re: Anna's comments below
These are exactly the arguments I have used in many court cases -
 whether I believe them or not is irrelevant, as at those times I'm
being a lawyer and fighting a particualr corner.

and on the whole - these arguments are ones that judges feel
comfortable with

stephen
> Now that I've had a chance to review the full text of his article, I would
> propose an entirely different perspective on the transsexual rights agenda.
>
> The medical research community has in recent years discovered evidence that
> there exists a physical somatic birth defect in the form of structural
> changes in the developmental wiring of a transsexual's brain.  The
> structure of an MtF transsexual's brain is essentially identical to the
> female wiring pattern.  The structure of an FtM transsexual's brain is
> essentially identical to the male wiring pattern.  These structural changes
> are the result of the inappropriate levels of androgen exposure in utero
> during the third month of embryonic development.  These sexually dimorphic
> structures of the brain are the basis of one's sense of gender identity.
>
> The medical research community has also found that one's internal sense of
> gender identity cannot be changed by medical intervention to alter one's
> genitalia at birth, administer hormones, psychotherapy, or socialization.
>
> Because we cannot change the gender determining structures of the brain
> once they are established by androgen exposure in utero, the only effective
> means for rehabilitation is to correct the superficial external body
> appearance.
>
> In short, the proposed alternative strategy is to argue that the gender of
> a transsexual is the consequence of the immutable physical structural
> somatic organization of their brain as determined long before birth.
>
> Therefore, I propose transsexuality is not a psychiatric disorder.
> Instead, transexuality is a form of hermaphroditism where some superficial
> aspects of the body differ from the true gender determined by deeper
> structures of the brain.  Transsexuality is a medical condition which the
> medical community is well aware only responds to medical treatment to
> alleviate intense dysphoria including hormone replacement and surgery to
> repair an obvious deformity.
>
> In short, one's gender is determined by brain structure at birth.  The
> simple fact is that transsexuals are not changing gender.  Their gender
> designation was merely mistaken by a nonspecialist physician at birth based
> on superficial observation.  Today's transsexuals are simply applying for
> the correction of their birth records based on delayed expert medical
> evidence and for surgical revision of a few easily modified superficial
> external appearance factors.
>
> Transsexuality is not a question of passing.  It is more a question of
> being recognized, rehabilitated, and reintegrated into society as one's
> true self.
>




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