It is much harder than gay or straight. That is a simple sexual attraction and could be phemerone ish or something.

This does not mean I am judging them, just struggling with comprehending. I understand the whoops - doctor changes sex of child and child knows it is wrong. Understand if the bodies hormones are different, but have trouble seeing why people should care about what sex they are in a not medical way. Mom wanted me to be a girly girl with frills make up and high heels, I just didn't feel like it, and ended up excelling at more "Male identified" things. I live in jeans and tee shirts, don't see why it is important what sex I am, except at work where I had to fight the old boy network and usually did by going out with them and drinking them under the table. So, why it is important to change sex when sex should not matter very much except when you have to fight to get accepted. I.e. I hate gender identified toys and rules and roles and never understood why people were upset when men wore dresses, like who does it hurt?

which is part of the reason why I posted this article for discussion. I've never spent any time around a transgender (at least to my knowledge and my apologies if that is the wrong term) so it is difficult for me to form any opinions on this subject.

There are such a broad array of topics to cover regarding the "rights" of the transgender that I feel naive even trying to put myself in the mindset of a transgender. Employment discrimination, housing discrimination, insurance coverage and social associations are just a few items that I can see the transgender population requiring rights protections.

I'll do my best to keep an open mind and not be too shocked by what happens.

created the opportunity for one to realize what could only be dreamed of in the past. The joy that brings is undeniable for those who can afford to make such a change but it can't be an easy decision no matter how certain someone feels given the prejudice in this world. I deeply admire their courage.

I am afraid most people will just take a simple route and hate people for being different - yet people are people, so few are deserving of the hatred faced in daily life.

I really don't have to understand the whys and what fors, I just want to. The basic answer is that everyone deserve to have their uniqueness respected as long as their desire does not hurt anyone else. (i.e. no support for NAMBLA members). this goes for people who have illnesses as well as differences. like Asberger's, severe ADHD, people with a variety of physical and mental disabilities. People who like to dress differently, people who like to walk differently (used to have a college prof who liked to skip to class, such a nice guy, that was picked on) people who like to eat differently and so and so on.

hearts, minds, and souls that they are female.

The reverse is also true (bio female feel male).

That's all there is to it.

I am one.

I am kind of crazy like this - I obsessed by ideas - what I mean is that I was stymied studying physics until I could understand electromagnetic stuff. I just get to a point and then get stuck there. Fell a month behind my class trying to get over this, finally a light clicked and I could move on and catch up.
In this case, I can accept I will never really feel the way someone else does, if anything I feel more asexual now. I never felt particularly like a woman in the way others describe it, except as part of the rights fight. Not wearing makeup, and wearing jeans all the time, I am frequently mistaken for a male, where my very pretty straight brother is often mistaken for a female - some mixed up genes we have, ha ha. So I guess, over time , I have just given up caring who is male and who is female. What ever you want, is OK. I am not stopping or judging anyone, I just can't get my mind around it. Intellectually, I understand, gut level, I do not. Not that it is your problem, just something I am working my way through. Eventually something will settle in this rusty old brain.

Or who pays for dinner on a date or who holds the door open. That is all gender ROLE stuff.

What trans people go through is not necessarily issues with gender role, just wanting to change their perceived gender. Some trans girls are "girly girls". Some are nerdy girls. Some are tomboys, some are even butch. There are a wide variety of gender ROLES trans women fulfill, but the defining characteristic is all want to be referred to as she/her/"girl name" etc. And thought of "oh that girl across the street" instead of "that guy across the street" It's as simple as that.

The reverse applies to trans men. I've seen some girly trans guys even...

graduating from high school. I honestly forget which way it goes, but the young person involved is a trans gender, who about a year ago legal changed his/her name to reflect his/her current status. Really, I don't recall which way it goes. For me, that's not the important part. What is important is that the local high school was insisting that this person wear the graduation gown of the birth gender, even though that person now identifies differently. It's something like blue for the guys, white for the girls.

When I graduated from high school nearly fifty years ago -- 1965 -- we had never heard of such things as a transgender person, and so of course no one questioned the two different colors of gowns. As I recall, the girls wore white, the boys wore green.

But the local thing has made me think very hard about this. There are at least two good solutions. One is that the graduate wear the color that person identifies with. The other, the better one in my opinion , is that all the students wear the same color. Period. End of problem.

I'm sorry to report that the young person referred to at the beginning chose not to attend the graduation, rather than wear the gown he/she no longer felt suitable.

We still have a long way to go.

My first gay friend, when I was 17 was a young 16 year old guy who cross dressed. He was like having a good girlfriend. He looked really cute, too!