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~*~*~ For every rainbow there must be a spectrum of colors, they exist beautifully in perfect harmony with each other. Take a color out and we will not have our rainbow anymore. Just as if we take a gender out of the rainbow of genders that exist we take away individual liberty, the freedom of things about us that are only different. There is nothing wrong about something capable of a consenting caring and responsible relationship. That is Love. One thing that is bad is closemindedness and when we do that we miss alot of the beautiful things in life. ~*~*~ |
Welcome to Rainbow of Equality! Here you can find an empirical look and a rebuttal to untrue claims that have been spread about gay / lesbian / bisexual / transgender people. Along with very important and educational info in them to help anyone out. If you would like to help achieve equality for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender people (GLBT), you can fill out these very quick petitions. This one is made by the Human Rights Campaign and it can be found at, http://www.MillionForMarriage.com This one is by www.Egay.com and will be presented to congress http://www.egay.com/content_egay/EgayMarriage1.htm www.loveisloveislove.com has alot of really great petitions to sign. Thank you so much for your contribution! Other great sites for helping the GLBT community! www.SaveOurConstitution.org www.TheTaskForce.org www.HRC.org www.SoulForce.org www.ForGayMarriage.org If you have a website would you like to link to Rainbow of Equality to spread the word? It would help very much! Checkout these stylish link pics you can use if you want to: Email: RainbowOfEquality@yahoo.com Now here is a list of answers to the claims anti gay people have claimed in order to use as an excuse to deny rights of GLBT people or just to discriminate against them. There is absolutely no excuse to be mean to others though. These are the answers to why they are not true and they can be used as a rebuttal. They were made to be absolutely sure they are based on nonbiased, empirical reason and facts with the leading proffessional scientific organizations. The mentioned organizations are not biased in favor of homosexuality. These are not the opinions of a biased website. They are the opinions are learned organizations who study these cases carefully and proffessionally, without any hidden agenda to either prove or disprove any specific fact. One of the main things scientists do in order to gather empirical data is to make sure it is not biased. Surely, the mentioned organizations cannot be seen as either pro or anti biased. They are simply the experts in what they do that came to their conclusion by reason and fact. Nothing has been shown gay people to be harmful or not any less a form of love than heterosexuality. Love is what is most important in any situation. I hope this will help to enlighten. The spirit of this is not only about GLBT people. As a society it is our responsibility to open our hearts to individual liberty. The freedom and acceptance of things that are only different. Everyone of us are different and special each in our own way and it is important for us to reconize that to get along and love each other as a society. Instead of not accepting someone because they do not fit into someones own tastes. Learning from other unions, religions, races, creeds, etc. would make us a profoundly open (accepting), intelligent, and loving society, which we aren't and this is a very sad thing. I am FOR individuals following their heart, and expressing themselves in ways that dont harm others (slander, abuse, nonconsent etc), but still allows freedom to the invidual to find what is right for them on a personal basis. Please spread this around as much as possible, to help those spreading untrue rumors about GLBT people. It is extremely important to educate the public about the truth to stop innocent minorities from being prejudged or misread. |
( What is a Transsexual and how they are born that way ) A Transsexual (TS) is a person with an incredible physiological urge to belong to the opposite sex that may undergo sex reassignment surgery (SRS) and other methods to be who they are on the inside. The term "transsexualism" was brought into mainstream medical literature by Dr. Harry Benjamin in 1954, who regarded it as a biologically-based condition. (Benjamin, H. (1953) 'Transvestism and Transsexualism', International Journal of Sexology, 7:1, 12-14.) Thus, although sex assignment at birth by the criterion of the external genitalia is used on infants, the real gender is not noticable in people experiencing transsexualism. Even as grow ups most of the time there is no way to know until they tell you. It is a condition where they are born with the brain of the opposite sex that the rest of their body was born in. Leaving them with a since of feeling, thinking and having the identity of the other gender. In a paper given to the Council of Europe's XXIIIrd Colloquy on European Law, Professor Louis Gooren has suggested that "there is now evidence to believe that in transsexuals the differentiation process of the brain taking place in the first years after birth has not followed the course anticipated of the preceding criteria of sex (the chromosomal, gonadal, and genital features)". ( Gooren, L J G (1993) 'Biological Aspects of Transsexualism and their relevance to its legal aspects', Proceedings of the XXIIIrd Colloquy on