Transgenderism: A Mental Condition Or Normal Human Variance

Transgenderism: A Mental Condition or Normal Human Variance Transgender is an umbrella term denoting people who identify themselves to be of a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth. For instance, a female identified person may feel like she was born in a wrong body because her feelings, behavior, clothing, body characteristics, voice, and hairstyles are those of a male. Most transgender people go through hormone replacement therapy in which they are given either estrogen or testosterone in accordance with their gender identity. Sometimes transgender people go to the extent of having surgeries to change their appearance and their sexual organs to align with their gender identity. Transgender people try to make their expression

Along with being a transgender male I also have depression, anxiety, and autism. To me being transgender does not in any way feel like a mental disorder. My mental disabilities bleed into every aspect of my life, preventing me from going out, from talking to people, from doing the things that normal people can do without issue. Being transgender does not negatively impact a person from within in the same way as a mental illness. Rather it is society that places undue hardships onto transgender people. Most of my family does not acknowledge that I am transgender; every time I bring it up they pointedly ignore it and change the subject. When I do push them about it they insist that I am a woman that I will never be a man. This is hurtful and it’s not much better out of the house and amongst strangers. I have had people call me offensive names, I have had people move as if they were going to assault me, and I have had people yell at me for trying to go into the bathroom. When out in public I fear for my safety. Transgender people have a one in twelve chance of being murdered solely for being trans and the people who kill us get away with it by claiming they were so shocked about us being trans that they could not help it. This is unacceptable. Transgenderism is not a mental illness; we are not sick, or crazy, or dangerous, we are just people trying to get by the same as everyone

According to the American Psychological Association, transgender people do not choose to be born transgender but rather face a situation where their gender identity is not the same as their birth sex. An article by Time magazine outlines that a lot should be done about the transgender rights. If nothing is done, our cultures may as well disappear into discrimination and segregation. The transgender population should be given the right to do whatever they want, including using the restrooms of what they feel they are, male or female. For them having a comfortable and safe place to go to and people to talk to, transgender people could feel at home and not feel like strangers when around people. The Center for American Progress also shares similar views, arguing that a time had come to embrace change and treat everyone equally, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation. In a recent article, the issue was revisited by the Center for American