Gender identity isn’t just a box on a form, it’s expressive conduct. Courts have long held that the First Amendment protects how we present and define ourselves (Tinker, Barnette, Wooley).
When the government forces someone to use a gender marker that contradicts their identity, that’s compelled speech. It makes a person say something untrue about themselves on an official document, which the Supreme Court has repeatedly said the government cannot do.
So proposals to remove or restrict gender-marker options aren’t neutral administrative tweaks. They directly interfere with the right to self-expression, force people into government-mandated speech, and chill open identity in public life. That’s why these policies raise serious First Amendment concerns, not just policy disagreements.
My birth certificate says female. Unless you’re willing to accept that people can be a different gender from what their birth certificate says, I’d suggest you quit asking questions as gross as this one.
I’ll try to answer as many questions as possible as I this is primarily out of a lack of understanding and not malice, unlike some other people who have come here.
First, what is transgender? Well, it means a lot of things to a lot if different people, but the technical term is that one’s ‘gender identity’ does not align with their sex assigned at birth as determined by their external features. To me, the brain is the primary determinant of gender, not the body. If they align? Great! If they don’t? That’s what makes a transgender person.
Secondly, how long does transition last? Again, it’s different for everyone, but there are three distinct phases of it: social transition, medical transition, and surgical transition. Social transition revolves around coming out, changing your clothes, and changing the name and oronouns people refer to you with. Medical transition means hormones, which cause your body to develop in the way you want it to. This is essentially a second puberty, and it can take years for the changes to finish. Finally, surgical transition is basically just gender confirmation /gender reassignment surgery; it’s expensive so most aren’t able to/don’t want to get it.
Like for example, my social transition has ended, my medical transition is ongoing, and my surgical transition hasn’t happened yet. But there’s no “ending product.” I just want to feel like myself.
Thirdly, I highly disagree with your assertion that being trans is something that can be avoided at all. I wasn’t convinced that I was trans, I just am. Likewise, I can’t be unconvinced, just like a person who isn’t trans or gay can’t be convinced that they are.
Of course it’s a difficult road! Dude, I just turned 19 and I write articles to help others in my community understand the political landscape. I do my best to help people know their rights and be able to analyse policies that affect them. In a perfect world, I shouldn’t have to do any of this because it wouldn’t be needed. Yet it is. What does that tell you about the role of others in making being trans difficult?
correlation does not equal causation. just because you have seen a fraction of trans people that just so happen to take medication related to mental health conditions does not equal being trans=a choice and/or bad/a mental illness. A lot of the mental health conditions faced by trans people are a result from the continuous violence, harassment and political climate, as well as that individual’s personal experiences with their family/social environment and who they are. Imagine continuously dealing with your existence and a part of your identity constantly being ridiculed, constantly needing to be explained, used to label you as a sexual deviant, a groomer and terrorist. Ontop of prior existing trauma and/or hardship socially with your loved ones, in the work place and everywhere else socially, while also trying to make the effort to express who you are, and be respected. Yes. YOU WILL most likely be at a much much higher risk for mental health conditions, like depression, ptsd, anxiety, AS a result OF the current social and political environment NOT because of your identity. Ontop of that there is no “confusion” -gender roles and gender is a completely subjective social construct, its not immutable. Even sex is a spectrum, it is not just XX,XY cut n dry, its an extremely complex interplay on many different processes and environmental factors.
Doesn't know what a transgender is and why such people exist but gives advice on how trans people should live their lives as your narrow-minded reasoning suggests. Your real confusion here is that you actually know anything at all. Trans people suffer from mental issue called gender dysphoria and it's harsh, not surprising they suffer from other mental problems like depression and someone like you or societal ignorance in general doesn't make it easier. Being trans is very difficult, at least you're right on something, and people still choose this road, you know why? Because gender dysphoria doesn't ask you if you want to be trans or not. Today's medicine acknowledges that and provides appropriate treatment that helps integrate into society and live as a gender trans people are supposed to be, as how their brain developed. But these cruel political games from certain party are ready to throw them under the bus and let them suffer so they can use trans people as a scapegoat, to fear monger at first and then pretend that they are doing "government things", exerting a control over the fear mongered situation, but actually a control over your mind. That is the real brainwashing.
Surely, some random narrow-minded american conservative know better about healthcare than the professional medical community. Transition is the official treatment. And you have gender dysphoria regardless if you know about trans people or not. They existed, exist and will exist. You want to keep your mind in the past and close-minded? That's your choice. But the world is moving on.
Honestly, it’s rich of you to say I’m ‘lieing’ when you can’t provide evidence to back up your claims. You know what I’m claiming? That I exist. Like it or not, that’s a fact.
Also, I wasn’t ‘convinced’ of anything. None of us were. I wasn’t surrounded by trans people growing up, yet I still turned out to be transgender.
But sure, there are only two ‘immutable’ genders. Why don’t you tell that to my female birth certificate, and my passport, and my court order, and random strangers on the street. I mean honestly, you gotta come up with better material.