European Law: Transsexualism, Medicine and the Law, Strasbourg: Council of Europe ) Further, the attached extract below entitled 'A sex difference in the human brain and its relation to transsexuality' concerns a study which has been carried out of a region in the hypothalamus of the brain which is smaller in women than in men. Strikingly, the region was of female size or smaller in six male-to-female transsexuals, regardless of hormone treatment. This research indicates quite clearly that, medically, the sex of an individual must be regarded as being decided by the construction of the brain. The findings were published in the leading scientific journal (Nature) with a rigorous scientific review process, which would not have overlooked essential scientific biases in the design and interpretation of the experiment. A Sex Difference in the Human Brain and its Relation to Transsexuality By J.-N. Zhou, M.A. Hofman, L.J. Gooren and D.F. Swaab http://www.symposion.com/ijt/ijtc0106.htm In these studies and positions it is shown that show GID is the result of a different amount of androgenization in the brain at a critical stage of embryonic development while an infant is in the womb. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: *The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV (1994) The American Psychiatric Association *Hermaphrodites and the Medical Invention of Sex by Alice Domurat Dreger, 268 pp, Reviewed by Domeena C. Renshaw MD, Cambridge, Mass, Harvard University Press, 1998 *Current Thinking Regarding the Etiology of Gender Dysphoria December, 2002., Anne Vitale PhD *Gender and Psychoanlysis, An Interdisciplinary Journal, Vol. 6 No. 2, Spring 2001 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::: http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/85/5/2034 The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism Vol. 85, No. 5 2034-2041 Copyright © 2000 by The Endocrine Society Original Studies Male-to-Female Transsexuals Have Female Neuron Numbers in a Limbic Nucleus Frank P. M. Kruijver, Jiang-Ning Zhou, Chris W. Pool, Michel A. Hofman, Louis J. G. Gooren and Dick F. Swaab Graduate School Neurosciences Amsterdam (F.P.M.K., J.-N.Z., C.W.P., M.A.H., D.F.S.), Netherlands Institute for Brain Research, 1105 AZ Amsterdam ZO, The Netherlands; Department of Endocrinology (L.J.G.G.), Free University Hospital, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and Anhui Geriatric Institute (J.-N.Z.), The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, 230032 China Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Frank P. M. Kruijver, M.D., or Prof. Dick F. Swaab, M.D., Ph.D., Graduate School Neurosciences Amsterdam, Netherlands Institute for Brain Research, Meibergdreef 33, 1105 AZ Amsterdam ZO, The Netherlands. E-mail: F.Kruijver@nih.knaw.nl. " Transsexuals experience themselves as being of the opposite sex, despite having the biological characteristics of one sex. A crucial question resulting from a previous brain study in male-to-female transsexuals was whether the reported difference according to gender identity in the central part of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BSTc) was based on a neuronal difference in the BSTc itself or just a reflection of a difference in vasoactive intestinal polypeptide innervation from the amygdala, which was used as a marker. Therefore, we determined in 42 subjects the number of somatostatin-expressing neurons in the BSTc in relation to sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, and past or present hormonal status. Regardless of sexual orientation, men had almost twice as many somatostatin neurons as women (P < 0.006). The number of neurons in the BSTc of male-to-female transsexuals was similar to that of the females (P = 0.83). In contrast, the neuron number of a female-to-male transsexual was found to be in the male range. Hormone treatment or sex hormone level variations in adulthood did not seem to have influenced BSTc neuron numbers. The present findings of somatostatin neuronal sex differences in the BSTc and its sex reversal in the transsexual brain clearly support the paradigm that in transsexuals sexual differentiation of the brain and genitals may go into opposite directions and point to a neurobiological basis of gender identity disorder. " The Multi-Dimensionality of Gender Carl W. Bushong, Ph.D., LMFT http://www.transgendercare.com/guidance/multi.htm What is Gender and Who is Transgendered? by Carl W. Bushong, PhD, LMFT http://www.transgendercare.com/guidance/what_is_gender.htm The Transgender Community By Jerimarie Liesegang, Ph.D. http://www.tgender.net/itct/Articles/transgender_community.htm What causes transsexualism? http://www.glsenco.org/Educators/Counselors/transgender_1.htm Sexual Differentiation A Tampa Gender Identity Program (TGIP) Abstract Pascual Bidot, M.D., F.A.C.E. http://www.transgendercare.com/medical/sex_diff.htm Hormone Levels Affect Structure Of Adult Brain http://www.transgendercare.com/news/Hormones_brain_99_0621.htm XVI Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association Symposium 17 - 21 August 1999, London http://www.symposion.com/ijt/greenpresidental/green21.htm Brain Sex By Joanne Silver. http://www.transformation.co.uk/brainsex.html "Transgender" (TG) is considered an umbrella term, not only for people that under go sex changes but also for any people whose identities are gender variant. A wonderful website for TG recources is Dr. Ann Lawrence's Transexual Road Map: http://www.tsroadmap.com http://www.annelawrence.com |
