# Transgender for everyone **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 8, 2025, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523 "2025-12-08T17:34:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523/21 "2025-12-09T17:57:21Z")
> [@Kropotkin](#): > > I wonder if their view reflects their innate authoritarianism? No, it’s just their latest front in the culture war. They know they’ve largely (for now) lost the argument over gay people, so this is their new boogeyman. They need to rile people up, and the trans folk are currently their easiest target. If they can get enough people to hate trans enough to keep voting Republican, their hope is that they can then start pushing back on the homosexuality again. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523/22 "2025-12-09T19:08:04Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > They know they’ve largely (for now) lost the argument over gay people, so this is their new boogeyman That’s the problem. And, they’re not happy about it. Many believe they lost the war with gays is they didn’t hate enough. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523/23 "2025-12-09T23:29:21Z")
I first heard of “transgender”, as the obsolete term “transsexual”, as a kid in the 1970s. There was a professional tennis player who transitioned, and I also remember that athletes in the 1976 Olympics all had to have their gender tested, with the exception of the equestrienne Princess Anne of Great Britain. If y’all don’t know, there HAVE been cases of men who were talented but not quite world caliber athletes competing as women, and a few cases of people who were intersex as well. I have never AFAIK met someone who was intersex, but in every interview I’ve ever seen with someone who was, they all said that the worst thing for them was being lied to about it, or undergoing surgery to give them the “correct” genitalia, which often caused far more problems than it solved. These were not children who needed corrective surgery, like the child I did see on a Discovery Channel program (back when they really were educational) who was determined to be female but had ambiguous genitalia, and had a channel from her bladder to her vagina and therefore dribbled urine 24/7/365. And speaking of the Discovery Channel, ca. 2000 they had two “Changing Sexes” programs, which I have not been able to find on streaming, or other formats. When a person they profiled in the f-to-m program held up his HS graduation picture, I nearly fell off the couch, because I had absolutely no idea that this cute girl who always had perfect hair, clothes, and makeup was hiding such a drastic secret. At the time, we had [Classmates.com](http://Classmates.com) and I found him on there, and messaged him. One thing I remember saying was, “Figuring out who you really are can be very difficult under the best of circumstances.” He’s in his early 60s by now, and at the time of the program, he was recovering from an operation he’d had to give him a penis he could urinate through. He said it was healing well, even though the recovery was rough, and waved his hand down his body and said, “Everything in harmony.” ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523/24 "2025-12-09T23:49:39Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > If y’all don’t know, there HAVE been cases of men who were talented but not quite world caliber athletes competing as women, and a few cases of people who were intersex as well. We still do not know. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523/25 "2025-12-09T23:59:58Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > How do you “make someone transgender” if they don’t want it? Force all boys to wear dresses? Force girls to date other girls? This is so stupid it’s hard to see how even MAGAts swallow it. And yet… Much easier than you think. Kids who are vulnerable are also easier to influence. This is something schools should not touch in any way. ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523/26 "2025-12-10T00:13:08Z")
Think of the children!! No, not the children who are actually suffering and mistreated because they find themselves in a body different then the gender they internally identify as, the others! You _know,_ that the evil secular humanist school teachers and drag queens are influencing to undergo prepuberty sex changes! They are right over there, by the cat litter boxes that you are also so sure about! ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523/27 "2025-12-10T00:31:31Z")
