Homosexuality and Transgenderism Are Not the Same

Transgenderism is complicated & requires medical interventions and societal accommodations

Lately, I’ve been considering the relationship between sexual preference - whether someone is gay, straight or bisexual - and the notion of being “transgender.” I’ve been trying to hone in on why I see these as fundamentally different from each other, with very little in common. While I am acutely aware that some people believe they are “transgender” for the simple reason that they are gay or bisexual and don’t fit a narrow stereotype for what a male or female is supposed to be like (they don’t realize that, of course), that doesn’t make being “transgender” anything like being gay. Yet the position most of society takes these days is that they are all part of the same club. You know the club; it’s got a bunch of letters to signify membership. LGBTQ+ assumes that gay men, lesbians, and bisexuals, on the one hand, and “transgender” people, on the other, are part of the same group of people in need of similar protections. For example, supposedly homosexual individuals and “transgender” people all need protection from so-called “conversion therapy.” I’ll come back to conversion therapy later. For now, let’s consider whether homosexual individuals belong in a class with “transgender” individuals at all.

Funny enough, after I began writing this, I was listening to a panel speaking at the Genspect conference in Killarney, and Genspect’s founder, Stella O’Malley, noted that the tide may turn swiftly on the blind adherence to the “affirmation model” once people separate “transgenderism” from being gay. I truly think she is correct. On a positive note, the blind eye people are turning to the complex issues surrounding “transgenderism” is, at least in part, the result of a benevolent desire to avoid the same mistakes in the mistreatment of homosexual individuals in the past in our treatment of “transgender” individuals today. Certainly, we should not be arresting those who have chosen to live as the opposite sex, whether or not they medically transition. We should not be denying them jobs, housing, or basic respect. Most obviously, there is no reason to ever be violent to a “transgender” person. That would be appalling. When those things used to happen to homosexuals, it was devastating and drove most of them straight into the closet.

However, we have to be smarter than to think that the only way to avoid being unkind to “transgender” people is to do exactly what they ask us to do, no matter their age or mental co-morbidities, and not matter the potential consequences of the medical treatments they seek. Further, as I will be discussing, there are so many distinctions between “transgenderism” and homosexuality that must be considered in making decisions about trans-identified people, their medical and possible psychological care. This will be a lengthy article. You are forewarned.

HOMOSEXUALITY: WHAT IS IT?

I know it’s obvious what being homosexual means. However, bear with me as I break it down. How does someone know whether they are straight, gay or bisexual? The answer is fairly simple; it has to do with sexual attraction. As we become teenagers (occasionally sooner or later), we start to figure out whether we are attracted to people of our own sex, of the opposite sex, or both. Those predictions are based on how we feel around people of the same or the opposite sex. Many people make pretty solid predictions during early adolescence about whether they will enjoy sexual intimacy more with those of their own sex, the opposite sex, or both based on these feelings of attraction. However, not everyone knows for sure at this early age.

While sexual attraction is a pretty straight-forward and powerful feeling, there are some things that can interfere with it, such as societal expectations, if they are strong enough. For example, if someone comes from an extremely religious family and community that frowns heavily upon being homosexual, this may interfere with that person’s ability to accurately read their own feelings of same-sex attraction. The feelings will be there, but the person having them may be confused as to what they mean. The worst of this is when someone thinks there is something wrong with them because they are same-sex attracted. Conversely, someone who really wants to be “cool” in an age where being straight is boring as hell may possibly over-think feelings of fondness for a same-sex individual, interpreting those feelings as sexual attraction.

In either case, once there is actual sexual activity, the feelings surrounding such attractions usually become clear. Thus, once a teen or young adult actually becomes intimate with others, if it wasn’t already obvious, it will usually become quite clear to the individual whether he or she is gay, straight or bisexual. (I imagine bisexuality could, for some, take longer to discover since someone can have a very satisfying sexual experience and believe they’re only attracted to people of that sex before eventually discovering that they can actually be attracted to members of the other sex.)