( Do we really need to know the cause? ) As we've seen, transsexualism is a neurological condition. There are many other intense neurological conditions such as pain, depression and bipolar disorders for which we do not know the underlying causes but suspect biological causes and are treatable using medicine by health insurance and other ways. We know that these other conditions are real because we see people in distress, and we treat those people medically and with compassion to relieve their suffering. Why should it be any different with transsexualism? We now know how to relieve the suffering of transsexual people, having many options for practical counseling, social transition and hormonal/surgical gender reassignment. Why not accept those treatments as valid, since they truly relieve suffering and enhance the quality of life. And why stigmatize people just because they have sought medical treatment for this condition. For instance, if a farmer who really needs rain because his or her crops are dying, does it really matter if the cause is: (1) atmospheric pressure changes (2) paying to have the clouds seeded (3) deities intervening because of a rain dance No. What matters is the acts and how the acts relate to the world, like rain: it falls, dropping water, and it helps the crops grow. The farmer gets the water from another source no matter if the farmer knows the cause or not. Why are transsexuals any different? It doesn't matter to transsexuals friends what distant cause make them a girl today; all that matter is that they relate to them like any other girl. Does it matter what distant cause makes your friend a girl or a boy? All that matters is you love each other and they are happy who they are. |
( Interpreting "Gender Identity Disorder" ) When some people hear the words "Gender Identity Disorder" from a doctor. They might assume they are saying they shouldn't change their gender or be transsexual. Also on the other hand, when transsexual people hear it they might think, I don't feel "disordered" when I am expressing myself. Then they might be offended by that term because of it. This is not the true meaning here in either case of what doctors are saying. It is not that the basic concept of changing genders, like in SRS or transsexual people expressing their inner gender, that is disorderly. Actually they are saying that is the cure. For instance, when having the mind of a girl in the body of a guy and their mind tells them they have a body of a girl, they are capable of experiencing a disturbance when they are reminded of the rest of their physical features aren't girlish. When that happens the best treatment for that is making the rest of their body feel like their true inner gender. That is specifically what they are saying. They also mention societal prejudice. While that is not a part of GID itself, it can hurt them mentally in effect. Having an aversion from your gender body parts, is different from having a variety in gender expression. DSM - "Gender Identity disorder can be distinguished from simple noncomformity to stereo-typical sex role behavior by the extent and pervasiveness of the cross-gender wishes, interests, and activities. This disorder is not meant to describe a child’s nonconformity to stereotypic sex-role behavior as, for example, in “tomboyishness” in girls or “sissyish” behavior in boys. Rather, it represents a profound disturbance of the individual’s sense of identity with regard to maleness or femaleness. Behavior in children that merely does not fit the cultural stereotype of masculinity or femininity should not be given the diagnosis unless the full syndrome is present, including marked distress or impairment." Diagnostic Criteria for Gender Identity Disorder A. A strong persistent cross-gender identification (not merely a desire for any perceived cultural advantages of being the other sex). In children, the disturbance is manifested by four (or more) of the following: In adolescents and adults, the disturbance is manifested by symptoms such as a stated desire to be the other sex, frequent passing as the other sex, desire to live or be treated as the other sex, or the conviction that he or she has the typical feelings and reactions of the other sex. B. Persistent discomfort with his or her sex or sense of inappropriateness in the gender role of that sex. In children, the disturbance is manifested by any of the following: In adolescents and adults, the disturbance is manifested by symptoms such as preoccupation with getting rid of primary and secondary sex characteristics (e.g., request for hormones, surgery, or other procedures to physically alter sexual characteristics to simulate the other sex) or belief that he or she was born the wrong sex. C. The disturbance is not concurrent with physical intersex condition. D. The disturbance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. Therefore encouraging sex changes and Transexual equality is not encouraging a disorder, it is encouraging the cure. Harry Benjamins Standards of Care: Are Gender Identity Disorders Mental Disorders? " To qualify as a mental disorder, a behavioral pattern must result in a significant adaptive disadvantage to the person or cause personal mental suffering. The DSM-IV and ICD-10 have defined hundreds of mental disorders which vary in onset, duration, pathogenesis, functional disability, and treatability. The designation of gender identity disorders as mental disorders is not a license for stigmatization, or for the deprivation of gender patients' civil rights. The use of a formal diagnosis is often important in offering relief, providing health insurance coverage, and guiding research to provide more effective future treatments. " People with GID deserve to be treated just as any other person because they are people. Even treating them friendly helps them very much with what they have to go through. No matter the case they didn't ask to be born that way and to be treated the way society treats them. |
