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Transsexuality is Just Life

trans people are not theoretical points to be made

Forum: Sexual Realities
Date: 06/27/2002

Some people do say that gender-reassignment surgery implies an embracing of gender essentialism, by demanding the need for a particular body type to be consistent with one's inner feelings. In other words, that you're giving in to standard conceptions of what is a man, what is a woman, rather than just living out your life as a really butch dyke or a flaming queen.

For many transsexual people I know, having the surgery means that they have a much better chance of getting out of a rape -or a first date- alive. That they have a much better chance that they won't be beaten while using the restroom, locker room, and other gender-segregated facilities, or put in the wrong jail where they could be severely abused. Or, in some states, they won't be able to get a driver's license that correspond with their performed gender (and yes, *everyone* performs gender, not just trannies), putting them at a much greater risk of being brutalized by the police or discriminated on the job. Or marry their heterosexual partner - who could be someone who needs health insurance or immigrant who needs a family-sponsored visa. Trans people are real people, a group of severely marginalized and abused people in fact, and not a theoretical point to be made.

Emigrl

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