Lots of people on atrl are either transphobic or just ignorant and trying to understand transgenderism better. Personally, I'm tired of having to explain things and I'm sure some people are too. There are constantly questions I see on atrl and I'm going to address those here and also address points people make to undermine transgender people. If you ever see anyone say one of these things, you can just refer them here!
NOTE that this will be an FAQ thread, not a general education thread. If you want general knowledge, you can view Wikipedia
here or you can just google yourself.
But they have a penis/vagina or XY/XX chromosomes. (or anything else related to, as one would say, science)
This isn't always true. Pre-op transgender people do while post-op do not. Regardless, this is a fallacy because of the following: Sex is NOT gender. Gender is a psychological identity while sex is biological. They are not the same. Even if we're playing along and pretending that sex is what determines gender, this is still a moot point as intersex people can have a penis AND a vagina or testicles inside of a woman's body and a vulva outside. If genitals are what you use to define somebody's gender, what gender are the people I mentioned/people with deformed genitals? For chromosomes, I'll mention intersex people again. It is entirely possible to have XY chromosomes as a female or one X chromosome as a female etc. Furthermore, chromosome chimerism is a concept that also makes it wrong to define somebody's gender by their chromosomes.
If gender is a social construct, what's the difference between transgender and transracial/etc?
While it is true that a social environment plays a part in gender identity, it's not the only factor. A lot of transphobes like to bring in science to undermine gender identity but here I will use science as a point. Transgender people
have separate brains. Not only this, but there are also chemicals that can affect humans and animals alike which turn them into the
opposite gender. You can't say the same for anything else that is mentioned as a comparison. Side note: I was exposed to BPA in the womb which is one of the chemicals mentioned and I'm transgender. Shocking.
Why should I call them ____ if _____?
You don't have to. The second blank, however, is probably fit by one of my above questions. Even if it's not, you still don't have to. If you want to make yourself out to be a bigoted person who can't respect a simple request and pretends that they care about chromosomes or organs or anything else more than an actual person, that is your prerogative. Just don't be shocked when anybody calls you out on it and don't pull the freedom of speech card as it makes you look like a fool.
If they can use the bathroom they wish, who says people won't pretend to be male/female to get in/why should they be allowed in the bathroom if they don't have the parts?
So this one is two questions in one; thus I'll give this two parts.
If we're talking a public bathroom, anybody would probably just go in if they wanted to see that bad, anyway. People wouldn't be willing to go through that effort. However, assumptions aside, I'll give a better answer. For a public bathroom, people would just go in as a woman or as a man without even caring about trans people. It doesn't matter if trans people are allowed in or not, they're just gonna do it anyway. As for a bathroom such as a school bathroom or an office bathroom etc, the transgender person would have to provide proof that they're transgender. Proof from a psychologist. They can't just walk in or anything. Nobody could pretend to be one because they need proof from a specialist first. Also, there are basically no known cases of a trans person raping somebody in the bathroom. Seriously. The whole ''what's next, rape?'' is simply a slippery slope.
There are many reasons why a transgender person should be allowed in the bathroom they feel comfortable in. There's stalls for a reason, first of all. Nobody goes into a bathroom and pulls down somebody's pants or looks up their skirt to see if they have a penis or a vagina. Chances are, you're not even going to see their parts. Meaning that, if you were actually bothered by a trans person being in the bathroom, you'd have to know they're trans beforehand. Ignorance is bliss, so mind your own business just like they will. Do you even think about what would happen if trans people had to use the opposite bathroom? Just imagine the following: a trans woman who has long beautiful hair, a full beat face of makeup, a dress and some heels on going into the men's bathroom because she isn't allowed in the women's bathroom due to her penis. Can you even imagine what could happen to her in there? Would YOU feel safe if you were a woman dressed like that in a man's bathroom surrounded by them?
Is gender a choice?
No. Similar to being gay, nobody would wanna decide to go through the struggles of being transgender. And also, biology is a factor in gender. Some would tell you that it's a social construct like in a question above, but that's only to an extent. There isn't only one factor that decides gender identity. But in short, gender is
NOT a choice.
Is it normal to stop transitioning either permanently or temporarily?
There are a select few who decide to stop their transition process; it doesn't matter if it's temporary or permanent. I think the answer to both is similar. For people who temporarily halt their transition, it's most likely due to self-hate. People can have issues with knowing they're trans just like gay people can have issues with being gay. As for people who permanently transition, it's either self-hatred which doesn't fade like it would in a temporary situation or it's because they were just mistaken. There are a very small amount of trans people (don't have any statistics on-hand but it's definitely 5% or less) who thought they were trans but they're just not. However don't try to use this as an excuse to undermine somebody's identity because most are not like this.
Transgender vs Transsexual?
Transgender is more of an umbrella term. It can describe anybody who is active in challenging what gender identity is, even if they have no plans on transitioning. Transsexual is more specific however lately trans people have been rejecting this term and gravitating towards ''transgender''. Transsexual defines people who do plan on transitioning and have body dysphoria, basically. Transgender people can fit into this category too, but transgender can mean other things as well.
What is gender identity?
It's definitely true that gender identity has a large social aspect. However there's also a biological factor but it's a very gray area. If you were stripped of your genitals and any other body part that defines what sex you are and were raised as the opposite sex with those body parts, would you feel like your original sex still? That's the best way to tell cisgender people, really. There is also a hormonal influence which affects what gender you feel like and this is produced in fetal development.
That's all for now. I hope I helped educate some of you who are willing to learn as well as people who need to clock transphobes in future threads, or, even in real life. If there's something I missed and should add to the OP, feel free to tell me!