( "Changing" Transsexuals ) There is no rational purpose for people to feel aversion to people changing there gender because they are only being different and expressing themselves which does not harm anyone. It is the same as saying you can't have blue eyes you have to have brown eyes. However it does harm transsexuals to suggest to change their way of thinking to the gender society saw them when they were born. Imagine if you will very hard someone told you, you had to suddenly change your gender. You can't think the way you have loved and become accustomed to your entire life. You have to reconstruct your interests, your very way of thinking, your behaviour, your wardrobe, your good memories of being interest in those things and experience. If you can't help but not like something of your new gender you will have to hold it all in because it fits societies standards. Indeed it would be asking you to change the core of your identity. That is the same things transsexuals have to go through. Their whole lifes they have felt pressured to be a gender they are not by society which makes it even very much harder for them for someone to suggest that. They do not have any choice in their gender identity just as everyone else. Asking someone to do that would only cause more problems and wouldn't cure anything. It would only satisfy irrational views of gender. The goal here is to cure the persons over all well being, not brainwash the person into a different person. It would not result in a new person as well, instead it would result in not knowing who they are on the inside. Another important point is transsexuals expressing their gender identity is not the disordered part, so there is nothing to cure. Infact that is the cure. Making them feel like their inner gender makes them feel complete and happy. The part that hurts them is feeling like a gender they are not on the inside. Therefore the best way to go is to make their neuralogical gender the same as their outer physical gender. Self expression is always important to a persons over all well being. |
( The proffessionals say sex change is the best treatment ) Medical protocol for transsexual (change of sex/gender) therapy was established by The Harry Benjamin Standards of Care. The Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association (HBIGDA) is a professional organization devoted to the understanding and treatment of gender identity disorders. There are approximately 300 members from around the world from the fields of psychiatry, endocrinology, surgery, psychology, law, sociology, and counselling. The HBIGDA provides avenues for scientific interchange through its biannual conferences and publications. The HBIGDA is responsible for establishing Standards of Care for the treatment of gender identity disorders. These standards are internationally accepted guidelines that promote the health and welfare of individuals with gender dysphoria. The official treatment textbook put out by the American Psychiatric Association for psychiatric disorders is referenced below. It contains a very detailed chapter on GID, lots of references, and support for the available sex reassignment treatments and SOC. It was written by one of the The Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association's Board of Directors, Dr. George Brown. ( Brown G R: Transvestism and Gender Identity Disorders. . In Gabbard G (Ed.): Treatments of Psychiatric Disorders, Third Edition, APPI, Washington, D.C., Chapter 73, pages 2007-2067, 2001. ) The American Psychiatric Association recognizes the validity of GID as a medically treatable condition resulting in therapy to bring about a "change of sex" in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), pages 532-538. The International Classification of Diseases, 9th Edition, Clinical Modification (ICD-10) defines GID under "psychosexual gender identity disorders," page 326, and coded under 302.5x and 302.6, and surgically or medically related "V" codes. The established protocol is accepted by The World Health Organization. "Who" published the (ICD-10) which is also listed in the Harry Benjamin's Standards of Care. The Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association's Standards of Care for Gender Identity Disorders, Sixth Version http://www.hbigda.org/socv6.cfm Table of Contents: 1. Introductory Concepts 2. Epidemiological Considerations 3. Diagnostic Nomenclature 4. The Mental Health Professional 5. Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents 6. Psychotherapy with Adults 7. Requirements for Hormone Therapy for Adults 8. Effects of Hormone Therapy in Adults 9. The Real-Life Experience 10. Surgery 11. Breast Surgery 12. Genital Surgery 13. Post-Transition Follow-Up APA's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual - IV (DSM) http://rainbowofequality.onasoapbox.com/DSM.html Table of Contents: Gender Identity Disorder o Diagnostic Features o Specifiers o Recording Procedures o Associated Features and Disorders o Specific Age and Gender Features o Prevalence o Course o Differential Diagnosis * Diagnostic Criteria for Gender Identity Disorder * Gender Identity Disorder not otherwise specified Paraphilias * 302.3 Transvestic Fetishism * Diagnostic Criteria for 302.3 Transvestic Fetishism |
