RUserious, I don't know any transgender people myself, all I know is from what I've seen on TV from interviews and such (discovery channel, TLC, etc). I also dated someone who felt she'd be much happier as a man rather than a woman since she was about 10 years old (but never went through with surgery due to financial issues). My only GUESS as to why some people try to get help to be okay with their body they were born with is because they don't want to be disowned by their families and friends, and they may possibly fear the torture they would go through from the public, as many people are bothered by these operations and tend to take it out on the individual. I'm going to guess that if the world were to accept these transgender procedures, then the individual who feels wrong in their own body wouldn't try to seek "help" for their "disease."
.
Again, that's just my guess.

Brewernut said, "If people are born gay, why don't we see this in the animal kingdom too." I don't understand why people don't research their opinions before stating them as facts. Many studies have been done on the subject of homosexuality amongst animals. One such study was done by researcher Bruce Bagemihl and showed that homosexual behavior, has been observed in close to 1500 species, ranging from primates to gut worms, and is well documented for 500 of them. I'm really impressed by the thoughtfulness of many of the other posters on this article.

wiscchick says: "WOW, Northman, what a spectacularly uninformed post." Was it? The article itself comments about the lack of awareness in the medical field, and you expect laypeople to be informed? You fault someone for speaking how he feels on such an unusual (in that it is not well understood) condition that even science and the medical profession doesn't have all the answers? I know a little, very little, about transgender and transsexual people. This article does very little to enlighten about the people, and not much more about their plight. You tell us, wischick (or anyone else who might claim to know it all about the subject), what causes this "condition", can it be "cured", or, is it better left alone, or-and I'm asking for an honest, enlightened answer-no smart remarks-is being transgender or transsexual normal? How should it be referred to? Do you think treatment should be mandated, or can those who practice medicine refuse as was the case with pharmacists and birth control pills (I admit-I don't remember the details on that.) And--if it is normal, then why must it be treated? And if it isn't normal-why give in to it? I can honestly say, I've attempted to wrap my mind around this, and tried to imagine being in this situation. I doubt that anyone could do justice to it.
Thanks for any non-confrontational answers.
And Trojanvirus, you do understand, don't you, how contradictory it might sound when you say " these people don't have a sickness, they don't need help to "correct" how they feel." yet the medical profession is being asked to give them surgery and then to help them through the transitiom process. So why does it seem so strange that some people might think it would seem more logical to have the medical profession skip the surgery and help them through the transition process to the sex they were born with? I'm not saying it's right or wrong-but how can you fault some for wondering about that? We're not talking hives here.

Northman, these people don't have a sickness, they don't need help to "correct" how they feel. If you've ever talked to a transgender, you would know that by having their surgery, *that* makes them feel complete.

WOW, Northman, what a spectacularly uninformed post.

Well I would hope not.
Actually, I wasn't implying that transgender people get free healthcare, but the way this country is headed, I am sure that's not far behind.
Yet let's see infertile couples get surgery and insurance pay for invitro...never will happen.

Mikki...and some patients requiring surgery because of physical health issues, or other major "mainstream" medical care not covered by insurance (for those fortunate enough to have it) sometimes have to resort to fundraisers. I can think of more than one the Gazette has covered. But I'm not sure that this article is suggesting the need for "free" gender reassignment surgeries and care. I hope not, I've seen too many people having to scrape for money for prescriptions or money for doctors visits for major physical health issues.
But what people do with their own money as far as their own bodies...and IF they can find someone to do it...well, it's their business.

Well, what if I feel uncomfortable with the shape of my body, and I feel like I should have been born with a bigger chest, or a smaller nose.....can someone please pay for MY plastic surgery?

Transgender individuals deserve appropriate health care just the same as anybody else. They are still humans!! - I agree, but not the unnecessary mental and physical care they are searching for. If people are born gay, why don't we see this in the animal kingdom too. Just remember it is all of our healthcare dollars that are going for this crapola whether we like it or not..

If man realizes one day that he didn’t choose to be a man, that he’s unfairly trapped in a man’s body, and that he’s really a dog, should we have compassion and understanding and train our doctors to give this man the surgical help he needs? Do we hold conferences on how to treat these poor canines who were born in men’s bodies? Do we take to the streets at the unfairness of it all, and demand public funding to pay for the operations needed for these trans-species unfortunates to realize their true destinies?
.
Or do we give our heads a good shake, and realize there is nothing wrong with the bodies here, but that their minds have become terribly ill? And get them not an operation, but some serious time with mental health professionals. People who say, “give them the operation”, are not helping, they are enabling a sickness and preventing useful treatment. When do we finally cry “enough”, and stop treating every bizarre deviancy as if it’s really normal, and as if we are Neanderthals if we refuse to accept it as such?

