The whole debate about this issue has been illuminating and it reveals there are tensions in the community between those who, like myself, are of the binary gender group, ie born as one gender and became legally the other, and the intersex group who were born to some extent hermaphroditic (400 a year in the UK !!) and have significant issues to deal with such as forced gender assignments and indeterminate gender identity.
Although we are both in the Trans camp we have, to some extent, not just different agenda but are pulling in different directions. The compromises and understandings we have of each need ot be continually refreshed.
Unfortunately when you're actually arguing about another issue entirely, those differences can result in genuine clashes of interest, or just awful misunderstandings as we approach situations from different directions.
Go, admit it. It's fascinating to read about issues you never knew existed and don't affect you in the slightest. keep to the Fen Causeway
How does the law deal with the two different groups? are intersex people classified as one or the other at birth? and when they grow up are they allowed to change? and how are their marriage rights dealt with? (and how does their existence affect the legal arguments for gay and trans marriage rights?) Any idiot can face a crisis - it's day to day living that wears you out.
However intersex people suffer cos they are given forced assignments, which includes surgical intervention on young children to make them conform. There is increasing understanding of the intersex condition nowadays and it is more likely that they will wait until the child themself expresses a preference, but forced assignments still occur too frequently.
So they have that burden. However the bigger ongoing problem for them is that many really don't identify strongly enough in the binary. In their head they're kind of in-between which gives them issues in their legal status. They really don't know how to conform and have days when they're femme and days when they're guy and an awful lot of days when they don't want to shave but dress as a woman etc etc. Consequently they have problems with employment cos they don't fit in.
I confess I really don't know too much about it as I've only ever met a couple and didn't talk to them about it in depth, but the general impression I got was of being genuinely confused, like they didn't fit anywhere. They only really seem comfortable in each other's company cos they're the only ones who remotely understand. keep to the Fen Causeway