Significantly, if someone believed they were straight, gay or bisexual, and eventually discovered that this was not the case, there would be no harm. They might suffer through an unsatisfying sexual experience or two to figure it out, but that’s not so bad. In fact, the same thing may happen to someone who understands their sexual orientation, but the person they choose to have a sexual experience with, for whatever reason, isn’t a good sexual fit for them. In other words, anyone might have a bad sexual experience. This can happen with things like food too. We may think we will enjoy a particular food, but it turns out to be different than what we thought it would be. I remember being really excited to try poi when I finally got to Hawaii. It turned out not to be so great. The bottom line is that a “bad” prediction about one’s sexual orientation is no tragedy. [Sure, if someone doesn’t figure it out well into adulthood, marries, and then realizes it, they may hurt their spouse, but an accepting society is the best way to prevent that.]

One more thing is worth noting. While it is often - but certainly not always - the case that a gay male or lesbian may be gender non-conforming as a young child, there are also gender non-conforming children (who may or may not stay that way as they mature) who are heterosexual. Thus, it would be wholly inappropriate to assume a young child is homosexual or heterosexual based on their behaviors. Sure, the silent predictions adults file away in their minds may eventually come true, but not always. And there is absolutely no reason to be attributing a sexuality to young children. Society as a whole seems to know that, and we don’t make a practice of labeling young children in terms of sexual orientation.

TRANSGENDERISM: WHAT IS IT?

Nowadays, there is another prediction based on feelings that is being made routinely, sometimes by young children. Most recently, there has been a huge rise in this prediction by pre-teens, teens and young adults (many of whom suffer from autism, ADHD, anxiety or other mental health conditions), the majority of whom are biologically female. Many young people are predicting that, in order to ever have any semblance of a happy life, they must medically alter their bodies to appear like the opposite sex, and they must live in society as if they are the opposite sex.

When someone predicts that they require medical interventions to appear as the opposite sex and that they will be happy only if they can live as if they were the opposite sex, we label them “transgender.” (The term “transsexual” was previously used to refer to people who actually went through with medical and social transition, but that term, for whatever reason, has gone out of favor. “Sex” and “gender” are now often conflated and the confusion in the language is part of why these issues are so fraught with misunderstanding - but that’s a topic for another essay.) Additionally, “transgender” is also used to describe people who believe they are the opposite sex just because they feel like they are, but don’t believe they need any medical interventions. This muddies the waters, and creates other issues, such as invasion of same-sex spaces, but I digress.

Notably, for young children, it is the adults around them that are making the prediction and providing the label. 3 and 4–year-olds don’t suddenly realize they are “transgender.” Rather, they may be gender non-conforming or find something about the opposite sex alluring, and then they are told that their “feminine” or “masculine” behaviors and preferences, or their desire to be seen like the opposite sex, make them “transgender.” Some parents, trying to be good “allies,” inform their very young children that they are what they think they are, and that they can be a girl or a boy, no matter what their bodies look like, and then the child is asked to choose. Gender non-conforming children in a family/community that is vocally against it may say they are “really a girl/boy” to their parents because they want to do things that [they are told] only a girl (or a boy) can do. They are labeled “transgender” for making such a statement by parents who would rather have a “transgender” child who was “born in the wrong body” than a potentially homosexual, gender non-conforming child.

A few years later, these young children are informed that, if they would like to be perceived as the opposite sex - because their gender non-conforming behavior or whatever it is that they perceive as being better about the opposite sex will be acceptable for them - then they will have to eventually medically alter their bodies in order to continue to appear as the opposite sex and continue to get whatever perceived benefits come from living as the opposite sex. They get used to the idea and then their lives are sent on a path, starting with puberty blockers, that involves sterility, likely sexual dysfunction, drugs, surgeries, and serious side effects - all because of words or behaviors when they were pre-schoolers.

The “transgender” label is a relatively new form of prediction for any young person. Thirty years ago, this was simply not an option for kids. A kid would grow up as a girl or a boy, and live their life. If, as an adult, they eventually decided that they wanted to explore living as the opposite sex, they would eventually make the decision to transition. And even the option for adults, has only been around for maybe 60 years for the vast majority of people - although the first experiment with medical transition - which only involved surgeries - came in around the 1930's in Germany - a time and place where medical experimentation does not sit well with this author. By contrast, homosexuality, like heterosexuality, has been a sexual orientation since time immemorial.