ladulce-my meaning was...(and sorry if I didn't word it in the best politically correct manner-but, as you point out, most of us feel that we are in the correct bodies so any drastic physical cutting of healthy body parts for other than physical health reasons seems very foreign)..many doctors may feel they are "mutilating" because the body parts are drastically altered or even removed. This cannot be correlated to routine plastic surgury (to most people)which is generally considered physical enhancement, and we cannot dictate what an individual doctor feels. I know that to the transexual, this is not a whim, or a fad-it is genuine gender confusion-the body says one thing and the mind says another. I understand this, and wish that all would get whatever treatment possible to allow their lives to be happy and fullfilling.
On the other hand-I can also see the difficulty any medical professional would have with the surgical treatment required. How can you understand the turmoil of the potential patient, but not the turmoil of the doctor? Can't you? I am certain you can see the difference between cancer treatment and this surgury.

They won't get the help they need at the physicians office. Where's rockstars?

The Department of Defense is so far out of date & anyone that has been in the military recently knows that.

I too am happy with my female body, but I have had some very close friends that were gay & I understand they did not CHOSE to be gay, they were BORN that way.

In fact, one of my B-I-Ls is an IDENTICAL twin and gay. The other brother-in-law is married, presumably straight & has 3 children. The two brothers participated in a study done at Northwestern many years ago where they studied gay & straight twin sets.

Anyway, I agree that the transgender person is not making the choice to "mutilate" their body...they feel they HAVE to do it to become who they truly are.

The Department of Defense classifies this as a "mental disease or disorder". I have a tendency to agree

Thank you, ladulce.
.
I also feel content in the body I was born with, but since I happen to be a compassionate person, unlike some of the commenters on here, I'm able to put myself in someone else's position and understand that what they're feeling is uncomfortable for them. Just like if you have a toothache, you're going to have surgery to get it taken care of. If you're born one sex but FEEL like another sex, you'd possibly be thinking about surgery so that you can look how you feel. And yes, it is an accurate comparison as each thing makes you/your life uncomfortable so the person then looks at surgery to aleviate the discomfort.
.
Transgender individuals deserve appropriate health care just the same as anybody else. They are still humans!!
.
I'm not asking anybody to be okay with this decision as I realize it's a sensitive subject matter for many, but what I am asking for is a little compassion and understanding. Understand that these transgender individuals don't CHOOSE to feel like they're in the wrong body. I'm sure they'd rather save their time, money, and sanity by being okay with the body they were born with. Do you know how much criticizm these individuals have to go through on a daily basis? Do you think that makes them happy? Do you think they choose for that to happen? No! They may choose to get the operation to become the opposite sex, but shouldn't that tell you something? The need to be the opposite sex is much greater than the fear, pain, and torment of being teased DAILY because they changed their sex.

I, as a woman, know that I am indeed female. I have never thought I was something else. However,for most people that are transgender (and transgender is NOT the same as gay!), they have always felt the opposite sex. As we learn more about brain development, it seems that there are certain characteristics exclusive to each sex.

http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/show...

http://aebrain.blogspot.com/2009/04/atyp...

I can't imagine relating to being a man, or as a child planning on growing up to be a man, as, I have brain development that matches my sex,as, in the vast majority of the population. However, to think that anyone "chooses" this is ridiculous. Do you think they chose to have their bodies "mutilated" for the heck of it? Or, are they simply trying to match their body to their soul?

People don't choose to have cancer, that is just stupid. People will have to choose to be of a different sex. Writergirl I am not going to call you stupid, I am going to let your comment speak for itself. Maybe you should start paying for these medical conferences for Gay/Lesbian choices?

writergirl-you can't confuse diseased body parts with those of a physically healthy trandsgender or transexual person. And Brewernut might be suggestng how many doctors might feel about the "mutilation" of perfectly healthy body parts. It seems to me that it wouldn't fall under a doctors Hippocratic oath as far as surgury goes. On the other hand, finding someone to help with non-physical issues would and should be easier, and I hope such help will eventually be readily available to all who ask for it.

I was wondering who would have the cajones to comment on this article. I hope that these people get all the help they need.

Brewernut, that's just stupid.. are you also going to say that people who have cancer should just leave their tumors alone because "god" created them?!

hmmm, maybe the doctors understand how wrong it is to go from one sex to another... I am thrilled that he/she/whatever had a problem finding a doctor to assist her/him in changing from what God created to what God did not create.

LOL

I have an idea - the Dean TransGender Hospital in Janesville. They can call nurses out in the middle of surgery and fire them.