Which of these best describes your views regarding transgender individuals?

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Option 3

[Goldwater]

Let's dispel with this myth that bathroom signs stop rapists.

[Beet]

The last option, although I am open to arguments about other options. I haven't actually seen much debate over the biological basis or theoretical basis of transgenderism.

[Frozen Sky Ever Why]

Option 2.

[America Needs R'hllor]

Transgenderism is a fully real thing and we should treat people according to their new gender, including in terms of bathroom and locker room access.

[Mercenary]

It is not made up. That is kind of nonsense.
It is a mental issue but how to address it isnt so simple as saying it is a mental illness. If surgery or identifying as the opposite sex helps the person live a more comfortable life because they feel they are thst sex then that eoild be an easier solutiom than psychiatry that most likely would do nothing but make the person miserable. As long as they are honest about how they were born with any partners it doesnt really hurt anyone to view them as the sex they identify with.

As for bathrooms. If they are taking horomones and have started the transition then I think stalled bathrooms of the sex they identify with are fine. If they still appear fully like their birth sex then no.

As for open showers or locker rooms the only way that would be acceptable is if they are fully transitioned post op and most people couldnt tell. No reason people should be exposed to someone who is still the opposite sex or have to expose themselves to such, especially minors. But if they are post op it certainly makes more sense for them to use the facility of the sex they resemble as its not like you can see their chromosomes or anything.

Basically it is about letting people live however makes them happy as long as it doesnt harm others. Being dishinest to anpartner or a pre op using the showers of the opposite biological sex involves others so it isnt so simple as live and let live. So something between 3 and 4?

[SATW]

I voted #3, but My answer is more complex.

I think we should treat everyone with respect and adults have the right to get reassignment surgery if they want. I'd respect them enough to call them (sane, not an HP) by their preferred gender regardless if they have transitioned or not.

But, I am opposed to letting pre-op trans people into the bathrooms of their preferred genders. Post-op is fine, since they have fully transitioned. Same pretty much applies for locker rooms. Also, for bathrooms, if one is closer to post-op then pre-op, then they should be allowed to use their preferred restrooms (though, for lockerooms, I think one has to be 100% post-op).

But, I think we should have a men's, women's and gender neutral bathroom in all public places to help mitigate the issue.

I am against letting minors go through reassignment surgery because I don't think minors can make that decision at younger ages. If parents want to let their kids identify with their preferred gender, that's fine, but I think reassignment surgery and full hormonal transition is going too far at younger ages.

Maybe at 15 or 16, they can start doing partial or limited hormone treatments. Once they are 18, they can get the full hormone treatments and reassignment surgery etc...

I also refuse to call these people mentally ill, they are people just like everyone else and I believe that transphobia is disgusting and should not be encouraged.

I also agree with Mercenary, I think every partner has a right to know if the person they are dating has transitioned or identifies with their biological gender. It is common decency. You have a right to be happy and do whatever, but you don't have a right to tell people to "just be comfortable" with your choices after the fact.

TL;DR: I'm fairly conservative in my personal opinion on transgenderism, but believe there should be standard civil government protections for trans people. Bullying is never ok.

[Cassius]

4, although with a couple of caveats. First, as others have said, people should use the facilities that they fit into - a bloke with a beard and balls shouldn't be using the ladies facilities. Secondly of course the whole transitioning thing needs to be monitored to some extent - I believe there are at least a few examples of people who have transitioned sexes and then decided they didn't like it one little bit, so this shouldn't be something that can be done quickly and easily without appropriate bureaucratic checks.

[Grumpier Than Thou]

How does option 3 make any sense? "People deserve rights, but not if they want to go to the bathroom." Was that ever part of the anti-gay argument?

[Person Man]

How does option 3 make any sense? "People deserve rights, but not if they want to go to the bathroom." Was that ever part of the anti-gay argument?

That was the center-left's position from 2000-2010 and center's position on gay rights 2010-2014.

I'm option 4. Sunrise is pretty good on this issue. One thing I want to know is what transgenderism really is. Can it be something that can be resolved without transition in some people? Can we ever have the medical engineering skill to make someone fully their identified gender? This is definitely an issue that demands a lot of questions so that we can give better help to more people.

