When the ‘trans’ debate became more common, I honestly thought we were really talking mainly about ‘post op’ people (focussing for the moment on ‘male to female’). I didn’t think that the ‘pre op’ people were being included, and certainly not people with penises with no intent to ‘surgically’ transition.
I think much of the problem with debate is that many people seem to conflate these three categories.
My own view is that the ‘post op’ people warrant the most sympathy and sympathetic treatment. Clearly they have felt that they should not be in a male body. They have shown real commitment to wanting to live ‘like a women’. Clearly they do not actually change sex or gender – they are not the same as people born female. You would not say that a castrated dog is a bitch. But they have been ‘through teh fire’ and warrant some honorary female status. Should they use the ‘ladies’? I think it would probably be acceptable.
‘Pre op’ people need to be defined as those on hormone treatment, living as a ‘women’, and on the waiting list for surgery. Given that they still have male genitalia they have to be treated as still men. They need to show patience while they wait for surgery.
I think the terms ‘post op’ trans and ‘pre op’ trans are good terms for these two categories of people.
The third category I think is more problematic. I honestly had no idea that many so called ‘trans’ people actually have no intention to transition surgically. They want to be treated as women but keep their penis. They may or may not have hormone treatment, and may still live with a female partner, possibly including ‘fathering’ children.
Years ago they would have been called ‘cross dressers’. Blokes in a frock. Some would cheerfully wear lipstick with a beard. Did they really want to be women, or was there a sexual frisson from wearing women’s clothing?
Good luck to them, but they certainly should not be in a women’s toilets or changing rooms, nor in female prisons. With the latter, opting for a woman’s prison would probably end the moment it’s made clear it comes with priority for genital surgery.
Is this categorisation contentious? I guess some of the ‘pro trans’ lobby would try to argue the third category are ‘real women’ and only ‘TERFs’ would disagree. I think they would do better to concentrate on the first group, and try to give them as good a quality of life as possible…….
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