It Isn't a Choice

    Some of the people I've come out as trans to have either asked me why or made statements like, "I don't understand why anyone wants to do that, but..."  People... people... people...  This isn't a choice!  It isn't as if a trans person wakes up one morning and thinks to themselves, "Starting today, I'm going to be trans."  I mean, do you wake up and say, "I'm going to be right handed today," or, "I'm going to have brown hair"?  Of course not!  That's just the way you are.  It's the same for being transgender.  There are roughly 3 million transgender individuals in the U.S.  Each and every one of us faces the stigma of a country's societal ignorance of the fact that multiple studies show that transgenderism is a rare, but natural occurrence; not a mental illness.  Cisgender people may not like us, and we aren't asking for you to like us, but we do want you to know that you need to accept us because we aren't going anywhere.

    Transgender individuals have existed in every society in the world, throughout the long and storied history of humanity.  In many of those societies, trans folk were accepted.  Sometimes even respected.  But, in Euro-Christian western societies we are not.  Again, it's the same old, worn-out argument that "if it isn't in the Bible, it isn't of God."  But, many things have existed throughout the history of the world that didn't get written about and put in the Bible.  Other things were written about, but with the lack of understanding of a young race.  But, the thing is that just because it's new in your reality doesn't mean it's a new thing.  And just because it isn't mentioned, or is written poorly about, does not mean it's bad.  It's time for society to get passed the human bias and allow us the freedom you demand for yourselves.

    Trans people do have to make a particular choice.  We have to choose whether or not we're going to allow society to dictate how we should live our lives, or if we'll allow ourselves to live as who we really are.  I mean, imagine that you're a piano player.  You've taken lessons since childhood and you're really good.  You know you've got the talent to be a concert pianist, but everyone tells you that you should be a studio musician and earn a steady paycheck.  You contact all the right people, only to be turned away.  What would you do?  Might you not conspire to play in public places so you could be heard playing the way you knew you should play?  Well, it's very much like that for trans people.  Anti-trans people, for the most part, refuse us for what we are.  So we conspire to make them see us the way we feel inside.  For our efforts, they attack us in the court of public opinion, as well as the courts of law.  They create laws to take our freedom and our liberty.  They break some of us, but they cannot break us all.  We demand to be allowed to take our place in society.  You don't need to understand us, but you do need to respect that this is who we are.  We don't need your approval!

    This is not a sexual perversion, in spite of the t-girls putting themselves out there in the adult entertainment industry.  Most of those girls do that because they have no other way open to them to make a living.  The sexual perversion exists in those of you who indulge in such media.  Transgenderism is so much more!  Earlier, I mentioned that there have been studies and researches conducted on this issue from several organizations.  All of the findings negate your negative ideologies about the trans community.  Below is a list of some those organizations and the work they've done on this issue:

1. American Medical Association (AMA): The AMA has published articles discussing how gender identity is deeply rooted and not a matter of choice. Their work emphasizes the importance of recognizing transgender rights as human rights.

2. World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH): WPATH has developed internationally recognized guidelines based on decades of research into gender identity and healthcare. Their standards of care highlight the innate nature of gender identity and the necessity of gender-affirming care.

3. Pediatrics Journal: Studies in this journal have examined the impact of gender-affirming care on transgender youth, showing that affirming one's gender identity significantly improves mental health outcomes.

4. Endocrine Society: This organization has published research supporting the biological underpinnings of gender identity, including the role of hormones and genetics.

5. The New Atlantis Report: While controversial, this report reviewed hundreds of studies on gender and sexuality, discussing the biological, psychological, and social factors influencing gender identity.