General

• First and foremost, anyone's need to go through a huge change in life such as 'gender correction' with eventual surgery, is not merely a lifestyle choice, and is not taken lightly. Nobody, in their right mind, would 'chose' to go through what we do to knowingly deal with what society has in store for us. This is a condition we all live with from a very early age and it is pressure from society and the existing stigma that keeps many people from dealing with the issue until later in life. Ok, of course we could decide not to treat our condition just as anyone else could decide not to be treated for any other medical condition (maybe even a life threatening one) but that's not what you do. If you're in pain, you seek help and you get treated for it. Generally everybody is after a good quality of life ....so are we. If we don't treat our dysphoria, the torment can (and does) become unbearable, often to the point of not wanting to continue with life. This may seem a harsh thing to write here, but that's how it is.
• We are amongst the most discriminated minorities in the world and often have to fight for basic rights and privileges that others take for granted. We have no more say in our condition than anybody does with being left or right handed for example. We are simply born this way. Trying to explain to someone why we feel the way we do and how a child can know this from such a young age is extremely difficult. The only thing I can liken it to is trying to explain why anybody is left or right handed

...you've probably never really thought about this but how would you explain to someone why you are left or right handed? When did you decide to be left or right handed? (a facetious question of course. It's not actually a 'decision' anyone makes but it's the kind of question we sometimes get asked. "When did you decide to become a woman?".). How old were you when you started being left or right handed? How could you possibly know something like that at such a young age? Maybe, if a child is left handed, it's just a phase they are going through and it would be best if they waited till they were a little older before making that kind of decision.

• This example may seem silly to some and although the issue of gender dysphoria is somewhat more complex, I hope it starts to give an idea of what it's like to explain how we feel and why. The complexity comes not only from the treatment involved, but from society's opinions and expectations. Many years ago it was deemed 'wrong' to be left handed in society and people with 'left handed tendencies' were forced to use their right hand. These days of course it's not an issue, it's an accepted variation that exists in people. Gender Dysphoria is no different. It is inherent in the make up of who we are and it isn't merely changed or influenced by behaviour modification and/or up bringing.
• It saddens me that this still needs to be said, but..... a person born with a gender variant conditon, has nothing to do with transvestism or cross-dressing, and it is not an issue of sexuality! Cross-dressing/transvestism is the desire for someone [most commonly men] to dress as the opposite sex who have no feeling of being the wrong sex. Gender Dysphoria is a condition of 'sexual confusion' where the physical sexual characteristics of the body are incongruent with that of the brain. It is not a phsychological/psychiatric disorder and the only way it can be resolved is through gender correcting surgery bringing the physical sex inline with the sex of the brain (hence the term 'gender correction'). We are commonly thought of as a person with a phsychological problem, when in fact we are people with a physical condition.
• The condition of gender dysphoria is not something that is brought about by behaviourism or upbringing. It isn't merely a case of girls wanting to become boys because of playing with trucks or boys wanting to become girls because of playing with dolls ....it goes far deeper than that. Many boys and girls go through these phases and do eventually grow out of them. There are other behavioural characteristics that are evident in a childs behaviour and the way they interact with other children. I guess it's not always so immediately obvious and atypical behaviour doesn't necessarily mean a child is dealing with issues of Gender Dysphoria. Up to a certain age children are too young to know 'learned behaviour' and if given the opportunity, a child will behave and interract in a way that comes naturally to them. They will tell you how they feel and what they are thinking. The phrase ..."out of the mouthes of babes" was coined for a reason.

• There are varying forms of gender variant, or intersexed conditions, and research to explain their causes are ongoing. The variations range from the externally obvious formation of combined male and female genetalia and less obvious internal organs, to the much less evident variation in areas of the brain. (The brain of a woman born with gender dysphoria (born with male phenotype) has more similarities with that of other women, than that of men):
  TIJT - A Sex Difference in the Human Brain The multitude of biological variations and 'intersexed' conditions that exist really challenge the notion, or definition, of 'Male' and 'Female'. If there is to be argument for disallowing transitioned women** to compete in sport, then there is equal argument for preventing some variations of women from competing. It seems that society ignores or excuses some biological variations while highlighting issues of 'unfairness' with others. The reasons seem to be influenced by social attitudes and a misunderstanding of transitioned men and women, where it is often thought of as nothing more than a sexuallity related issue. If I hope to achieve anything other than playing professional golf it is to help inform people of what it means to deal with this very debilitating condition of gender dysphoria.
  ** I make reference here only to women here because I am not aware of any issues of transitioned men competing against other men, and having the same problems associated with womens sport.
• I have seen it written that the prevalence of transitioned women has increased in recent years purely because of the availability of modern techniques in surgery. Maybe the numbers of surgery have increased, but the prevalence of the condition doubtfully has. Historical records make reference to many occurrences of 'gender variant' people in a number of different cultures.
  The internet has helped make us all aware of how many others there are in the world and it makes it easier to be open about our lives knowing that there is a much larger community than we realised. Many people seem to think that we're easily noticable and would stand out in a crowd and therefore think they have never met a transitioned man or woman. The truth is that many people have met us and just don't realise it. Most of us are everyday people living everyday lives, with everyday boyfriends and husbands, and everyday jobs. We're just ordinary people like all of you.
  Lynn Conway has developed a site which is a wealth of information and her own life has been quite incredible:
  Lynn Conway
  - Prevalence of Transsexualism
  - Transsexualism through history
  - Galleries of successful women