Until around twenty years ago or so, the possibility of transition was not presented as an option to children or young teens. This is a relatively new phenomenon. Additionally, until maybe twenty years ago, nobody was told that they might actually be the opposite sex (ie. that they were actually born in the wrong body), although that might be a way some transsexuals tried to explain the feelings that drove them to seek medical interventions.

Up until fairly recently in history, we all lived in our bodies, and accepted that we were male or female, and the only thing we could choose was exactly how to live in the world as a male or as a female - not whether to live in the world as a male or as a female. As far as I know, before this option of transition was offered to young people on a silver platter, there were not massive suicides, and there also were not scores of people living miserable, pointless lives because they couldn’t successfully pretend they were the opposite sex. Yet today, apparently a good 5% of the population of young people cannot possibly imagine living as their biological sex, and it is alleged that up to 41% of that 5% will commit suicide if not socially and medically transitioned. [That suicide statistic is FALSE, and, if anything, causes suicides.] Quite obviously, there is an element of social contagion here.

DIFFERENTIATING HOMOSEXUALITY FROM TRANSGENDERISM

Is the prediction that one is “transgender” (ie. that one requires medical and social transition to ever be at all comfortable or happy) fundamentally the same as, or different from, the prediction that one is homosexual? Further, should anyone should be making the prediction that they are “transgender” before: (1) reaching maturity; (2) experiencing living in their unaltered body without pretense for an extended period; and (3) experiencing intimacy with others while in that unaltered body.

As noted, homosexuality is a pretty straightforward phenomenon. It means that a person is sexually (and ultimately romantically) attracted to members of the same sex. The way a young person who has not yet been sexually intimate with anyone can know if they are heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual is by simply tuning into how “turned on” they feel around same-sex or opposite sex individuals. Again, while there can sometimes be misinterpretation of those feelings, and while it also takes some young people much longer than others to feel sexually attracted to anyone, it isn’t a big deal for someone to be wrong about whether they are homosexual, heterosexual or bisexual, and it’s a very straightforward conclusion once the person sees who they find sexually attractive. While I personally don’t see the point in assigning labels before one is sure, any mistaken labeling of a sexual preference has no negative consequences, as discussed above. Further, homosexuality doesn’t require society to do much of anything, other than allowing homosexual and bisexual individuals to go about their lives, and to maintain the same exact rights as heterosexuals. No medical procedures are required, no changing of single-sex spaces are needed, and nobody needs to pretend something is true that is obviously not true.

By contrast, the conclusion that one is “transgender,” involves a much more complicated set of thoughts and feelings, coupled with a conclusion that is less than straightforward. Additionally, the response to this conclusion is a series of experimental medical treatments with known and unknown negative consequences, as well as societal prevarications that cause bizarre results, such as men entering into women’s spaces (bathrooms, locker rooms, rape crisis centers, battered women’s shelters, prisons, and men competing in women’s sports).

WHAT IS THE FEELING OF BEING “TRANSGENDER?”

It is true that feelings of attraction are completely subjective, and an individual just “knows” they are sexually attracted to another individual. Of course, as noted above, those feelings can be obscured or confused, particularly for young people, when there are outside forces interfering with a pure understanding of the feelings. However, again, at some point, particularly after actually engaging in intimate contact with others, those sexual feelings become - for almost everyone - abundantly clear. There’s a great scene in the Nexflix series, Grace and Frankie, where Sol describes to his about-to-be ex-wife, Frankie, the feeling he had for Robert when they first kissed - at around age 40. Sol said something about his whole body coming alive, and how it was different than anything he had experienced before that (including when he had sexual relations with Frankie). There’s no denying such a feeling. Notably, homosexuality IS the feelings that define it - one who feels attracted to same-sex individuals is homosexual.

Is the feeling that one will be happy only if one lives as the opposite sex the same as -in terms of obviousness and an undeniability - feelings of sexual attraction to other people?