Gender identity isn’t just a box on a form, it’s expressive conduct. Courts have long held that the First Amendment protects how we present and define ourselves (Tinker, Barnette, Wooley).
When the government forces someone to use a gender marker that contradicts their identity, that’s compelled speech. It makes a person say something untrue about themselves on an official document, which the Supreme Court has repeatedly said the government cannot do.
So proposals to remove or restrict gender-marker options aren’t neutral administrative tweaks. They directly interfere with the right to self-expression, force people into government-mandated speech, and chill open identity in public life. That’s why these policies raise serious First Amendment concerns, not just policy disagreements.
My birth certificate says female. Unless you’re willing to accept that people can be a different gender from what their birth certificate says, I’d suggest you quit asking questions as gross as this one.
I’ll try to answer as many questions as possible as I this is primarily out of a lack of understanding and not malice, unlike some other people who have come here.
First, what is transgender? Well, it means a lot of things to a lot if different people, but the technical term is that one’s ‘gender identity’ does not align with their sex assigned at birth as determined by their external features. To me, the brain is the primary determinant of gender, not the body. If they align? Great! If they don’t? That’s what makes a transgender person.
Secondly, how long does transition last? Again, it’s different for everyone, but there are three distinct phases of it: social transition, medical transition, and surgical transition. Social transition revolves around coming out, changing your clothes, and changing the name and oronouns people refer to you with. Medical transition means hormones, which cause your body to develop in the way you want it to. This is essentially a second puberty, and it can take years for the changes to finish. Finally, surgical transition is basically just gender confirmation /gender reassignment surgery; it’s expensive so most aren’t able to/don’t want to get it.
Like for example, my social transition has ended, my medical transition is ongoing, and my surgical transition hasn’t happened yet. But there’s no “ending product.” I just want to feel like myself.
Thirdly, I highly disagree with your assertion that being trans is something that can be avoided at all. I wasn’t convinced that I was trans, I just am. Likewise, I can’t be unconvinced, just like a person who isn’t trans or gay can’t be convinced that they are.
Of course it’s a difficult road! Dude, I just turned 19 and I write articles to help others in my community understand the political landscape. I do my best to help people know their rights and be able to analyse policies that affect them. In a perfect world, I shouldn’t have to do any of this because it wouldn’t be needed. Yet it is. What does that tell you about the role of others in making being trans difficult?
I’m 19 years old and I’m a woman.
My birth certificate says female. Legally you or anyone else will not be able to know if it was amended or not.
correlation does not equal causation. just because you have seen a fraction of trans people that just so happen to take medication related to mental health conditions does not equal being trans=a choice and/or bad/a mental illness. A lot of the mental health conditions faced by trans people are a result from the continuous violence, harassment and political climate, as well as that individual’s personal experiences with their family/social environment and who they are. Imagine continuously dealing with your existence and a part of your identity constantly being ridiculed, constantly needing to be explained, used to label you as a sexual deviant, a groomer and terrorist. Ontop of prior existing trauma and/or hardship socially with your loved ones, in the work place and everywhere else socially, while also trying to make the effort to express who you are, and be respected. Yes. YOU WILL most likely be at a much much higher risk for mental health conditions, like depression, ptsd, anxiety, AS a result OF the current social and political environment NOT because of your identity. Ontop of that there is no “confusion” -gender roles and gender is a completely subjective social construct, its not immutable. Even sex is a spectrum, it is not just XX,XY cut n dry, its an extremely complex interplay on many different processes and environmental factors.
Doesn't know what a transgender is and why such people exist but gives advice on how trans people should live their lives as your narrow-minded reasoning suggests. Your real confusion here is that you actually know anything at all. Trans people suffer from mental issue called gender dysphoria and it's harsh, not surprising they suffer from other mental problems like depression and someone like you or societal ignorance in general doesn't make it easier. Being trans is very difficult, at least you're right on something, and people still choose this road, you know why? Because gender dysphoria doesn't ask you if you want to be trans or not. Today's medicine acknowledges that and provides appropriate treatment that helps integrate into society and live as a gender trans people are supposed to be, as how their brain developed. But these cruel political games from certain party are ready to throw them under the bus and let them suffer so they can use trans people as a scapegoat, to fear monger at first and then pretend that they are doing "government things", exerting a control over the fear mongered situation, but actually a control over your mind. That is the real brainwashing.
Surely, some random narrow-minded american conservative know better about healthcare than the professional medical community. Transition is the official treatment. And you have gender dysphoria regardless if you know about trans people or not. They existed, exist and will exist. You want to keep your mind in the past and close-minded? That's your choice. But the world is moving on.
Honestly, it’s rich of you to say I’m ‘lieing’ when you can’t provide evidence to back up your claims. You know what I’m claiming? That I exist. Like it or not, that’s a fact.
Also, I wasn’t ‘convinced’ of anything. None of us were. I wasn’t surrounded by trans people growing up, yet I still turned out to be transgender.
But sure, there are only two ‘immutable’ genders. Why don’t you tell that to my female birth certificate, and my passport, and my court order, and random strangers on the street. I mean honestly, you gotta come up with better material.