( What is an Intersexual person? ) Simply put, intersexuality is a set of medical conditions that features "congenital anomaly of the reproductive and sexual system." That is, a person with an intersex condition is born with sex chromosomes, external genitalia, or an internal reproductive system that is not considered "standard" for either male or female. It is literally true that every person on earth is either female, or they were for the first two months after conception. That's right, the physical structure of every human fetus starts out as female. If anyone studies a scientific book on the fetus, the "sex" genes are XY, rather than XX, hormones will be secreted that will initiate a sex change at two months after conception. That's right guys, every one of you has already had a sex change. There is no pure bipolar order of the sexes. No male is born completly male and vise versa. Every male has atleast a little bit of X chromosonal traits within there dna and females have atleast a little bit of Y chromosonal traits. It all depends on the individual and some are born completly mixed. Thats where we get intersexuals, transsexuals, as well with gay and bi people. There is a smooth continuum between 100 percent biologically male and 100 percent biologically female with many possibilities in between. While psychologically there is a smooth continuim going beyond male and female as well as in between. For instance, some of the population are diagnosed with Androgen-insensitivity syndrome. This is a condition in which genetically, a person is born with male genitalia, but are genetically insensitive to androgens, the hormones that produce male sexual characteristics. These children tend to appear female, but have no internal female organs. Under a strict definition of "one man one woman" marriage, the estimated 2 million Americans that are ambiguously gendered would be unable to marry at all. Because they are not male, nor are they female. Don't forget 'Men' that have an XY chromosome, and 'women' have an XX chromosome. Persons with XXY (trisomy 21 syndrome) or YY chromosomes. XX people affected in-utero by virilizing hormones can be born into a continuum of sex phenotype which ranges from "female with larger clitoris" to "male with no testes". Adrenal hyperplasia is the most prevalent cause of intersexuality amongst XX people with a frequency of about 1 in 20000 births. It is caused when an anomoly of adrenal function causes the synthesis and excretion an androgen precursor, initiating virilization of a XX person in-utero. Because the virilization originates metabolically, masculinizing effects continue after birth. °°Intersexual "Norm" Surgery°° Most Intersexuals get an operation at birth to give them a gender to fit into societies view of male and female. There are many intersexuals that are proud of who they are and identify as neither male nor female or both. They consider it a genetic difference, not disability. The government legally munipulates them to fit them into a closeminded idealogy. That tries to pretend their gender is not there. Their gender is defined before they get a chance to decide for themselves. It doesn't realistically reconize human beings as they really are. Progestin androgenized children are subjected to the same surgically enforced standards of cosmetic genital normalcy as other intersexed children... meaning that clitoridectomy and possibly more extensive procedures are often performed early in life, most often with the effect of loss of erotic sensation and ensueing psychological trauma. Some intersex conditions are such that they can not even be determined at birth and are only discovered much later at puberty. As such some of our fellow human beings live (unbeknown to all but their medical practitioner) their lives as women but with a male-type XY chromosomal pattern or testis and vice versa. Intersexual "Norm" Surgery By Dr. Anne Fausto-Sterling of the Division of Biology and Medicine at Brown University. Often the parents are not fully informed about what is happening to their children. Dr. Fausto-Sterling calls this medical reassignment a "surgical shoehorn" designed to force intersexed infants into rigid cultural categories that have little to do with biological reality. She explains there can be people born with both testes and ovaries, people born with testes and some female genitalia but no ovaries and people with ovaries and some male genitalia but no testes. Along with many more. As a result, there are perhaps millions of XX males and XY females living in the United States today. These are cultural males with male genitalia who are genetically female, and cultural females with female genitalia who are genetically male. The film star Jamie Lee Curtis is one well-known individual who is genetically male, but phenotypically female. There are others in the transgender community who, unlike transsexuals, don't feel they fit comfortably identifying as either a man or a woman and instead identify as gender-neutral or simply transgender. "I have a hard time explaining my identity, because I