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Serious LGBT question - Keep it Nice!

AlaskanAssassin

AlaskanAssassin

Well-Known Member
Recently I watched the viral video titled "Ryland's Story" which depicts a young girl struggling with her gender identity and choosing to live life as a boy (through the help of her parents). Here is the video if you haven't seen it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAHCqnux2fk


I had a discussion with a friend at work, and I posed the question regarding why the transgender community elected to attach themselves to the LGB community.

It seems odd to me that the transgender community would attach themselves to this group, as it seems to confuse those who still don't know or understand what it means to be transgender. My friend (I use this term lightly) was under the impression that transgender people are simply gay people that elect to live as the opposite gender to make life easier. We had somewhat of a heated debate, but I still left wondering why the connection exists.

By my limited understanding, transgender people can be either gay, straight, or bisexual. Being transgender has no effect on your sexual orientation, which is exactly what the LGB community is based on.

Does anyone have any understanding as to why these two communities decided to join together? Am I missing something here?
 
So they can gain more support and people. Political interest groups do similar things. The groups may not be identical but they are similar enough by social standards so that they can combine and create a larger and more powerful group
 
LazyD said:
but they are similar enough by social standards so that they can combine
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"Similar enough by social standards" just confuses people. They are not similar AT ALL! They might as well have joined with the NAACP. Is there one characteristic that joins these two groups together? Is there one? I don't think so. It just seems like these two groups uniting has confused a lot of people out there.
 
Well, like you, I understand being gay and transgendered as very different things. One has to do with who you're attracted to, and the other one has to do with your own body. You can be a gay guy attracted to other dudes, and not feel any urge to become a woman.

I think that part of the reason that the two communities tend to support each other is they're both dealing with gender issues/gender bias. A lot of more conservative folks believe that males should like the color blue and big trucks and army soldiers, while women should like the color pink and barbie dolls and cooking. Both homosexual and transgendered people upset those conventions; they make people uncomfortable because they're reminders that our ideas about gender roles are social constructions.

A gay couple, for instance -- by the very fact that they are the same biological sex -- necessarily need to split up domestic tasks in a non-traditional way... there's no automatic assumption of "the guy's the breadwinner, the gal's the homemaker." Just by being together, they show that the traditional gender roles just aren't necessary. And the transgendered person, of course, does the same thing by simply showing that sex and gender identity of any individual person are both a choice. To people who are comfortable with, and even cherish, the "traditional" gender roles, these are very frightening truths to face. Some of those people, in an effort to protect these roles, argue for their absolute necessity, or that their maintenance is a divine command. Because of that, gays and transgendered people end up facing a lot of the same opposition, even though they're quite different things.
 
AlaskanAssassin said:
"Similar enough by social standards" just confuses people. They are not similar AT ALL! They might as well have joined with the NAACP. Is there one characteristic that joins these two groups together? Is there one? I don't think so. It just seems like these two groups uniting has confused a lot of people out there.
Click to expand...

But to the general public they are similar.

Also their goals are similar.
 
AtheistPreacher said:
I think that part of the reason that the two communities tend to support each other is they're both dealing with gender issues/gender bias. A lot of more conservative folks believe that males should like the color blue and big trucks and army soldiers, while women should like the color pink and barbie dolls and cooking. Both homosexual and transgendered people upset those conventions; they make people uncomfortable because they're reminders that our ideas about gender roles are social constructions.
Click to expand...

That's a good point. Didn't think of it that way. Thanks!
 
AtheistPreacher said:
Well, like you, I understand being gay and transgendered as very different things. One has to do with who you're attracted to, and the other one has to do with your own body. You can be a gay guy attracted to other dudes, and not feel any urge to become a woman.

I think that part of the reason that the two communities tend to support each other is they're both dealing with gender issues/gender bias. A lot of more conservative folks believe that males should like the color blue and big trucks and army soldiers, while women should like the color pink and barbie dolls and cooking. Both homosexual and transgendered people upset those conventions; they make people uncomfortable because they're reminders that our ideas about gender roles are social constructions.

A gay couple, for instance -- by the very fact that they are the same biological sex -- necessarily need to split up domestic tasks in a non-traditional way... there's no automatic assumption of "the guy's the breadwinner, the gal's the homemaker." Just by being together, they show that the traditional gender roles just aren't necessary. And the transgendered person, of course, does the same thing by simply showing that sex and gender identity of any individual person are both a choice. To people who are comfortable with, and even cherish, the "traditional" gender roles, these are very frightening truths to face. Some of those people, in an effort to protect these roles, argue for their absolute necessity, or that their maintenance is a divine command. Because of that, gays and transgendered people end up facing a lot of the same opposition, even though they're quite different things.
Click to expand...

This response illustrates how advocates try to have the issue of gender/sexuality both ways.
They say you are born with your sexuality (who you are attracted to) but that gender is merely a social construct.
Even in homosexual relationships the partners take on gender roles...one Lesbian usually likes to "wear the pants" literally and figuratively.
The homosexual males with feminine traits tend to take on the feminine roles.

Gender is psychobiological and can be messed with before the child is even born.
The sex hormones influence the brain development so if you flood the womb with hormones (the pill) during development you change everything.

Color preference is inconsequential.
The interests/hobbies of the sexes don't matter to me as a conservative, career choice only in few cases where it effects job performance...effects those they serve in a negative way.
Though, you'll never be able to convince me that children don't need a married mother and a father. They need what they each have to offer.
 
dalamon said:
Fortunately, America won't need to :)
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May take heat for it but I see the parenting issue this way.

Mother and Father
Two fathers/Two mothers
Single Parent (mother or father)

Effective in that order and generally speaking. I am sure we all know examples that throw that order into disarray. I do not think "married" is necessary but preffered.
 
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