You use the terms opinion and belief frequently in your article. The implication is that the phenomenon of being transgender is somehow subjective and has no scientific legitimacy. To accept or reject it is equally valid and just an issue on which reasonable people can disagree. In this you are simply wrong. Once upon a time the mental health community viewed being gay and transgender as psychological pathologies that could be cured through the proper therapy. Over many decades, it was finally understood that being gay and being trans are hardwired into the brains of people who identify as such. They cannot be converted and they cannot be “cured”.

The manual on which legitimate psychologists and psychiatrists rely is the DSM-V. It clearly identifies trans people as having a legitimate identity and not a mental health defect. It was not always so. For many years, being transgender was considered a psychological defect. It was only after decades of research and experience that the professionals changed the classification of being transgender. It reflects good application of the scientific method to learn and create greater understanding to resolve the issue. Being transgender is not a matter of opinion or belief, but scientific fact.

For decades a multitude of scientific disciplines have been researching the differences between male and female brains looking for differences in function and structure. Geneticists look at the difference of genes in the different sexes and the way they are expressed. Medical doctors look at the function of brains and how they react differently to the same stimuli when being visualized by a PET scan. Psychologists administer tests to both boys and girls and women and men where the sexes answer the questions differently. Not surprisingly, transgender people answer the same way as the sex with which they identify, not what they appear to be. Their brains light up when scanned the same as the gender with which they identify, not the one they appear to be. The list goes on and on. The evidence is becoming increasingly clear that male and female brains differ in structure and function. Not surprisingly the brains of transgender people more closely resemble those of the gender with which they identify, not the one that would be assumed by merely examining external genitalia.

I have said this before, but the differences in structure and operation between male and female brains is what creates our sense of gender identity. Since trans people have brains which function the same way as the gender with which they identify, it is this which makes them male or female regardless of how they look externally. This is as much biology as external genitalia. One just cannot see it unless you test it. Indeed, since our sense of identity and self-awareness reside in our brains, they are actually more important than incidental equipment appearing below the belt in classifying individuals.

Part of the problem in the debate for the uninformed is the fact that it seems so obvious to them that there is a difference between men and women. It is far more complicated than that. Indeed there are even various types of intersex people who have ambiguous or a mix of genitalia. There are women with XY genes who do not respond to testosterone very well and develop as women. Many of them also have children. The average person would never know they are genetically male because they appear female. Life is a rainbow of possibilities not limited by the binary. There are many variations in how all creatures develop, including humans.

I think part of the passion driving the current debate is due to peoples’ emotional sense that being transgender is ridiculous. It seems crazy to do something they would never consider for themselves. Any cis man would be horrified by the idea of having his penis and testicles removed. For transgender women, they view their equipment as a birth defect and their deepest desire is to have them replaced with a vagina. I should know. I am a postop trans women who finally has achieved a sense of completeness by finally receiving my own vagina. It made me feel complete in a way that I had never experienced before in my life. I am finally whole. I am finally the true me.

The debate over the reality of the trans experience is not an honest or legitimate one. It is no more reasonable than the discussions which occur between those who accept the reality of evolution and those who delusionally believe in intelligent design. It is no more real than those who understand the world is round versus those who disingenuously insist the earth is flat.

You say you are looking for understanding. Fair enough. All of us in the trans community welcome the opportunity to educate the uninformed if they have open minds. Too many, and in particular people like Matt Walsh and J. K. Rowling with their large followings, have a hatred of trans people and are legitimately described as transphobic. They couch their arguments with reasonable sounding language to disguise their extreme agendas. Their rantings fan the flames of hatred and ignorance already prevalent in too much of society. There’s nothing reasonable about the positions they take. They say the things they do to pander to the frightened and bigoted audience who find their extreme views compelling. The collateral damage is those of us in the trans community who have been denied healthcare, housing, employment and even respect by too much of the public. Free-speech has been censored and books removed from libraries to prevent people from learning about our existence. The extreme right wishes that they could legislate us out of existence. They are trying their hardest. Over 260 laws were passed in 2022 alone limiting our rights and even criminalizing the care given by parents and medical professionals to transgender people. We are increasingly under attack by the religious fundamentalists, who would like to establish a system of government based upon Christian theocracy. Too many ordinary people are silent in the face of such ruthlessness. Knowledgeable and sane voices need to be heard.

The anger you see in much of the trans community may not be the best way to move the discussion forward, but it’s completely understandable. We have been misunderstood and suppressed and demonized for too long. What you are seeing is the frustration over such behavior. You want a reasonable discussion? Fine. Stop treating both sides as having equally valid points to be made and become an advocate by educating yourself. That is the way that real acceptance of the trans community will ultimately be achieved. One voice at a time.