really don't think there are words in our culture to use that most people would understand," said Jessie Gilliam, a program manager at Advocates for Youth, a Washington-based non-profit that works to help young people make responsible decisions about their reproductive and sexual health. "Basically, I identify as neither male nor female." Gilliam uses female pronouns but is almost always perceived as male. "After years of trying to fit in so that I didn't make others feel uneasy, I decided it more important to be myself. Now I wear what I want to and get my hair cut how I want it," said Gilliam. "I'm finally comfortable with the way I look. If that makes my world smaller as far as who can be comfortable with me, then that's unfortunate but something I can deal with. Being happy with myself is definitely worth more than their approval." http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/ °°Are intersex people protected from discrimination in the U.S.?°° Intersexuality is not explicitly included in any of the federal laws against discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodation In the 1987 case Wilma Wood v. C.G. Studio, a U.S. District Court ruled that discrimination on the basis of "gender corrective surgery" to treat "hermaphroditic condition" does not constitute a sex discrimination per se. There are several municipalities that have explicitly included "intersex" in their civil rights ordinances, usually collapsed with transgender and transsexual people. While this is an improvement, prohibiting discrimination against intersex people in employment, housing and public accommodations does not sufficiently address the kind of civil rights violation intersex people typically suffer. In October 1999, the High Court of Colombia (in South America) ruled that parents do not have the unrestricted rights to give "consent" for cosmetic genital surgeries performed on their intersex children, in effect severely restricting what can be done to children too young to give informed consent themselves. In addition, the ruling acknowledged people with intersex conditions as a protected minority group under the nation's constitution. While the ruling does not directly affect intersex people in other countries including the U.S., it shows that it is possible to change the medical practice through legal advocacy. It is important for society to cease from putting people into categories and reconize them as who they truly are, individuals. Infact, at some time in their life, almost every American is shamed, harassed, isolated, or even attacked because they don’t meet someone’s idea of a "real man" or a "real woman." What we have is a rainbow of people instead. Anytime we cross the line into defining something as an absolute, we are bound to leave someone out. Someone is not going to fit a given definition, no matter how broad you make it. The spectrum that makes up humanity is simply to broad to encompass all people in a single definition. The Intersex Society of North America http://www.isna.org/ References for genetic sex variations and sex determination research can be found on Internet web pages of the Human Genome Project http://www.ornl.gov/TechResources/Human_Genome/home.html Related HGP searches at the National Center for Biotechnology Information, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man database http://www3.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Omim/searchomim.html |
( How banning gay marriage effects Transgenders and Intersexuals ) Defining marriage between only a man and a woman indeed does not treat humans as they really are. Considering the smooth spectrum of genders, by people born intersexual or transgender. It is ironic that the so called "straight only" definition would unwittingly nullify or prevent millions of supposedly heterosexual marriages. Between 3 million and 10 million Americans are neither male nor female at birth.(Brown University) Additionally, as adults they may be genetically of the opposite gender from that which they and their parents believe them to be. In a case with a TS woman Ms. Littleton, who had a neo-vagina surgically created over 20 years ago. 10 years later she married a man in the States. The Texas Courts have declared this marriage void and that Ms Littleton has been declared to be legally male, for the purposes of marriage. This is a very similar decision in Britian made in the 1971 English case of Corbett v Corbett which invoked 'chromosomal, gonadal, and genital' tests to define the legal sex of the plaintiff. This resulted in an astoundingly complex legal situation whereby transsexual people in Britain not only face great social stigma but, for example, some same sex marriages are now legal; transsexual women are legally able to marry non-transsexual women. It is because of the legal anomalies that have resulted from that decision that the Government Working Party was set up in Britian. Gender is absolutley not as clear cut. Anytime we cross the line into defining something as an absolute, we are bound to leave someone out. Someone is not going to fit a given definition, no matter how broad you make it. The spectrum that makes up humanity is simply to broad to encompass all people in a single definition. For this reason alone, attempts at defining marriage as between one man and one woman will fail the discrimination test. There are of course many, many reasons, but in this definition, there is no philosophical viewpoint to debate. It is simple fact. Some Americans very much do not fit the standard definition of male or female. If that definition becomes the standard by which marriages are granted, that standard will absolutley be discriminatory. Consequently to insist that a transsexual person remains forever, and for the purposes of marriage, the sex designated on their birth certificate is entirely inappropriate. Firstly, such a position shows a clear failure to understand the biological process of sex differentiation and the 'errors' in registration of a marriage license that happen as a result. Call The Sex Inspectors -- Ambiguity vs. 