While I'm a bit late here, I see some of the more recent posts talk about the mental illness aspect of things and I want to touch on that a bit. Under DSM-V the overarching diagnosis for trans people is "gender dysphoria", which is stated as being "...the distress that may accompany the incongruence between one’s experienced or expressed gender and one’s assigned gender". It's important to note that the mental illness being described here is not the feelings of being something other than your assigned gender. Rather, it is the distress that results from those feelings. In other words, if steps are taken to remove the incongruence then there is no longer a mental illness there.
I know the above may seem like nitpicking to some people, but I think it's important to understand that the psychiatric community currently does not view the actual state of being trans as disordered or a mental illness (Of course, there can be other comorbid conditions). This means that general societal acceptance is huge, since if we're made to feel that we're "fake" men and women then it doesn't much matter if people otherwise tolerate, accept, or "understand" us. This is why we get so up in arms over "little things" like incorrect pronouns or other gendered terms.
In my opinion, EVERYONE - regardless of how they personally feel about this subject - has a right to his or her
opinion on the subject. I don't believe excommunication, violence or mockery is the proper response to someone struggling with their identity, but by the same token, I abhor the fascist mentality that anyone who disagrees with an ideology is ignorant and hateful. That said, I would like to direct you to this website:
Sex Change Regret
It was created by Walt Heyer. He's a 70-year old man and a former transgendered individual who went from male-to-female and then back to male. He's written three books on the subject and I highly suggest you take a look at his website with an open mind.
I also found this article quite illuminating (and sad):
Trouble in Transtopia: Murmurs of Sex Change Regret.
Get this harmful shit out of here. The "Trans Regret" movement is dangerous and pretty much explicitly anti-trans. Sure, no one should be pushed into taking steps without being sure they want to and sometimes mistakes are made, but this movement is based on half-truths and twisted context. Here, let me quote the first thing I see on the first link:
'I have always longed to be a woman, but no amount of surgery can give me an actual female body and I feel like I am living a lie.
'It is exhausting putting on make-up and wearing heels all the time. Even then I don't feel I look like a proper woman.
'I suffered from depression and anxiety as a result of the hormones too.
'I have realised it would be easier to stop fighting the way I look naturally and accept that I was born a man physically.'"
This person is not saying they aren't trans and isn't saying they don't feel like they should look and feel like what society sees as a woman. No, they're saying they didn't feel that they were "real enough" and a lot of that has to do with society and how it doesn't understand or support trans issues. It's society that makes trans people feel like they're "fake" and the whole regret movement just feeds that. It's goddamn toxic.
A lot of the numbers these movements tend to cite ignore that many people that "regret" or reverse transition do so for one or more of the following reasons:
1. Rejection by family.
2. Rejection by friends.
3. Rejection by society at large.
4. Feeling they aren't "real".
5. Inability to afford proper treatment.
6. Lack of support.
etc.
In other words, stuff caused by society. I'd write more but this has me worked up a bit and I want to let it clear before I try to add much.