At 08:24 AM 7/6/00 EDT, you wrote:
>Stephen has addressed the recent changes in legal activism in the
transgender
>community. It is highly significant that he challenges the view held by many
>legal, social and medical academics that transsexual people simply want to
be
>recognized by the law as members of their new 'legal sex' group.

It will be interesting to learn more about the population studied, research
methods, and statistical stratification of these results.  While it is
certainly true that a larger transgender movement exists which may seek
recognition as a new legal gender, a significant number of successful late
stage transsexuals eschew involvement in transgender support groups and
politics and quietly disappear into mainstream society as members of a
traditional legal gender.  The re-reclassification of successfully
integrated transsexuals as members of a third sex, while perhaps welcome in
the sense of promoting the interests of the broader transgender community,
may not be in the best interests of the far more narrowly defined
transsexual community.  Indeed, one would have to look very carefully at
the methods employed to initially sample and deal with nonresponse of
successfully integrated transsexuals to know whether these results actually
reflect the aspirations of the transsexual community or if they more
properly reflect the desires of the broader transgender community.  It
would be extremely difficult to design and execute a study which
effectively studies transsexuals who elect to disappear into mainstream
society.

My personal opinion is that "separate but equal" treatment has never
resulted in anything other than perpetuation of cultural stereotypes,
discrimination, and violence.  Successful reintegration into society and
formal recognition as a member of a traditional legal gender may well be
the best grounds under which transsexuals may be protected.  Unfortunately,
this approach does not serve the needs of the broader transgender
community, it may be short sighted because it leaves the door open for
mistreatment of transsexuals who have not crossed some arbitrarily defined
therapeutic threshold for legal recognition, and it may promote social,
cultural, and legal discrimination against non-transsexuals.

>o  the right to personal physical safety,
>o the right to keep a  job regardless of a transgendered status and
resultant
>lifestyle,
>o  the right to be treated equally before the law particularly in
>relationship rights,
>o  the right to medical (including reassignment) treatment if requested.

These goals, should be accorded to residents of any country because they
are simple human rights.  It is only through the singling out of
transsexual (and more recently transgendered) individuals that these rights
have been lost.  Creating a new legal gender which may become the focus of
societal discrimination and attacks may well be a serious mistake -- at
least for the transsexual community.

>The chapter is easily understood. It makes it quite clear  that the battle
>for trans rights are not in anyway unique, but rather it is a battle for
>respect and equality of all people . . .

... respect and equality of all people ... this should be the goal -- not
the arbitrary creation of a new ... separate but equal ... legal gender.

Best regards,
A. J. Annala


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