the ignorance is strong with this one

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Mike277 -- God, assuming there is one, has nothing to do with it. It's simply biology, and sometimes nature screws up. I'm sure you've heard of people having organs of both sexes, such as, testicles and ovaries; and possibly the hormones are out of balance (an assumption on my part). Whatever the case may be, I feel sad for any child who has to deal with that kind of thing but would hope that parents and the medical community tread carefully before doing irreparable harm.

I can see there may be a real push by girls to be boys - In Saudi Arabia, Iran, Afghanistan...

honestj: Really? Actually, I'm not sure after reading your post what it is that you are saying. People were given brains to solve problems. But, only things like cancer and polio? So, if you had a child that was hurting, for whatever reason, how would you decide whether it is something that is just in the great scheme of things and they should live with it or if it is something that you should try to do something to take away the hurt? If you child was born with, say a cleft palate, would you really say, oh well, that's the way God or Mother Nature made her, so she just has to grow up and learn to live with it? If so, then I sure hope you don't have kids. If you do, then at least the grand design of things will quickly eliminate your set of genes, obviously of the weaker and ignorant kind.

It's funny how gender is so important to small brains. It's as if they can't comprehend anything besides two genders. I wonder if their head would explode if they tried.

I figured the brimstone burners would show up with a guilt trip but I thought we'd get beyond two words. What is so different between the Christian right and the despised Taliban who use violence and coercion in the name God?

The choice to become homosexual is just that, a choice.

You do know that the vast weight of evidence says to the contrary, right, Artie? Obviously you've never discussed this issue with a gay person (or you're just convinced that as "pervs," they're all liars). The question you must have heard before: when did you "choose" to be straight?

As for "God made them that way," mike, you have to look at the whole person, not just the reproductive organs. If God made them, he made them with the certainty - the absolute conviction - that they're a different gender. And what are the limits of "God made you that way so you should never change"? We're born naked - are clothes an abomination? What about haircuts? Body piercing? Lasik? People change themselves all the time, but those on your side of the issue seem only to care when it involves gender. Why are you so hung up on this one aspect of being human?

We desperately need to understand that human sexuality/gender identity is not chocolate or vanilla, black or white, but everything in between, and that there are aspects of "everything in between" in all of us. When we can accept and embrace this, there will be so much gained on so may levels, both as a society and as individuals.

artie: Glad you recognize the choice. Obviously, you were attracted to both sexes. Could you please explain when you made the choice to be heterosexual and also tell us what factors you weighed to make that choice? I'm very interested to hear your story.

X and Y chromosomes determine the sex of a human being. Don't know what it is for dogs, cats, or horses but it is a complex part of reproduction where the genetic material of the egg and the sperm join. The process ain't always perfect and frequently the "new life" just becomes part of a heavy period, but others come to full term to become part of the human family which also unfortunately includes self righteous right-wing blow-hards. My sympathies go out to young people who discover upon puberty they are not who they thought they were. Perhaps, medical science can help but don't let anyone tell you that your are not a human being worthy of a full life.

@HONEST J...nature, god or even the universe itself does not know or care if our earth is overpopulated, nor can we even begin to define overpopulation. To make these children and homosexual people a "built-in" mechanism to control what we, people, believe to be the state of being in matters of population is at best condescending but definitely short sited and lacking perspective.

@Artie-1928387....it is unbelievable how utterly stupid and ignorant you are....a CHOICE??? REALLY?? you can just CHOOSE to be male or female and be attracted to either sex? Go back into the slime you crawled out of idiot!

Frankly it's irrelevant to me which sex these kids choose.. but don't tell me I have to pay for their sex change surgeries either through taxes or increased health insurance costs.

Artie - If you believe sexual orientation is a choice and you are straight then you must then believe you could choose to be gay. Could you just decide one morning that you would from that point forward be sexually attracted to men? Honestly?