[Blue3]

Other.

I'm still not convinced on it.

But I believe there should be unisex bathrooms and locker rooms and anything else segregated by gender.

[Mr. Smith]

See Sunrise's post.

[Attorney General, LGC Speaker, and Former PPT Dwarven Dragon]

Other.

I'm still not convinced on it.

But I believe there should be unisex bathrooms and locker rooms and anything else segregated by gender.

Unisex communal showers? Even if Curtains are provided I think people would still be pretty uncomfortable with that.

[DavidB.]

4, but I feel I'm still in the process of "getting it"/understanding it even though I've learned a lot. I don't know any trans people irl. Before Atlas I was at positions 1 and 2 (which are not mutually exclusive), and without Atlas/getting to know trans people online and reading about their experiences, I'd probably still be.

[Devout Centrist]

What's with this rape panic nonsense? Even if you have a penis, does that mean you're an uncontrollable rapist?

Sounds like Radical Feminism meets Christian Social Conservatism.

[JA]

Gender, unlike sex, is a social construct with little to no basis in human biology. So the obvious answer is number 4.

[Classic Conservative]

Option 2.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Gender, unlike sex, is a social construct with little to no basis in human biology. So the obvious answer is number 4.

Well I would quibble with that. I'm pretty sure that though the means by one which expresses their gender is a construct, gender identity is rooted in biological reasons. When children with indeterminate genitals at birth have been raised as the opposite gender (including an infamous case of psychological mispractice) they often in adolescence display signs similar to Gender Dysphoria in trans individuals.

Anyway, my instinct is that I have little inclination to be thrown into an asylum or whatever (I have enough problems with self-esteem without having to wear hospital gowns all day :/ ) so I lean against the second option. The bathroom debate makes me cringe. Mostly at the GOP seeing as the average Republican congressmen s probably a sex predator themself, so it feels a bit like projecting.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Anyway to be more succinct gender dysphoria is a mental illness, and it should be treated the way psychologists working through empirical means (NOTE: not mouth breathing Breitbart columnists pulling conclusions from their anus) have deduced is best. Therefore ...

[100% pro-life no matter what]

A mix of options 1 and 2.  To the extent it exists, it's obviously a mental disorder, but I still suspect that it is often the result of parents, teachers, or society telling kids in formative years that it is a possibility, which makes them internalize the feelings that they are the other gender, even though they are not.  But, it's not a real, legitimate thing, and changing the culture of that would go a long way.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

A mix of options 1 and 2.  To the extent it exists, it's obviously a mental disorder, but I still suspect that it is often the result of parents, teachers, or society telling kids in formative years that it is a possibility, which makes them internalize the feelings that they are the other gender, even though they are not.  But, it's not a real, legitimate thing, and changing the culture of that would go a long way.

If you want a better look at mental disorders, why don't you read your post history, idiot.

[progressive85]

It's biology.  A small minority of babies have the brains of the opposite sex.

The right thing to do is for the mom and the dad of the transgender child to allow them to be who they are at a very young age.

If a little boy wants to wear a pink dress, play with dolls, and be a princess for Halloween, that doesn't always necessarily mean that he is a girl, but its a likely indicator that he will be at least gay or gender fluid, and there's a good chance that the child is actually female in the brain and if thats the case, that child's mental health depends on her being able to be who she is.

[JA]

A mix of options 1 and 2.  To the extent it exists, it's obviously a mental disorder, but I still suspect that it is often the result of parents, teachers, or society telling kids in formative years that it is a possibility, which makes them internalize the feelings that they are the other gender, even though they are not.  But, it's not a real, legitimate thing, and changing the culture of that would go a long way.

There's a ton of research on this subject that suggests otherwise. So why don't you prove how you're right? Otherwise, admit your views are fueled simply by bigotry.

[RFayette]

I don't know, to be honest - I don't know anyone who is transgender IRL, so it's hard for me to make a judgment.  God knows our hearts, and I'll leave any judgments up to him, not me. All I'll say is that I don't think reassignment surgeries or hormones should be given to adolescents because I think the person should make that decision as an adult.  My personal views are pretty conservative on this subject, but bullying is wrong and we need to respect people no matter what.  

[OSR stands with Israel]

Option 3