Transgenderism should not be considered a mental illness.

Now that our main arguments have been created, time for rebuttals. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Strong and persistent identification with the opposite sex is what marks one with being transgender, or gender dysphoria.” (Con) -First of all, there is a distinct difference between the term “sex” and the term “gender”. I stated this in my main argument earlier that gender isdefined as the “the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex”. -Most important to this definition, is the word “associated”. It implies that a person does not have to be a certain sex in order to show the gender characteristics “associated” with that sex. Arguably, many transgender people are certainly aware of their biological sex so if you’re implying that they confuse themselves as the opposite biological sex, that is virtually something else entirely different from transgenderism. “ People who truly experience this have a strong disgust at their own genitalia, going so far as to perform self castrations.” (Con) -The definition I have provided does not include your point that transgender people feel “strong disgust at their own genitalia” and therefore, the burden of proof is on you to show that they actually do. Even if you did find evidence though, based on the definition I have provided, a transgender does not necessarily have to feel that way in order to be “truly”(i.e. genuinely) transgender. Transgenderism is solely a matter of a person’s identity not conforming to conventional ideas of gender whether or not some of them actually do feel “strong disgust” “…but I am fine with my gender as a male…” (Con) , “ ...the fact that they are their assigned genders” (Con). -Correction: *...but I am fine with my sex as a male…*, assuming you meant to say you are biologically a male. -I established this earlier, gender does not exclusively apply to biological sex given the definition of “gender” and the definition of “sex” (http://prnt.sc...). “Transgenders also are definitely causing suffering to themselves.” (Con) -How are they causing suffering to themselves? Burden of proof is on you again to show how they do so. More importantly, I don’t see how being more masculine or more feminine would cause suffering to themselves. If anything, acting as a transgender alleviates the uncomfortableness of not having the characteristics of the gender they want to be and does not necessarily pertain to whether or not they feel uncomfortable of their genitalia. “ Your trapped in a body that your mind is rejecting on a deep and personal level.” (Con) -It's not accurate to say that they are rejecting their body in particular, but that they are rejecting an identity. Its also arguably not accurate to say that they are “trapped” since they can change their identity by changing their gender characteristics (i.e. becoming more masculine or more feminine). “As mentioned, it greatly heightens the risk of depression and anxiety as well.” (Con) -You did not provide evidence for this claim. Even if you had done so, arguably transgenderism is not a plausible factor since there are factors such as discrimination from others that may cause them to be that way and not transgenderism inherently. “Depression and anxiety” that some transgender people feel is from cause and effect. I will sequence this in order to demonstrate this: Firstly, a person desires to change their gender out of preference. =>Secondly, they change it by conforming to characteristics of the opposite gender. => Third, they then face discrimination such as for job employment and that causes them to be depressed. The main idea behind this is that there are a myriad of other factors that could have caused the depression and anxiety that some transgender people feel besides transgenderism itself. ------------- Now I want to tie up some loose details concerning the arguments I made in the last round. Mainly, discussing how transgenderism alleviates suffering. One of the reasons why I included the scenario where you had to choose between male and female for the person on the left, was because I wanted to demonstrate how they adhere to the standard of normalcy. Which is to say that they perfectly adhered to specific genders to the point that one would likely not question what gender they were. Is there something inherently “abnormal” with being more masculine or more feminine? Obviously not since most of society conforms to either of the two. If you watched the entire Youtube video, you’ll find that they live fairly content lives. Hypothetically, what if they did not change their gender? Wouldn’t they be suffering in contrast to how they are now? Arguably, they would be. The same reasoning could apply to many other transgender people. Being a transgender for some people actually alleviates suffering rather than impose suffering. Therefore, relative to the definition I provided, it should not be considered a mental illness since it arguably does the opposite. I leave it to my opponent now to try and refute what has been argued.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------