Mike, I am not a religious person. I do believe, however, in the power of the universe. It has its own rules. I believe that wolves and lions thin out herds for a greater purpose than just eating. I believe that man (and woman) was given a brain to solve problems like polio and cancer. I also believe that there are reasons for homosexuality and gender confusion. It is not the responsibility of people to prevent it or to take extreme steps to accomodate it. It is what it is. Unfortunately, suicide has always been a tool of the universe. Look at the bee who stings another creature. The bee knows instinctively that he must remove the stinger from the victim, but he also knows that by doing so he will die. Documentary after documentary highlight the dilemma of animals like lions, tigers, wolves, etc.., who give birth to runts. Time and again, the mothers recognize this and take no steps to save the this offspring. The runt dies.

I don't want these transgender children to kill themselves, but I do believe that nature (the universe) has a plan for them. I don't know what percent of the world population is homosexual (lesbian, gay or transgender), but one could argue that between wars, famine, disease and homosexuality, that the universe is trying to control overpopulation on a planet whose resources are dwindling day by day.

I wish these children and their parents "good luck", but leave it as God or Mother Nature has made it.

You need to watch more nature shows. Only the female bees have stingers. I wonder why...

Artie - "The choice to become homosexual is just that, a choice. Unless, the child is born a hermaphrodite - then I hope the doctor picks the correct sex and the child grows up without transgender issues but may not and then will have "real" choices to make."

I wonder when Artie decided he wasn't gay and chose to be a heterosexual

Buffy-851618, perhaps it is you who is short sighted and lacking perspective. There are some creatures on this planet that have had to adapt to extreme environmental conditions in a relatively short period of time and yet the same or related species half a world away undergo the same metamorphic changes. To assume that there couldn't possibly be any higher form of communication on a global, biological or ecological level is short sighted, IMO.

As a gay man, the idea that someone considers me to be "God's mistake" or "unnatural" is a lot more condescending than believing that homosexuality might serve some biological function in nature. I don't necessarily think that it was ever designed to control population percée but it may serve as a mechanism to control population spikes in a given species.

What I can't understand is why these people chose to have both kinds of genitalia. That's got to be a worse sin than choosing to be gay, right religious bigots? Or if you have both, choosing to love one gender is a sin and the other is just fine in the eyes of God? It is really confusing. Thankfully we can clarify it through scripture. Now if one of you bigots could just point me to the verse in the Bible on hermaphrodites, I can figure who God wants me to hate and marginalize.

If there is a hell most of the religious right will find themselves in it after they die.

Girl ONLY sports.... Boy ONLY sports... nothing wrong with either in sports but not together... (couple figure skating?) But that is a boy and girl role I agree with some to these post here... I think that People are equip to deal with the problems of people... Parents of children have to make painful decision but Gender engineering is just wrong.

I do believe the article hit (at the end) the one dangerous thing.. If mom wanted a boy and got a girl... will she "contribute" to the "confusion" In a hurry to "fix" their child who is going through severe (all children go through some of this , I know, raise 2 boys 2 girls AND several fosters) gender identity, will the "parents" rush to block the child s development so they can fit in a gender neutral society.. God help us... I think society is causing it own problems.

Actually, there is a special place in hell for parents who don't accept and support their children, no matter their sexual orientation.

@Timothy1Mil: yes, what a screwed up world. Fundamentalist religious attitudes tend to screw up people.

They say that it's 1/10,000 children have gender issues... About 20 or 30 years ago, it was about 1/100,000 or even less. The reason why it's becoming more common is because parents sensitive to the times are jumping the conclusions and assuming that their child acts like the opposite sex because that what they should be. Just like any other form of anxiety, counseling can really help. It can help determine if the child should really be treated like the opposite sex, or if it's just a phase that they will grow out of.

@Timothy1Mil, you sound just like those religious idiots from Topeka. You know Fred Phelps and friends. You sure talk like them.

I could take the time to scientifically explain to you how the cascade of hormones can screw up in gestation and cause someone to be different, but such logic would be lost on your closed minded brain.

I can see both sides of this but I also see a separate issue. For the most part the responses are all about how we as adults feel about this issue but the important issue is the needs of the child and protecting them. This is not a discussion of the rights of an adult to change their body it is about something being done to a child too young to understand the full implications.

