Transexuality

You said that the suicide rate is 20 times higher than the one amongst non-transgender people, and though you did not present a source for that information, I'll accept it and believe it's true. But why do these suicides happen? Could it be because of how society treats transexual people? In this very same page, debate.org, 52% of the people believe that transexuality is not normal. How do you think that makes a transexual feel? There is clear discrimination against transexuals, for example, a trans woman named Gina Serra was fired from her job just because she was transexual, and Raina Aliev, was killed by her father, who when he saw his daughter, the only thing he said to her was, and I quote, "Bring him to me and kill him right in front of my eyes" before stabbing her to death. (The quote might not be very accurate, as I translated it from the Spanish newspaper I found it in). So, don't you think that the cause of suicide may be because they have to live with discrimination, watching crimes like this happen, being humilliated, ignored, subjected to unwanted comments, just because the only thing they wanted was to be happy? Moving on to your next argument, you said that 70% and 80% of CHILDREN lose these feelings over time. You said it there, children. People who don't have the same ability of thinking and reasoning as an adult. How can you take a 5 year old's whims seriously? When I was 5 years old I believed I would get admitted into Howgarts when I turned eleven. Thing is, it's not the same if a child expresses these feelings, than if an adult does, a child might not know what they're getting into, but an adult does at least 80% of the time. And you are comparing suicide to removing sex organs, because ending your life and changing your genitals are totally on the same level. You talked about DNA,well, DNA analysis from 112 male-to-female transsexual volunteers showed they were more likely to have a longer version of the androgen receptor gene, based on a research done in Prince Henry's Institute, Monash University. "We think that these genetic differences might reduce testosterone action and under masculinise the brain during foetal development." said researcher Lauren Hare. And, if DNA makes us who we are and what we are, I'm sure you can explain how, if I cut several parts of your brain you'll become nothing more than an empty shell with no power of reasoning or thinking. In Alzheimer's disease (which affects the brain), patients slowly start lo lose their memory and ultimately become an empty shell, not remembering how they were and acting totally different. And, for example, if someone is a coward, a few tweaks in their frontal lobe will make them fearless. Our brain is who we are, and hormones can infuence that too, for example, the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP), found out that testosterone can change brain structures in female-to-male transsexuals. If you look up in the dictionary the definition of, for example, woman, it says: a person of the female sex. And if you look up sex (not intercourse), the definition is: sexual organs. So, if sexual organs determine whether you are a man or a woman, and you go through sex reassignment surgery, it is safe to say that they can change their sex. I've proven that a transexual's brain is different, that their DNA is different, that their responses to hormones secreted by people from their opposite gender are different... science proves transexuality is real and not 'a mental problem', like you so kindly stated in your argument. We should treat these people no differently than we treat non-transexual people, they aren't hurting anybody, they are only making choices that they believe will make them happier. The majority of the transsexual individuals have reported enjoying better sex lives and improved sexual satisfaction after sex reassignment surgery. Of course, there is a percentage which ends up regretting their decision, but isn't that the case in every big decision? Besides, this percentage is very small, and we shouldn't forbid sex reassignment surgery if the vast majority of people are happy with it. I thank Con for debating against me in this debate, and await your final argument and votations.