and watch the pearl clutchers freak the hell out when they see a transgender man (biological female who identifies and presents as male) using the woman's restroom.