I would posit the following - and, as always, I would love any feedback or comments on this idea. The feeling that one will be better off if one appears like the opposite sex, is not a simple feeling. Instead, it is a complex set of thoughts and feelings that lead to a conclusion that one is better off appearing and living as the opposite sex. The set of thoughts and feelings can vary greatly from person to person, with some common features, but a variety of underlying causes and experiences.

For example, a gay, effeminate boy living in a homophobic community where he is not at all free to express himself without feeling like a freak may very well latch onto the notion that he is a woman and, at least for a time, may be very comforted by appearing and living as a woman. I don’t want to name names, but I get confirmation of this notion for at least two detransitioners that I have heard eloquently describe their own experiences. A similar idea can apply to very masculine lesbians.

A fairly gender-conforming heterosexual teenage girl may find huge solace in appearing and living as a male as well. She would feel good about it, but not be able to articulate why. However, the underlying (sub-conscious) thoughts and feelings would be things like - I’m not pretty enough; I’m not sexy enough; I don’t even want to be sexy and ogled by boys; I feel free to be myself because I’m not worrying about whether anyone is judging my femininity and beauty; I don’t ever have to wear high heels or tight skirts to look good and dressed up; I’m not a boring “cis-het” girl who’s shallow and bratty; I won’t turn into my “miserable” mother, who seems like she’s really put upon, working and taking care of the house! I know at least one detransitioner who would likely agree with most of this list of thoughts and feelings as a cause for the strong belief by many teenage girls that they are “transgender.”

A third group would be what is deemed autogynephiles, or those men who are turned on by appearing as, and being treated as, a woman (and a less common, but theoretically similar group of women who are turned on by the idea of appearing as, and being treated as, a man). That group may come the closest to homosexuals for the mere fact that their desire to become like a woman or like a man is based on a sexual feeling. However - this cannot be repeated enough - homosexuality doesn’t require medical alterations, and doesn’t require society to accept a fiction (ie. that a man is in fact a woman, or a woman is in fact a man). Further, a sexual attraction to onesself as the opposite sex, while harmless in and of itsself, to the extent that it requires medical interventions or others to participate in a fiction, is certainly dysfunctional, and could be called a “fetish,” whereas homosexuality - with another homosexual individual - is perfectly functional. Lastly, before any medical intervention, such a sexual turn-on could just be a fantasy, but the anticipation that the reality of this fantasy will be just as good as or better than the fantasy is not a knowable fact. By contrast, if one is turned on by a same-sex or opposite-sex individual, there is no anticipating what MIGHT be good. While some post-transition autogynophiles may be happy with their decisions, it is difficult to know in advance whether that will work out positively.

A fourth group would be heterosexual males who are perhaps awkward and not super masculine, are sweet and who don’t want to be “monsters” who sexualize women inappropriately. They may feel like living as a woman takes away their threatening nature, and at the same time they don’t have to compete with more “masculine” males. In fact, for the second group and this group, there is a bonus feature of being “transgender,” which is that the young woman or young man can also avoid being seen as the oppressor in society. Those who are “Cis-het” (non-transgender heterosexuals), particularly if they are white and upper-middle-class, are considered the oppressors and are looked down upon in this day and age. Once a person becomes “transgender,” they get points just for existing, and they are considered one of the most oppressed classes - which, today, is a really good thing. Any guilt one might feel for being so much more well off than others is immediately alleviated by being “transgender.”

A fifth group are those on the autism spectrum - although this may also be a factor of the first, second or fourth group above. They feel uncomfortable in their bodies, and don’t quite fit in as they are. Being the opposite sex, at least for a while, will make them feel less awkward because they don’t have to compare themselves with those of their own sex. Because they don’t expect to feel quite like the opposite sex (since they weren’t born that way), any differences between them and the opposite sex people they are now emulating make sense to them and aren’t as concerning. Again, this can be combined with being gay or lesbian, or being afraid of strong sexual feelings, or afraid of not measuring up and/or being sexualized, etc.

