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By JULIE MIDDLETON
Transgender issues have been in the news this week, with a
Christchurch policeman, Steve Lurajud, revealing he wants to become female,
and courageous young Hutt Valley woman Julie talking about how she took
hormones from the age of 14 to assist her transition from boy to woman.
Like New Zealand's most famous trannie, Wairarapa MP
Georgina Beyer, both feel that their psychological identity doesn't match
their physical body - a condition known as gender dysphoria.
According to www.law.vuw.ac.nz/vuw/fca/law/files/nzjpil-Polster-8Oct.pdf
New Zealand has between 2000 and 3000 transsexuals, both male-to-female and
female-to-male.
Check out Google and there are 1,030,000 entries for
"transsexuals". Once you get past the inevitable sex sites -
("see chicks with dicks, live sexy shemales, and high-quality extreme
videos!") - there are some really sincere, informative sites.
The site Americanboyz
caters for those who identify as "FTM, MTF, butch, transman, gender
outlaw, transsexual, drag king, new man, boychick, she-bear, shapeshifter,
transfag, tomboy, passing woman, two-spirit, amazon, tranny boy, intersexual,
female guy, tranz, boss grrl, bearded female, transgenderist, sir, kurami,
hermaphrodite, questioning, just curious ... "
The personal testimony is fascinating, and you begin to realise
what a tough journey transsexuals face socially, emotionally and physically.
This comes from the Americanboyz site: "Being
transsexual is not fun. It's not cool. It's not all that erotic, either. You
do it because you could not do anything else and still be as happy ... there
are many joys associated with that relief from pain, but it is a hard and
difficult road."
This is from www.tsroadmap.com: "Self-acceptance is the most difficult
part of transition ... Voice is one of the most neglected parts of
successfully blending in as female. "Luckily, getting a voice down can
be quite cheap. I spent under $100 on voice [training], and I never get
clocked on the phone." And later: "I feel face surgery [scalp
advance, forehead recontouring, brow lift, trachea shave] was easily the most
important investment of my entire transition."
There are sites covering hormone treatment, links to
surgeons, tips on voice training, and how to tell the kids and at what age (7
to 11, apparently, before peer pressure outweighs parental influence, says www.ren.org/rbp06.html.
Oddly, there seems to be less on FTM transsexuality, although www.tgworld.org/transemploy.php
suggests about 45 per cent of all transsexuals are female to male. One site
snorts that's because it's still a man's world - even if that man becomes a
woman.
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