> [@FluffyBob](#): > > Think of the children!! > > No, not the children who are actually suffering and mistreated If not them, which children do we need to protect? Of course… their bullies! > **[Justice Dept. Sues Loudoun School Board Over Locker Room Case](https://www.loudounnow.com/news/justice-dept-sues-loudoun-school-board-over-locker-room-case/article_6d19cef4-bcfb-43f1-bc8c-2ce8e83fa78b.html)** > > The U.S. Department of Justice today announced it has filed a lawsuit against the Loudoun County School Board in connection with the ongoing legal battle over the Stone Bridge High ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523/28 "2025-12-10T00:40:48Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > No, it’s just their latest front in the culture war. They know they’ve largely (for now) lost the argument over gay people, so this is their new boogeyman. They need to rile people up, and the trans folk are currently their easiest target Yes, this. It’s just the latest in the long parade of fearmongering bullshit these folks trot out to keep people afraid and angry (and voting for them). Gay folks don’t hit that spot so much anymore because they’re less afraid to come out now, which means that more people who previously didn’t realize they actually know someone who is gay (some of them family members and close friends) now do. Not so scary anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523/29 "2025-12-10T01:12:02Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > No, it’s just their latest front in the culture war Is that not in part an indication of authoritarianism? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523/30 "2025-12-10T01:49:52Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > Of course… their bullies! This is definitely the Golden Age of Bullies. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523/31 "2025-12-10T01:57:26Z")
Because they’re not actually concerned about their kids, and controlling their kids. They’re concerned about other people’s kids. Their authoritarian impulse doesn’t arise out of some misbegotten notion that they’re protecting their kids. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523/32 "2025-12-10T02:04:40Z")
Either way? Should discussions about heterosexuality be banned? Should books about boys and girls dating be removed from the library? Should school teachers be totally silent when it comes to heterosexual wives and husbands? ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523/33 "2025-12-10T02:13:15Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Their authoritarian impulse doesn’t arise out of some misbegotten notion that they’re protecting their kids. I agree with this completely. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523/34 "2025-12-10T02:19:48Z")
Ugh, do you have to engage with that guy in this thread?? Everyone else was so good about it. This thread is about Trump’s idiotic phrases, not about that poster’s idiotic theories. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523/35 "2025-12-10T03:00:21Z")
I’m going to go out on a limb here, and say that I do personally believe that most of the teenagers who say they are trans, or at least gender nonbinary, are doing it for attention, and/or because they are outcasts who believe that this will give them a ready-made social circle. I also believe that some of the parents, especially mothers, who claim their very young children are trans have some “Munchausen by proxy” stuff going on, and those are two of a multitude of reasons why anything that might have lifelong effects should NOT be done on minors. And it all makes things so much more difficult for people who really do feel they were born into the wrong body. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523/36 "2025-12-10T03:07:58Z")
Do you have any studies that support these theories, or do you think that saying “I believe…” relieves you of that responsibility? ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523/37 "2025-12-10T03:11:51Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > If everyone is transgender, then mathematically it all works out, somehow. The average human has one breast and one testicle… ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523/38 "2025-12-10T03:22:17Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I’m going to go out on a limb here, and say that I do personally believe that most of the teenagers who say they are trans, or at least gender nonbinary, are doing it for attention, and/or because they are outcasts who believe that this will give them a ready-made social circle. I think you need to learn about how hard it is to be trans to understand it’s very unlikely that a teenager would choose such a difficult path when they didn’t _have_ to walk it. Especially now, in an administration that is openly hostile to trans people and at a time where the worst bullies and bigots are empowered to abuse them. Yeah, you’re really far out on that limb. Nice job working in your misogyny by the way, implying mothers are somehow the problem. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523/39 "2025-12-10T03:25:38Z")
Teenagers are notorious for trying on various personae, often with spectacularly bad consequences. At some point, Ted Kaczynski looked into gender reassignment (and he was well beyond his teen years) but the clinic rejected him almost immediately when they realized he wasn’t trans. I’ve also read about, for instance, the gender reassignment clinic at Johns Hopkins that opened many years ago, and out of the first 2,000 or so applicants, they rejected all but 24. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2025, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523/40 "2025-12-10T03:28:23Z")
None of that is relevant, but I’ll be moving on from this conversation. I’m sure you will have all the opportunity in the world to be educated on this subject if you stick around. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/transgender-for-everyone/1025523.md?page=3)