A sixth group would be those who have suffered trauma to their bodies, particularly if the trauma was of a sexual nature. A desire to escape from their existing bodies would make sense, although transition does not actually resolve the underlying trauma.

For all of these groups and more, their thoughts and feelings (quite varied, as above, and others not explored here) lead to the conclusion that these individuals are “transgender.” Being “transgender” provides an ANSWER to why they don’t feel quite right. It’s no accident that the biggest spike in “transgender” individuals is in pre-teens, teenagers, and those who go off to college, with a female majority thereof. These are times when many people, and more females, are the most insecure they will ever be. Who can resist an answer to feeling like a freak, or like a boring, pointless individual destined to live an unsatisfying life? As Louis C.K. explained in his 2017 comedy routine, he envied “transgender” people because they found the answer to their insecurities. He posited he would be happy if he could just know - “Oh, I’m an owl. All I have to do is blink slowly and eat a mouse once in a while and I’ll feel fine.” (I’m paraphrasing.)

Unlike sexual orientation, which is fairly stable over a life-time, the conclusion that one will only be happy if one lives as the opposite sex is quite subject to change. Detransitioners, desisters, and children who suffer from gender dysphoria (not linked to social contagion or parental misguidance) who grow up to be comfortable in their own skin are all proof that this is subject to change. There is no inevitability to the conclusion that one will only ever be happy after transition.

Let me consider that I could be wrong. Instead, there could be a direct feeling or “knowing” that one is simply more comfortable with a body that appears the opposite sex and with everyone referring to that person as the opposite sex. As my trans-identified daughter would say, “I just know!” So, in the same way that someone knows when they are sexually attracted to another person, someone also knows when they will be infinitely more comfortable in a body that appears the opposite sex, living the life of an opposite-sexed individual, and that the negative impacts of medicalization will be well worth the price.

However, something doesn’t sit right with the above idea. How would this feeling manifest in a world where there are no such medical interventions? What is the feeling, separate and apart from the interventions that bring the feeling to fruition? While there are obviously people who don’t fit into societal stereotypes, if they feel uncomfortable just for that reason, they are really just feeling judged by society, not feeling that they are actually more comfortable in an opposite-sex-appearing body. If there are no stereotypes, taboos or consequences (e.g. being sexualized, being deprived of rights, having burdens placed upon you because of your sex) involved, who would look at their own body and wish for it to appear the opposite sex and for people to treat them as the opposite sex without medical interventions that make this possible?

In fact, I would posit that those who are young - have literally never lived in their natural bodies through to adulthood, and haven’t even experienced living in their bodies as teens if they “bind” or “tuck” and mask their bodies to “pass” as the opposite sex - don’t really know what it means or what it would actually feel like to live in their own unaltered bodies without disguise, and they absolutely don’t know what it means to live as a male or as a female.

In truth - and I would have to say this is a non-controversial statement that most trans-identified people would agree with - for every single biological male and biological female, there is a different experience of being male or being female. For that reason, there is no such thing as feeling like a male or feeling like a female, apart from living one’s life as a male or as a female. The notion of a “Gender Identity” is pure fiction, since there is no meaning to being male or being female, apart from biology and/or stereotypes. This author is female for the sole reason that my body is biologically female. My own experience of life is different than any other female in the world.

Granted, there are things that are more common for a majority of males or females. For example, males tend to be more focused on one task while females tend to be multi-taskers. Males tend to be more aggressive than females. Males tend to be taller than females. I could go on with these examples, but the point is that these factors are not essential to being male or being female. A focused woman or multi-tasking man, an aggressive woman, a docile man, a tall girl or a short boy are all just as much male or female as anyone else. It’s like two overlapping bell curves. These overlapping bell curves of male and female degrees of any quality do not define what it means to be male or female. A person is male or female for the simple reason that they inhabit a male or female body.

If one cannot “feel” like a male or a female, then how can one feel like they are born in the wrong body, or know they are “really” male or “really” female?

