Ex-Church of Christ Support Board

Unlike marriage, which is a choice, gender identity, and this includes being transgender, is not. There have been many studies done which heavily suggest that there is a physical cause behind being trans. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of ... d_theories

Meaning, that being transgender is a medical issue. You might as well be asking how a does a child make the decision that they are sick. Also, transgender children who begin transitioning face little to no ill effects, and is an overall benefit to them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgend ... h#Outcomes

We allow same sex marriage because there is nothing innately harmful about homosexuality. And frankly, there is nothing innately harmful about polyamorus marriages either, so I'd be fine with allowing those too. In order for something like child marriage to become legal, advocates would have to prove that children are capable of giving informed consent and that adult-child relationships are not innately harmful, something that they have not been able to prove, and indeed, evidence is against them.

Should we shun all social progress in the name of far fetched hypothetical questions? "If we allow the whites and the blacks to marry, what's to stop us from marrying our dogs!"

I'll tell you a secret: All law is arbitrary.

Sonicraig, I work with scientists who do extensive research and get published.

Though their work is in a different field, the research process is the same.

The most generous assessment of current studies and evidence surrounding these particular issues is that they are grossly premature and incomplete. It is simply too early in legitimate research to make the assertions you made about either the cause of minority gender tendency or about the longterm impact on individuals and society as a whole. There is simply too much unknown at this point.

My own personal guess is that minority sexual preference is sometimes due to brain wiring that happens during gestation or due to environment and personal perception of that environment. But I recognize that I can't prove guesses any more than you can. The population sample is so tiny that it will be a very long time before sufficient research is conclusive.

I do not deny that there is still more research to be done, but the research done on transgenderism isn't exactly small. We've been studying trans people since at least the 1930s when Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld coined the term "transsexualism". Out of all the research that has been done, allowing trans people to transition has been the only thing that has proven to work.

Here is a list of legitimate, established medical organizations who know that: http://www.lambdalegal.org/sites/defaul ... alth_4.pdf

B.H. wrote:I'll tell you a secret: All law is arbitrary.

Yes, wanting to cut your arm or on any part of the body other than sexual organs is considered messed up (that is the technical term)...but cutting on your sexual organs is considered effective therapy? IMO, It is arbitrary and/or driven by ideology.

klp wrote:Yes, wanting to cut your arm or on any part of the body other than sexual organs is considered messed up (that is the technical term)...but cutting on your sexual organs is considered effective therapy?

Not always. Have you heard of "transable" people? Similar to the way transgender people have transitioned (or are transitioning) from one gender to another, transable people feel they need to become disabled in order to be their true selves.

http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/1705/1755

Lev

Like Stonewall Jackson? He used to sit around with one arm raised because he thought it was not the same length as the other one.

The thing is - I can kind of see two sides to those studies - we generally consider people who have weird ideas about their bodies to have a mental illness (a physical problem) which should be TREATED, but suddenly if it is the genitalia we are supposed to be sympathetic and NOT treat that as a physical/mental aberration? Did I spell that right?

anyway - I just don't know exactly what I think, except clearly it isn't psychiatric and shouldn't be addressed with mere talk.

That darn slippery slope! Apropos of discussion on polygamous marriages: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/ ... 19469.html

The thing is, unlike transgenderism, body dysmorphic disorder actually responds well to cognitive behavioral therapy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_dysm ... #Treatment

And if anyone is curious, the wpath standards of care for trans people: http://www.wpath.org/uploaded_files/140 ... ,%20V7.pdf

Fact is, people have tried therapy intended for trans people to accept their birth gender. It flat out does not work.

It seems at what point of sliding down a slope is there no longer cause to worry about the slipper slope.