"What is transsexuality?"
| Transsexuality is really about identity rather than sex. It, indeed, should be termed transidentity. It can happen to anybody regardless of the physiology, education, or upbringing. The most widely accepted explanation is that the brain has developed in a different direction between the 12th and 14th week of pregnancy when hormones govern the formation of the part of neural structure that is essential for gender identity (read the paper). Transsexuals have also clinically identifiable anomalies in some parts of the neural structure of their brains that correspond to the opposite gender (read the paper) (Link between left-handedness and transsexuality?). |
"Why are you doing it?"
| Some people are born with a special gift given to them for unknown reasons. It is not easy to grow up surrounded by societal pressure to adjust one's behavior according to the expectations determined by your physical gender that happens to be just the opposite of how you truly feel about yourself. It can be confusing and painful. We try hard to conform our behavior to the physiology. With time, however, we realize that soul is stronger than body and mind determines the matter and not vice versa. The decision to transition is not really a decision. It is a step forced upon us by the most basic right of every human being - the right to be who we are. Being ourselves is what makes our lives livable. Family, friends, and work are what gives our lives meaning. This is the uneasy dilemma most transsexual people have to face. |
"Is transsexuality a disease?"
| Let me ask you this question. Would you call sick a person born left-handed or a person lacking any talent for fine arts or math? Probably not. Maybe she is bad at math and he cannot sing, but we love them and accept them as they are. A transsexual is different from most people, but she is quite likely just like you in other respects. She wants to love and be loved, to share and help, to simply live an honest and valuable life. People come in different shapes and sizes, different races, varying personalities, and with different skills and talents. It is called diversity, and this is what transsexuality is, not a disease. |
"But isn't the concept of gender something sacred that cannot be redefined?"
| Let me ask you a question again. Who or what, in your opinion, should have the right to determine who you really are? Now you probably think "What a silly question. I know who I am and I am the one who knows the best!" It is just that for most people this inner conviction about themselves matches the physiology. How would you feel, if it did not match, if others were telling you what to do and how you should behave? It is not the judge or any other authority or societal consensus that should have the right to tell you who you should be. |
"Are you happy now?"
|
It is not the word "happiness" that expresses my current feelings. The
right word is freedom. I feel like a prisoner who was sentenced for life and suddenly obtained a parole. I once
compared my transition to political emigration. When Czechoslovakia was a socialistic country, some people, especially well
educated free thinkers, were viewed as a threat to the totalitarian regime. Those people were persecuted by the government.
They lived miserable lives, had to accept bad or underpaid jobs, they could not travel, and their family also suffered.
While they became prisoners of their own country, they longed for freedom of expression and democracy.
Some resorted to an extreme solution - leaving the country illegally and starting a new life abroad. The beginnings could
be quite harsh - living in emigrant camps in tents, waiting for their permission to enter one of the Western countries.
Those were tough times during which they may have doubted the rightness of their decision. Sometimes some of their friends and
family members stopped all future contacts with them calling them "cowards" and their escape "betrayal". Just because
they did not want to live miserable life and contribute to a political regime with which they strongly disagreed. In their
new world, they had to start from scratch, learn a new language and adapt to a different culture. They also frequently
changed their names with new documents to better fit in the new society. The new society
generally accepted the new immigrants very well, but they may have encountered occasional cases of bigotry, hatred, and
resistance to anything or anybody new. Now, try to read this paragraph once again but project its
content onto the story of a transsexual person. No wonder that the quotation attributed to Vaclav Havel, our current
Czech President, fits both situations so well:
"Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well. It is the certainty that something makes sense no matter how it turns out".Let me end with another quote I like - the Chinese proverb: "Those who say that something cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it." |
Jessica