GENDER DYSPHORIA

Do some people move through the world with the feeling that their body is “wrong?” Yes. In fact, it seemed, until fairly recently, pretty clear that this was a rare condition that began in early childhood. Gender dysphoria is a mental illness, although that seems to be changing, with new terms and an attempt to normalize it. However, many people, including transgender adults who explain why they were compelled to alter their bodies, still believe gender dysphoria to be a mental illness. While it is true that, during homophobic times, homosexuality was also considered a mental illness, there was never any good reason for that conclusion. Homosexuality does not prevent someone from living a fully functional life, and doesn’t ever warrant any medical interventions. With societal acceptance, there is nothing distressing about homosexuality. While many transgender individuals can live fulfilling lives, it is fair to consider a mental state that compels someone to receive extensive medical interventions on their otherwise healthy body a mental illness.

Should we be routinely acting on gender dysphoria by removing healthy body parts and prescribing synthetic hormones with all sorts of negative side effects instead of trying to help these people to come to terms with their own bodies - particularly before they are fully mature?

Rather, wouldn’t it be best to try and help people suffering from this mental illness to become more comfortable in their own bodies - particularly if they are young? Studies have shown that approximately 80% of young children suffering from gender dysphoria will grow out of it with watchful waiting. Even for those who are skeptical of the several studies that bear out that finding (which is ironic, given how low quality and problematic the several studies are that are meant to prove the benefits of “gender-affirming care,” and how questionable and sometimes absent the positive results are for any of these studies), it should certainly make common sense and be much more compassionate to at least try and give young people who seem to suffer from gender dysphoria a chance at living in their unaltered bodies.

I say “who seem to suffer from gender dysphoria” because there is the element of social contagion. We must consider the images on the internet of the wonderful “euphoria” those who surgically and chemically alter their bodies go through as they become their “true authentic selves,” and the many other messages about transgenderism in schools, on social media, at colleges, in speeches from our governing bodies, etc., as a possible reason for the dramatic increase in the incidence of gender dysphoria in young people. Notably, there was no noticeable increase in the incidence of homosexuality as it became more and more acceptable in the twenty-first century.

Social contagion is a distinction of importance because we are medically altering bodies of those allegedly suffering from gender dysphoria when many of the young people seeking these treatments are only uncomfortable with their bodies because they have been convinced of that fact by a confused society! Rapidly “discovering” one’s “true self” on the internet at age 12 or 15 or 18, after extensive time on the internet, is not a naturally occurring feeling. If gender dysphoria is induced by society, it is just as likely to disappear at some point. Why then are we rushing to medically alter these young people’s bodies as a result of that feeling? Why are we “affirming” their feelings? Why not let them work through those feelings as they do any other feelings during adolescence?

Granted, if a person grows to full maturity, and if they still are suffering extreme discomfort with their body, they might choose, in a desperate attempt to soothe the psychological pain, to modify their body. If it works, great! It might not, because psychological problems are quite complex, and there absolutely is no proof that the extreme body modifications associated with what’s now known as “affirmative care” will help all, or most people suffering from gender dysphoria, even as adults.

It is precisely because this is such a complicated psychological phenomenon that we don’t yet have a reliable therapeutic method for bringing someone into alignment with their body. Additionally, the fact that, with the exception of people like those at GETA, Thoughtful Therapists, and similar organizations, nobody else is working on trying to help people to align with their own bodies, if possible, before moving on to medical interventions adds to the lack of a psychological solution. We, as a society, and our medical and psychological professionals are just “affirming” everyone who proclaims a “trans-identity” without even trying to help such people come to terms with their biology first.

MEDICAL INTERVENTIONS

Of course, one of the most glaring and undeniable differences between being homosexual and being “transgender” is the medical treatments involved in the latter. Is a feeling that you would be better off as the opposite sex really a solid basis for medical alterations? According to my daughter, and a large swathe of society right now, that’s all you need to warrant full-on medical transition as soon as possible. That is, if you have a feeling living as the opposite sex and looking like the opposite sex will make you happy, then - well - it will. You just “know” it’s true. You don’t need proof because the proof is in the feeling.