What if the gender identification problem is not so much the child as the parent. As a young girl I would have given anything to be a boy. It had nothing to do with my having gender issues it was my parents. They both wanted a boy and for a long time it looked like I was going to be an only child. It was bad enough when I was just a disappointment but when my brother came along it got a lot worse. I was constantly being told there were things only boys could do. When my younger brother came along they pretty much lost interest in me to the point it would be considered neglect. I would get the tar beaten out of me for things that were written off as normal if my brother did them. I have seen a number of other kids have this happen to them over the years.

As an adult I am 100% happy and content to be the woman God made me to be but this article is talking about kids very much under the influence of their parents and other forces that will not be there when they are older. I know a woman who has a son that does her best to treat him like a girl. She was molested as a child and doesn't like men very much even though she is attracted to them physically. She takes what my parents did to an extreme that makes me feel she would gladly push her son into being a girl if she could and as there is no father in the picture I could see it happening.

So while we can debate the child's right to choose at what point is this really about a child's rights? Doesn't the child have the right to be protected from external influences regarding such an important matter until they are old enough to make the decision on their own?

PJ-697731,

I outright agree that it's the parents that are mental. I am certain that an extremely large majority of transgender children are only transgender because their parents encourage it. Interestingly, I really wonder how many children actually grow out of their transgender identity issues once they reach the age of self-consent? I would be surprised if it was less than 90% of those raised as the opposite sex.

In addition, I am also certain that parents consult with numerous child psychologists until they find one that says that it's "OKAY" to nurture the child like the opposite sex. Once again, the parents are tailoring the prognosis to what they want.

Chris,

"I am certain that an extremely large majority of transgender children are only transgender because their parents encourage it."

You should publish your findings without delay. This sort of data would surely bring clarity to a very challenging field of research. Out of curiousity, how large was your patient case series? With that degree of certainity, I would imagine quite large. Kudos.

sadmoronsvote2,

A person's certainty can exist without validity. It's called an "opinion".

Touché! ;)

Pj... you make my point... Thanks Parental pressure coupled with Peer pressure. Their is a study out that has taken the LeGiBiT sampling as parents and the result field is so large that the results are respected throughout the Psychology arena. But because the results are negative.. It is still hotly debated as "one sided":

//www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/12/gay-parents-study-kids-social-scientists_n_1589177.html

This article has the link to to the study which answers in detail all the critics of his research... It is worthy of note that the largest single body of data reporting "positive" or "no difference" in Gay's raising children is 300... this study shows "a lot" of negative outcomes.. and his sample was 3000 interviewing the parents AND kids.

Then why is it in the days of women's lib that mother's have told their daughters that they can be whatever the want to be? And what of the child was adopted by a lesbian couple...who does the child look up to as their "father figure"? Come on folks, don't be a hypocrite so that it is aligned to your personal views!

How exactly is a girl participating in a sport blurring the lines?

Oh right, she has a vagina so no sports for her, might make her a lesbo, best she get herself in the kitchen since girls are good at nothing physicallyand should remember their role in life is to make a man his sandwich and spread her legs for her only purpose.

Exboston - that all your mom is good for? Does your mom and your wife and your daughter know their place as nothing but a man's servant?

I honestly think it's the parents and society causing this issue, not biology.

Correct. The problem is that parents and society enforce a strict binary gender system, whereas biology doesn't. Sure, usually there's a clearly defined exterior genitalia; however internally is not always so neat.

Do you know for certain if you lack everything internal from the opposite sex? If you've never been explicitly screened for this, you cannot answer "yes."

Indeed, you are part of the issue.

Society created the problem, and society can fix it. Some other societies don't have this problem since they recognize more than two genders. Did you know that? I doubt it.

Wow! It's not really America the Beautiful, but America the Ignorant. If this was all about girls being girls or I should say girls being stereotypical girls and boys being stereotypical boys, then how do you explain Chaz Bono who as a child was forced into frills and long curls and turned into the stereotype of the perfect little girl? Biology and genetics are still very much a mystery and there is, I believe a long line of variables. Gender isn't as absolute as people want to believe. Society deals in superficial images of maleness and femaleness. Boys should be Boys and play sports and play with trucks. Girls should be Girls and take dance lessons and play with dolls. Well, sorry, but it isn't that simple as much as some people would like it to be. And it can't be that simple because one of the wonders of humanity are the differences, the variables, the individuality of each human being. If that's too complex for you, too bad. But this is a complex world and human beings aren't card board cut outs to be placed in categories because the ignorant and the bigoted are more comfortable with a black and white, simple world.

