TLC’s ‘I Am Jazz’ Actually Makes the Anti-Transgender Case <<MOD WARNING>>

From what I have read, the rate is very high among those who are closeted (don't tell their family/friends, until they leave home), those who are thrown out of their homes by their families when they care truthful & come out, & those who suffer bullying at school. Those like Jazz who have loving supportive families & friends, suffer suicide attempt rates, approximately the same as other teens.

 

I know that being trans is confusing to most people & it is common to fear what we don't understand. That is why the parents allowed Jazz to do the YouTube channel & the TV show, because she cares about & wants to help other people. I have had 2 trans (MTF) friends, so I have made it my job to learn & understand as much as I can. Studies have shown that hormonal disturbances during pregnancy increase the likelihood of having a child that is trans, or gay. While it may seem weird to us, medical science has determined that transitioning (socially & medically), is the only treatment that is successful, in the majority of cases. Conversion therapy (for trans or gay children), leads to depression & often to suicide attempts. Also to other long term problems, such as drug & alcohol abuse (which are often attempts to self-medicate). You may not understand or agree, but these parents are doing their best to save their daughter's life. Jeanette said it herself, on the very 1st show. "The choice could easily be, do I accept & love my daughter or bury my son?" Perhaps to you she made the wrong choice, since her child is "different". But I think she did the right thing, the brave & courageous thing; rather than take the easy way out.

 

Finally, a voice of reason! Thank you, you saved me a bunch of typing. I don't necessarily agree with giving a 12 year old hormones, but people are acting like she's Satan Incarnate, which she isn't.

 

Gonna tell me the ONLY reason that transgenders commit suicide is when they are kicked out of their home?

Then why do good people from good homes commit suicide, mass murders, or other heinous acts?

 

Not the only reason,obviously. But being trans is incredibly difficult, more than you can possibly imagine. Not just to feel that you don't fit in your own body, but also because being trans is rare (approx 1% of the population it is estimated) that you don't fit in anywhere, in society, in school, in the whole world. And not having the support & love of your family & the stress of suddenly finding yourself homeless; is almost un-bearable.

As for your 2nd question, there is very rarely only 1 reason for anything we do, good or bad. So, I don't really have an answer, aside from that.

 

Yes, exactly!! Gender dysphoria is a hormonal disorder, that cause a child who is born of one sex, to have the brain & personality of the opposite sex. As my friend Jaye (who is a trans woman) explained it to me, her doctor told her this: "Gender identity is about the sex of your soul or personality. Sometimes it doesn't align with the sex of your body (genitals & DNA), which is what cause the discomfort which we now call "gender dysphoria".

And if you think that Jazz has little opportunity to have a normal life, google Janet Mock, Laverne Cox or Zoe Dolan. While being trans is different, not normal strictly in the sense of not being "average"; because of all the new medical advances, it is no longer a tragedy. I've even read that there is a new procedure called a "uterus transplant", which may make it possible for trans women to have children. In her autobiography, Zoe Dolan stated that "not being able to have children has actually made finding a partner more difficult than the fact that she is trans."

 

Or we could Google people like Alan Finch.
A resident of Australia who decided when he was 19 to transition from male to female, and in his 20s had genital surgery. But then, at age 36, Finch told the Guardian newspaper in 2004:
. . . transsexualism was invented by psychiatrists. . . .You fundamentally can&#8217;t change sex &#8230; the surgery doesn&#8217;t alter you genetically. It&#8217;s genital mutilation. My &#8216;vagina&#8217; was just the bag of my scrotum. It&#8217;s like a pouch, like a kangaroo. What&#8217;s scary is you still feel like you have a penis when you&#8217;re sexually aroused. It&#8217;s like phantom limb syndrome. It&#8217;s all been a terrible misadventure. I&#8217;ve never been a woman, just Alan . . . the analogy I use about giving surgery to someone desperate to change sex is it&#8217;s a bit like offering liposuction to an anorexic."
He also was involved in starting an outreach to others called &#8220;Gender Menders.&#8221; The reaction from the transgender community was fast, furious, and abusive, particularly in the Susans.org discussion forum as described in Sheila Jeffrey&#8217;s book, &#8220;Gender Hurts.&#8221;

Since then, Finch&#8217;s outreach website has been archived and there is no further information online. In fact, Finch&#8217;s subsequent silence is the norm for those who change their minds. This is perhaps not surprising, given the vigor and vindictiveness of the transgender community in persecuting those who have the temerity to suggest that all is not well in sexual La-La Land. But if you look you can find rogue headlines every now and then that even Hollywood&#8217;s fawning over &#8220;all things trans&#8221; can&#8217;t quite control. There&#8217;s much evidence that the carefully crafted pictures of transgender &#8220;authenticity&#8221; and &#8220;happiness&#8221; are more fiction than fact.
Renee Richards
If there was a drug that I could have taken that would have reduced the pressure, I would have been better off staying the way I was&#8212;a totally intact person. I know deep down that I&#8217;m a second-class woman. I get a lot of inquiries from would-be transsexuals, but I don&#8217;t want anyone to hold me out as an example to follow. Today there are better choices, including medication, for dealing with the compulsion to cross dress and the depression that comes from gender confusion. As far as being fulfilled as a woman, I&#8217;m not as fulfilled as I dreamed of being. I get a lot of letters from people who are considering having this operation&#8230;and I discourage them all.&#8217; &#8212;Rene Richards, &#8220;The Liaison Legacy,&#8221; Tennis Magazine, March 1999.
http://thefederalist.com/2014/11/11/trouble-in-transtopia-murmurs-of-sex-change-regret/
Mathew
even years ago, Matthew, a male drag queen, became Chelsea. Now Chelsea wants to become Matthew again. In the article published Oct. 1, 2014, Chelsea says:

'I have always longed to be a woman, but no amount of surgery can give me an actual female body and I feel like I am living a lie.

'It is exhausting putting on make-up and wearing heels all the time. Even then I don't feel I look like a proper woman.

'I suffered from depression and anxiety as a result of the hormones too.

'I have realised it would be easier to stop fighting the way I look naturally and accept that I was born a man physically.'"
One controversial treatment for children with gender dysphoria is the administration of drugs called hormone blockers to delay puberty. The practice is gaining traction without any scientific proof that it is appropriate or effective, and despite the evidence that it can be harmful:

Most children with gender dysphoria will not remain gender dysphoric after puberty. [1]
The FDA has not approved hormone blockers for use in transgender children&#8212;not even for experimental use.
A search for one hormone blocker, Lupron, shows that people are reporting serious long-term, debilitating side effects from having used the drug.
http://www.sexchangeregret.com/

 

Many of these people would not be diagnosed as trans, by modern medical standards. Gender confusion is a different (although similar) condition & while most gender confused individuals will choose to remain the gender they were assigned at birth, the same is not true for genuinely transgender people. The purpose of puberty hormone blockers are to give these kids time to decide if they wish to also transition surgically; some don't for a variety of reasons, mostly to do with money & insurance. Also, as I understand it, gender affirming surgery (formerly known as sex re-assignment surgery) is never allowed on persons under the age of 18, until they are finished (or mostly finished) growing. They have been used for decades in Europe with minimal side effects & the blocking effect can if necessary, be reversed.

In regards to Alan Finch, I have done a little research on this & found that yes, a small number of people do regret transitioning, perhaps we need to find better tools for screening, to get a higher percentage of successful outcomes. But based on the estimated percentage (1%), there are over 700,000 trans people in the US. I have no idea what the numbers are world wide, but the number of people like him that I have found via research is well under 100. That would indicate that most people that transition are living reasonably successful, fulfilling lives.