Should we let children transition? A transgender thread.
Simple question:
Should children who believe they were born as the wrong gender be allowed to transition?
Against:
They are too young to fully understand a permanent decision like that. They could sterilize themselves. As children are wont to do, they often change their minds. Even if there is only a 5% chance, on average, that they change their minds, should we not err on the side of caution and wait until they are adults and can truly make an informed decision before we allow them to potentially mutilate themselves and regret their decision the rest of their lives? This is a huge decision. They should wait. They are just children. Almost none of them are capable of making informed decisions.
For:
Many if not most people who transition make it quite clear that they knew they were different from when they were very young. Even before they had concepts of gender, they knew something was different and that their body wasn't quite right. Additionally, going through puberty really ruins their ability to transition properly and you still "look" like the other gender somewhat, depending on how your genes made you look after puberty. This may be more difficult for male to female transitions. But if they transition before puberty, looking like the other gender is so much smoother and easier! Many want to give children the chance to transition BEFORE their body is permanently changed by puberty so they don't have to hear or see the vestiges of being the other sex after they transition. Sure, surgery and makeup are REALLY amazing, these days, but most people can still tell that something is not quite "right" for many who have transitioned. They don't want that. They want people to accept them as the gender that feel that they are and not "feel" that something is not quite right. They want to be normal. Not have people ask, "Hey, were you born as the opposite sex?" Sure, very few people are that rude but there are people who ask those questions.
Anyway, I believe the scientific side of me agrees that children should not be allowed to transition because it is not an "informed decision." But many children, including myself, didn't magically learn more about adult social constructs and ideas past 11: there was no secret knowledge to learn and I understood the world just fine by that age. So I can also agree with the "yes" arguments, too. Perhaps we should have a group of reputable psychologists put together an assessment that could thoroughly test whether or not a person was mentally prepared and understood all aspects/implications of transitioning? That way, they could know for sure that it was an informed decision? There, that's my compromise. I like my idea. 😄
Full disclosure: my religious beliefs make me think that things like people who are "transgender" have souls. Their soul is the opposite gender of their body. And they know it and can feel it. So I have a bias for transgender people because their special situations support some of my religious beliefs: aka, the existence of a soul. I'm mostly agnostic...borderline atheist. But I still have my theistic beliefs.