There is nothing in this article that indicates DNA/Chromosome causes for this condition which leaves one to think there is a gender identity problem caused by parenting at about age 3 thru 5. There is so much conflicting information on parenting today that it has become confusing and with the high divorce rate and proliferation of illegetimate children, single parenting, its not hard to understand why this is happening. Proper nurturing seems to be lost.

Exboston: I am a parent you would obviously hate. I have five kids they all take Judo --even my girls! Every single one of them played with dolls, teacups and the kitchen set ( yes, even my two boys) I have never cared much about gender identity, being well educated I know that they would figure it out for themselves. HOwever, I was surprised but by the age of six all clearly identified as being a boy or a girl. The boys started gravitating to blue stuff and the girls to pink stuff . Though they all love Judo ( its a family sport)

My oldest son is now in puberty ( help us all!) and he still has his first doll stuffed away with his special stuff. He isn't feminine at all ( though it wouldn't bother me if he was) . He is the biggest, meanest lacrosse player on the field---he oozes testosterone! The girls love him ( and he loves them right back) You never in a million years would guess looking at him ( or his brother) that he had played with dolls. He is a straight A student and respectful and kind, I think I raised him very well. I expect him to go on to do amazing things.

My point is that blurring gender roles doesn't really matter---if anything they make people a little more well rounded. In the end I really think genetics wins and there isn't much you can do about it.

When I hear men complaining about boys playing with dolls I really think it is their own insecurities coming out. My husband is a former United States Marine and he never had an issue with out boys playing with dolls. He of course is a real man though.

There is nothing in this article that indicates DNA/Chromosome causes for this condition which leaves one to think there is a gender identity problem caused by parenting at about age 3 thru 5.

Another person who flunking biology attempts to weigh in. The causes are still under investigation, and DNA/chromosomal problems don't explain everything. Indeed, hormone problems while the fetus is developing has shown to change things. Additionally, just for example, it has been found that in some turtles the temperature of the egg determines gender of the turtle when it hatches.

It's bizarre you think that parents are intentionally trying to get their boys to play with dolls and their girls to participate in boys wrestling. I think it's more common that parents are allowing their children to try out different sports or play with different toys instead of slapping their hands when they pick up a doll. I find it funny that many people are so afraid of homosexuality and think that society encourages and creates more gay and lesbians. If that were the case, then back in the 50's and earlier - when "gender roles" were extremely defined, somehow heterosexual couples were producing homosexual children. Shocking isn't it? Throughout history there have always been homosexuals. Sorry, but "women's lib" did not change that. The only difference is that now people aren't as afraid to be who they anymore. I'm sorry that so many people would rather live in their little protective bubble and think that everyone is just like them. sad.

Yeah Chaz, has mutilated her body, to be a man and it's not pretty.... I don't see a lot of homosexuals doing this. Extreme transformation at the best. I do understand that some children are born as one gender and then realize they are the other. But why mutilate your body to conform or think someone will appreciate it more? I think they are looking for something that they were not born with. I do have an issue with the surgical aspect of this. I know lot's of homosexuals and lesbians who have not even thought about the surgery to transform their bodies. They are perfectly fine in the body they were given.

The formative years (birth to 5 years old) are the one area that is being neglected. Even non-physical speech impediments can be linked to these years. My sister refused to believe she had a part in my nephews speech problems. Even when we confronted her with video of her speaking to the child in the very same lisping, when the child was a year old. Yes, parents want to exclude themselves, as the creators of their children's problems. But, YES they are the most likely (if not singular) reason that children develop the way they do.

However, once the damage has been done, we need to deal with it in the most humane way possible.

Whaaat? Gay men and women do not want sex reassignment surgery because they are happy with their sex. Its transgender people who want a sex change. Gay people don't have anything to do with this issue.