Society doesn’t appear to be concerned about whether the serious and irreversible medical treatments toward transition are appropriate, safe, or medically necessary, but instead declares these treatments beyond question, even for minors, without adequate studies. I have long been concerned about how over-medicated our society has become, since the huge increase of the use of ADHD medications in the 90's. Then we had the opioid crisis in the 2000s, and we are only now reckoning with the damage done. Is the rush to medicalization of “gender issues” the next big medical crisis? This is something we must consider now. This important question has never been raised by homosexuality, but is raised by transgenderism.

CONVERSION THERAPY

As to the issue of “conversion therapy,” it should be clear that “conversion therapy” for homosexuality is wholly inappropriate. That’s because sexual attraction is not subject to any analysis. While there could be some therapy to help someone who is actually confused about their sexuality come to terms with it - which is not conversion therapy - attempts to change someone’s sexual attractions by use of negative stimuli or any other method is “conversion therapy,” so-called because it seeks to convert someone from homosexual to heterosexual. Such “conversion therapy” is both unlikely to succeed and has no purpose other than to harm. Why prevent someone from having feelings for same-sex people? There are no inherent negative consequences to same-sex attraction. As long as society is accepting of it, anyone who is same-sex attracted has a chance to live a full life with no barriers, other than perhaps a more complicated road to having biological children if that is a goal. Thus, the only reason to attempt to “convert” someone out of being homosexual is if one is hostile to homosexuality. It is wrong.

By contrast, body hatred and a preference to live as if one were biologically the opposite sex, and all of the concomitant psycho-social implications thereof, is a complicated set of ideas that warrant, at the very least, years of living in one’s own body before embarking on a road of living as the opposite sex. Further, there are obvious negative consequences to medical transition, from total infertility for many to loss of sexual function for many, to increased chances of stroke or heart attack, increased risk of dementia in later life, bone density problems, infections, incontinence, bowel function issues, liver function issues, etc.

Thus, therapy to sort out all of the issues involved is appropriate, particularly before any actions are taken to live as the opposite sex or to medically alter one’s body. Such therapy, to discuss what makes living in one’s own natal body so abhorrent, and what is so attractive about living as the opposite sex - is not “conversion therapy.” It’s not seeking to force someone to suppress their natural feelings. Rather, it’s an attempt to get someone to explore and understand their feelings and make appropriate choices in response thereto. Considering that the choice to transition involves serious medical interventions, wouldn’t society want people to be sure this is absolutely necessary and that it is likely to be a success before embarking on such a journey? There is nothing in common between exploratory therapy and conversion therapy.

CONCLUSION

In short, homosexuality is a straightforward state of being. It simply means that one is sexually attracted to same-sex individuals. By sharp contrast, “transgenderism” involves an extremely complicated set of thoughts, feelings, and conclusions, with numerous contributing social factors to those thoughts, feelings, and conclusions. It also involves serious medical interventions, and societal accommodations. Homosexuality and transgenderism have little in common.

They both may have to deal with what any other small minority has to deal with - discrimination. Nobody would equate any other minority, like Jews or Mexicans, with transgenderism. Why homosexuality? Homosexuality and transgenderism both often make having biological children more difficult, although homosexuality doesn’t impact fertility itself. Of course, many people struggle with fertility issues, and single individuals who want children have more difficulty having bioloical children than couples, but those people would not be lumped in with transgender people as a group. Why homosexuals?

The issues that may come up for homosexual individuals are, in most cases, very different than the issues involved with transgender individuals. Homosexuals don’t have any of the many serious medical issues transgender individuals have to deal with, nor do homosexuals have any issues involving single-sex spaces or sports. Homosexuals just want to be able to live their lives, marry, have families and simply be left to their own devices. Transgender individuals, like everyone else, want all those things – and so much more!!! They are not the same.

We need to stop and think before we mindlessly affirm the complicated thoughts and feelings of a bunch of vulnerable young people who are still working out their identities by chemically and surgically altering their bodies. Don’t worry. If society stops this knee-jerk “affirmation,” that will not be the same as denying homosexuals the right to love who they want to love. If you think otherwise, feel free to let me know what I’m missing.