The Problems With Physically Transitioning as Shared by a Trans Woman

Leanne Mills

The following is a response to Leanne Mills, who shared her thoughts on the downside of physically transitioning with the website Transgender Trend. I hope you will read the post and actually give Leanne's words some thought rather than a) attacking her as a "freak of nature" for having transitioned or b) attacking her as a "traitor" for revealing the negative aspects of gender reassignment surgery.

Thank you, Leanne, for sharing your story. It couldn't have been easy.

I sometimes think that if I had been young in this era, I would have been convinced by psychologists that I was transgender because I never liked to dress in a "feminine" fashion and I was always angry at the opportunities that boys were given. I didn't want to BE a boy. I wanted the opportunities and respect that they get, and I find feminine clothes impractical. 

I have always felt that transgender people should be treated with kindness and common decency, that no-one should be denied opportunities or be bullied and called names for being transgender. However, I cannot understand or abide by the current climate of consciousness which postulates that anyone who disagrees with the trans activist movement is a "TERF" who deserves to have physical violence done to them. It is impossible to have a conversation about identity politics or about whether transitioning is indeed what is best for a person, for the reasons you mention in your post without being shouted down and accused of being some sort of bigot. One is supposed to simply accept mantras such as "trans women are women" without question.

The thing is, I'm the sort of person to approach others from an above the neck perspective, not to obsess on what's below their belt. I'm going to treat people like people first, and if someone identifies as a woman, I will call her by her preferred pronouns (same for men.) I'm not going to demand that this person prove they have the "correct" genitalia or that they were born whatever sex they say they are. However, trans activists will nonetheless brand me a TERF because I question whether giving children puberty blockers is the right action. There is no rational discourse with these people.

We need more trans people like you who are courageous enough to speak about the downside of transitioning. Thank you for doing so.

~Sly Has Spoken~