I'm 62 and really can't say for sure, but I believe I might have been a candidate when I was little. My Catholic upbringing wouldn't have permitted it and even though I have completely abandoned religion, the biases I have ingrained in my mind would not permit it now. I'd have made an ugly woman. For me anyway, I believe it is better left in the closet. Making a mistake and changing a kid that will regret it is a disturbing concept, but I guess they could be changed back. There are a lot of transvestites out there that would probably have the surgery if they had the choice.

She looks like a girl, acts like a girl. Now think how much more ludicrous it would be to try to turn her into a Hulk Hogan?

Kallie

Thank you for your thoughtful, insightful, intelligent comment.

I am a parent you would obviously hate.

I get some of the above comments made in my presence, also. I have two adult kids, neither with GID but I am smart enough to know that there is no god intervention, no parent forcing a kid one way or the other, little or no confusion for these young kids once they have sorted out in their minds who they are. These GID kids tend to be very accurate in their assessments of who they are, not what they want to be.

I have know two transitioned individuals, both MTF, and one was quite happy and the other not so much. The one who was the most happy was also the most accepted by society (appearance/mannerism) and the one who was the less happy still looked like a man in a dress. The individual who was the most happy transitioned when she was in her early twenties and the other individual transitioned when she was in her fifties. I am convinced if it had been acceptable for my older friend to have transitioned when she was in her teens, she would be much, much more happy today.

...and to those who don't understand what is going on here...go listen to Dylan's Ballad of a Thin Man. Eh, don't bother, you won't understand anyway.

How simplistic: boys are supposed to be boys, etc. Obviously, a refresher course in endocrinology is needed. We have XXX, XXY, XYX, YYX, YY - well, use your math and do the permutations, dude. You are fighting a losing battle.

I praise these young parents with the open hearts and minds to help their child be who they are. We had no idea, save that our daughter was a great ball player and had great hand-eye coordination from an early age. At 18, she came out as gay - no problem. And then in her 30s, she realized that there was more to the picture and more science allowed me to have the son I always wanted with no more labor on my part!

And through it all, the shining soul and spirit is the same. People are so hung up on this strict gender ID and it just doesn't matter.

The human genome contains 23 chromosomes and slightly over 3,000,000,000 base DNA pairs. Think of a human body as machine that has over 3,000,000,000 parts. The Apollo space crafts had 2,000,000 individual parts in them. They had some massive failures, Apollo 1, Apollo13, and several nonfatal failures. Mercury and Gemini also had many failures with far fewer parts. With that many base pairs some failure in the basic way life replicates itself are bound to occur. The align-able sequences within genomes of humans and chimpanzees differ by about 35 million single-nucleotide substitutions. Nucleotides are molecules that, when joined, make up the individual structural units of the nucleic acids RNA and DNA. The A, G, C, U, T , that you see in science books and shows. Additionally about 3% of the complete genomes differ by deletions, insertions and duplications. We are very close to chimps genetically. Many different mutations can inactivate a gene, but few will change its function in a specific way. Inactivation mutations will therefore be readily available for selection to act on. Gene loss could thus be a common mechanism of evolutionary adaptation (the "less-is-more" hypothesis). 80 genes were lost in the human lineage after separation from the last common ancestor with the chimpanzee. 36 of those were for olfactory receptors (sense of smell). Genes involved in chemoreception and immune response are overrepresented. Basically life reproduces itself by copying genes and nucleotides. With 3,000,000,000 "pages" to be copied sometimes the "copier" makes a error. If you believe in god then you must truly beleve that he does work in mysterious ways. If you don't than the math tells you that chance of error in numbers that are in the billions or trillions are great.

hermaphrodites that is a biology caused and did you know it is a spectrum of both outward and in ward . look it up and research.

God loves these people. Who are any of you... really...

I can't believe the hate that some people spew in the name of God.

Luckily it doesn't matter what you think. It matters what science knows.

There is a difference between transgender and homosexual. Transgender people feel that they are in a body of the wrong sex. Homosexual people are attracted to people of the same sex. It's not the same thing at all.

