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epiphiny43 -> RE: Federal judge rules state must provide sex reassignment surgery for convicted murderer (9/7/2012 2:52:40 AM)
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ORIGINAL: stellauk
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ORIGINAL: epiphiny43
Knee and hip replacements are done to restore function.
This is the exact same reason that gender reassignment therapy and SRS gender reassignment surgery is made available to the transgendered.
GID is a genetic defect in some ways similar to Down's Syndrome. However unlike Down's Syndrome there are no physical symptoms, unlike Down's Syndrome it does not affect someone's appearance, unlike Down's Syndrome it's not something which can be tested for.
Someone with GID identifies themselves as being of a different gender to their physical gender and as a result feels that they are not that physical gender and are unable to be themselves or function as themselves on any level as that gender.
Unlike with any other medical condition society generally forces you to either have to constantly prove yourself as that other gender or to completely give up your sense of self and play along with being your physical gender and somehow come up with a new sense of self congruent with your physical gender - i.e. you have to become a new person.
Gender reassignment has got nothing to do with a man becoming a woman (or vice versa). This is not possible. Gender reassignment is all about developing the gender identity of the person who is transgendered so that they can be on a par with everybody else in society, enjoy a sense of self which is congruent psychologically, emotionally and physically so that they can function on a par with everyone else in society.
Part of having a sense of self is having a body or appearance which you feel belongs to you. So okay, you may be a bit disappointed that your breasts are too large or too small, or your penis isn't the right shape, but generally speaking if you're cisgendered (i.e. not transgendered) the chances are is that you have a body which you're generally happy with and which confirms your gender identity.
The transgendered don't have this, and the whole idea of gender reassignment and transitioning is that they can end up with a body so that they can have a sense of self and be able to function in society just like everyone else.
Therefore SRS reassignment surgery isn't 'cosmetic' surgery, but like the hormones and the therapy something which is medically necessary for the transgendered to have that sense of self and be able to function in society on a par with everyone else.
Being referred to as or thought of as a gender other than the one you are is something that most people would find offensive. So why then does the same thing become acceptable when the person in question is transgendered?
It also has to be said that if a judge can rule that a convicted murderer is eligible for SRS gender reassignment surgery, then surely just as easily a judge can issue a ruling on gender acquisition and gender recognition, it can become law. If the transgendered were to be legally recognized as being their acquired gender prior to surgery when they are receiving gender reassignment therapy and hormones then rulings such as this for Kosilek would not be an issue.
Not quite as advertised. SOME diagnosed as GID have specific sexual genetic inconsistencies with typical adults. (Few 'genetic inconsistencies' are limited to sexual physiology or hormone profiles. which probably helps explain the depth of the disphoria of many and the lack of success of hormone and surgical treatment.) A lot of other reasons are known for diagnosis with the Construct of GID. Constructs are useful ideas or labels, not real descriptions of reality. Not knowing the difference leads to a world of mischief. (See: Dominance by Susan Friedman) Childhood onset of gender disphoria is quite different from adolescent and early adult onset. That the subject married as a male and later(?) 'found it essential to his survival' to be gender reassigned seems likely to place him in the more psychological of etiologies rather than the genetic. These cases more closely resemble other body disphoria such as the eating disorders and other perception processing issues.
Though the above is a nice rephrasing of the current GLBT manifestos around, it has a few problems. For the law to recognize the subject as only within the male/female dichotomy, modern medicine has to be ignored as gender is Not the binary system English pretends but a continuum with a whole spectrum between two extremes. The Law has issues dealing with this, (And prison dorms) as do English and most Americans. And certainly the subject. Asking courts to recognize pre-treatment some nebulous idea the perps advance that they are actually inconsistent beings from their external genitalia or their cellular chromosomes might be unrealistic? Most of them are lucky to just get a competent defense lawyer?
More to the point, what was missed, blocked out or consciously ignored, was that 'gender reassignment' has a dismal record of actually Treating the problems though it does a fair to middling job of producing visually acceptable genitalia. With an astonishing record of unpleasant complications and 'poor outcomes' just physically. That the subject has so many behavioral issues (MURDER?) and psychological symptoms leads to considerable doubt as to the 'independent judgment' of the physician for even recommending the subject as a candidate. Suicidal self-mutilators (Or those who threaten such to obtain their goals) are not the ideal candidates for any serious hormone or plastic surgery procedures. Or even acceptable for most ethical practitioners.
This is a Bad case and exactly the kind that make for bad Law. One judge's pronouncement is hardly the Law, even in the jurisdiction it was issued. It has to be reviewed by higher courts and is always subject to legislative rewriting of the relevant statutes.
The idea womens prisons are much less violent I believe is now in the past. As the prison populations reflect the reality and inclusiveness of drugs and gang life in the economically depressed neighborhoods, all that culture is now moved into the womens prisons?
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