'marriage laws' by William O. Beeman proffessor of anthropology at Brown University http://www.aaanet.org/press/min_beeman_2-18-04.htm Transsexual Marriage Unjustly Made Void http://christielee.net/main2.htm Marriage Between a "Man" and a Woman" is not so Clear Cut. William O. Beeman, Brown University http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Anthropology/publications/Sexcategories.htm Filipino Man Denied Residency, Marriage to Transgender Challenged http://rainbowofequality.onasoapbox.com/Marriage2TransgenderChallenged.html |
( The issues for Transgenders and Intersexuals ) The World Association for Sexology gives their position on transgenders and intersexuals implicitly in there Declaration of Sexual Rights. http://www.worldsexology.org/english/about_sexualrights.html Here is an excellent website for understanding that legal statis of transgenders. http://www.transgenderlaw.org °°Health Care°° Transsexual and Intersexual people are denied health care alot to cover the treatments needed to treat them. They can cost so much it would be a pipe dream for the average income person. They did not ask to be born that way and unfortanetley they were not born with the money needed to help them either. It can harm them mentally incredibly if they are not treated and even become suicidal. However from societies neglect and prejudgements about them little has been there to help them. This is why they need help with health care insurance and benefits. °°Education°° It is very important to educate everyone about gender variant people. Transsexuals can feel like they are walking outside naked when going anywhere as their true selves. From fear of people not knowing about them. People not being educated about them fuels society bias about them. Which is what mostly what hurts them mentally. °°Sex Change Research°° We need scientists to research better ways for transsexuals to transition. So they can finally be who they are in the inside completley and lowering the costs of sex change methods. That is all so vital to their mental health. The best way would be for the government to fund programs to research this. °°Discrimination°° Gender Expression in ENDA http://www.ntac.org/studies/gieso2.html Whether or not they identify as transgender, many gay, lesbian, bisexual and straight people transgress traditional gender roles. A straight female with short hair who is often called "sir" in public, a boyish-looking lesbian who is questioned in the women's bathroom, a gay teen-ager who is reprimanded for "not acting like a man" — all face bias based on preconceived notions of gender. The more people see how gender varies, the more people will embrace laws that treat people equally regardless of their gender exhibition. It is extremely important to educate the public about this. Transgender people are often targeted for hate violence based on their non-conformity with gender norms and/or their perceived sexual orientation. Hate crimes against transgender people tend to be particularly violent. For example, one expert estimates that transgender individuals living in America today have a one in 12 chance of being murdered.[1] In contrast, the average person has about a one in 18,000 chance of being murdered.[2] In 2002, community activists commemorated the lives of 27 murdered transgender people in that year.[3] 1 Kay Brown, instructor for "20th Century Transgender History and Experience" at the Harvey Milk Institute in San Francisco, Washington Blade, Dec. 10, 1999. 2 Based on the FBI’s “Uniform Crimes Reports, Crime in the United States 2000,” showing the murder rate of 5.5 people per 100,000. 3 Daily Lobo, University of New Mexico, Nov. 21, 2002. °°In Conclusion°° We sometimes like to say that transgender and intersexual people are just ordinary people, I think that misses the point. Unlike most people, transsexuals have had to evaluate who they are and who they need to be exceedingly. They have faced their fears and risked just about everything. By coming out as transgender and intersexual, they have engaged in a humbling act of courage that would frighten almost anyone. They are not simply ordinary; they are extraordinary. It is time for everyone to take a stand, a strong stand, against all gender-based discrimination simply because some people are different and simply because some people do not fit into current social norms of gender roles. Every human being has within themselves an idea of who they are and what they are capable of achieving. That identity and capability shall not be limited by a person's physical or genetic sex, nor by what any society may deem as "masculine" or "feminine" behavior. It is fundamental, then, that each individual has the right to assume gender roles congruent with one's self-perceived identity and capabilities, regardless of physical sex, genetic sex, or sex role. |