Kelly, I don't think that considering a transgender person and a homosexual person as one and the same is as easy as you do. I had a homosexual family member (died a few years ago of cancer) who would have thought no more about changing their sex than their partner would. They both were perfectly happy the way they were. After years of being around them and their friends, none of which were transgender, it seems to me that it has more to do with what you see in the mirror and are you happy with it. Take two straight women. One loves to dress up in heals, jewelry and makeup while another may prefer jeans, t shirts & sneakers. The first prefers what is considered the more traditional female type jobs and recreational activities while the other one prefers the more traditionally manly type pursuits (check out our awesome female Olympic weightlifter, Holley Mangold). Just because these two women look so different does that have anything to do with what gender they prefer to have sex with? No, it has to do with what they see when they look in the mirror and how they feel about their looks. In other words, are they comfortable in their own skin. Holly, who describes herself as a real girly-girl, is perfectly happy with herself. If you feel like a man, as Chaz does, you hate seeing those boobs and that hairless face. You hate that your voice is so high. You want to look in the mirror and see, on the outside, what you feel like on the inside. To me, Chaz going through what he's gone through makes a whole lot more sense than the 'human Barbies" who are repeatedly going back for more plastic surgery, hoping to attain what they consider perfection but actually, even though they are straight, it's only because they are feeling the same way Chaz or any transgender person feels, that they are still not what they think they should be and hopefully that one more plastic surgery will do it. Sadly their condition will most likely never allow them to be happy with themselves whereas someone like Chaz, who is both transgender and homosexual, can reach that happiness and Holly, a straight female, already has.

Duh, Kelly, gay people are as comfortable with their gender as straight people are. Transgender people aren't. It would be a miserable and boring world if we were all stamped from the same cookie cutter.

You don't think 'parents' can't influence this?

Google Shiloh Jolie-Pitt. Her parents, and I suspect mostly it's her 'mother', are trying like hell to confuse and bluer this child's gender. They've dressed her and chopped off her hair, like a boy, since she was a toddler. I don't see them doing this with the 'other' (ADOPTED) children...

I seriously doubt it my dear! Haven't you seen this family on Dateline before? Didn't think so. The parents are just concerned and caring.

Ronton.

Don't worry. Divorce is an expensive luxury item. As the American Middle Class disappears, a less affluent working class will find divorce to be an significant economic disadvantage. Be ready for more European-style marriages where partners that have lost interest in each other will just take on "mistresses" and in the wife's case (not sure what you would call it).

Trans gender children must be treated with the utmost respect, which is what this mom is doing. This is an issue that many folks want to discount, just like evolution, climate change, etc. This little girl, yes, a little girl who knows she has the wrong body knew something was wrong since the age of three. Be tolerant of her wishes. Its nothing that her mother/father did or didn't do. She has the right to be herself. Thank goodness Doctors and this mom are paying attention! People are way too judgmental and insecure.

Rontron, you really need to do some research as you are totally ignorant in this area. They have done brain scans of transsexuals and dissected the brains of transsexuals who have died. In all cases they have found that their brains had similar formations to the brains of the gender they identified as. In other words people born with male bodies had brain structures similar to people born with female bodies. They were born male with female brains.

Angela - Shiloh Jolie-Pitt is making her own choices as to what clothes she likes to wear and how she wants to wear her hair. Just as the other Jolie-Pitt children are making their choices. See, that's how it is. Each child is an individual, not a cookie cutter of anyone else. How ignorant to think that her mother is somehow singling her out and trying to influence her gender identity.

Um, that's the exact point, genius -- a six-year old has no idea what "social gender" is or what their supposed role in society is supposed to be. They feel the way they feel and, if anything, children are the ones are usually the most vocal in expressing their true feelings and mentality. Just because you feel comfortable in your own skin and want to conform to so-called "traditional" social ideas of gender doesn't mean you're correct. Every society around the earth has a different idea when it comes to what gender is (i.e., Native American cultures where men often lived as women and married men; African cultures where it is expected for young boys to become consorts of older men to prove their place; Indian (South Asia) where eunuchs [men who remove their genitals and live their lives as women] are revered and given gifts to ensure good fortune). I think you need to do a little more research before you spout off on things you know absolutely NOTHING about.

I agree, Chandra - these kids need help, and I applaud the parents who actually provide it. You can't make your kids be what they're not, and while that argument can be used against helping these children as well, I think the more logical, principled and compassionate response is that these kids know what gender they are, and we harm them much more severely if we try to force them to live as the sex dictated by the genitals they were born with. Why are so many so-called Christians so unable to live and let live?

I would say the fool is the one who chooses to ignore medicine and science and chooses to rely on a book thousands of years old that's filled with nonsense and fairy tales and the story of an unseen omnipotent being. These children are who they are and this has nothing to do with a fictional god. The children aren't sick, they are who they are. The sick ones are those blinded by ignorance.

Children...small, defenseless, totally unaware children are brought into a world becoming so dark and evil it's almost beyound comprehension. Then these little human beings are molded into the fruit of their parents(parent) darknesss...they become the result of how they are taught...to feel, to express, to know, and all this before they are even fully potty trained. Then, when they begin to live what/how the reality they've been led into (consciously or not), they are taken to someone who is deeply inside more messed up than the parents are, only this person has a degree. Lots of luck. Blaming this situation on people who believe in God is part of the twistedness. The scary thing is that regardless of what is believed about this situation, it will and is getting worse.

Then these little human beings are molded into the fruit of their parents(parent) darknesss...they become the result of how they are taught...to feel, to express, to know, and all this before they are even fully potty trained. Then, when they begin to live what/how the reality they've been led into (consciously or not), they are taken to someone who is deeply inside more messed up than the parents are, only this person has a degree.

To be fair, as the article states, not all parents try, as you say, to force their children into gender roles dictated by their genitals and have so-called "counselors" try and "cure" them. Some recognize that their children know their identities, and get professional help to allow the kids to live more complete lives as the genders they know they really are.

Oh - wait - you were saying it's good to force children into our preconceived stereotypes. My mistake. You were making a lot more sense before I realized what you were really saying.

Blaming this situation on people who believe in God is part of the twistedness.

"people who believe in God?" No one's doing that. Lots of people believe in a compassionate god. The problem is people who try to act as god (judge not, lest ye be judged).

So Alfred, now that you've proven how completely ignorant and closed minded you are, maybe you should try watching the show tonight! Obviously you don't understand the first thing about being transgender.

By the way, you're the one that's twisted and totally sick.

Well they are sick in a way if you think everyone's supposed to provide a function in nature. For instance, men are supposed to ejaculate in every female they find suitable in a lifetime, eat, crap, circle of life blah blah blah...with transgender they'll get a sex change then be literally broken so they can't procreate and all they are her for now is to provide worm food.

Then there's the nature's imperfect argument where no one is really anything and society and nature only makes us what we are which is imperfect but hell, years ago no one would have the option to change their sex, now we're trying to make it a common acceptable thing as if it's something important. Hell, I don't want to be a f-in human being because you're all pathetic, but I am. I'm depressed everyday because of it and I'm not living a fulfilling life because of the depression. I, however, don't have the choice to turn myself into any other intelligent species.

That's all there is to it. I think the main issue is that seeing it as a 'defect' in nature makes you a homophobe, or whatever-the-hell-a-phobe so all the bleeding hearts can then bitch at you just so they can say how intolerant you are. Sorry, but you all make no sense. Until this is proven as a genetic disorder, it's purely a psychological one which was developed by primary and secondary socialization. Deal with what you were given.

Gender Identity Disorder has been TAKEN OUT OF THE D.S.M.!! In the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistics Manual G.I.D. or Gender Identity Disorder is gone!

Reason one, is that those being diagnosed with this condition don't feel that it's a disorder.

Two, research is pointing towards a medical/physical origin of the condition.

So when you read the new D.S.M. you won't find Gender Identity Disorder. So to say that this is a psychological DISORDER is wrong! it is no longer defined as a disorder. It never should have been classified as a psychological disorder. The cause of Gender Dysphoria is hormone instability during embryological development resulting in a brain structure-genitalia incongruency that leads to gender dysphoria.

I can tell you what a child knows about being of the opposite sex. There is Congressman in our district here in Pennsylvania that has 5 year old little girl that one day looked at her mother and suddenly said "mommy I'm a little boy". Now she is taking hormones and living and becoming a boy. Transgenders know that they are different and feel different even as children.