Oh don't give me that solipsistic crap. Evoking the specter of "science!" is nothing more than a narcissistic ploy, an attempt to avoid an argument by assuming an unwarranted position of superiority and suppressing dissent based on the default assumption your position is unassailable. Next you will toss out the genderphobe trope. However science is only important to the American left when it can be evoked to support the advancement of an agenda. The AGW debate is the perfect example. Yet when it comes to other political issues, such as the sacrament of abortion, the left tosses the associated science right out the window.
Your "the science is settled" argument isn't any more valid as when that phrase is applied to the AGW issue, yet any evocation here of psychiatrist or psychologist who oppose your preset view will be treated the same as when someone correctly points out the "95 percent of climate scientist agree" claim is a lie. For example, in support for the veracity of the transgender/mental illness position read Dr. Paul R. McHugh.
I guess it depends on what you mean by "the science is settled." In terms of transsexualism having a physical cause, that is pretty quickly becoming settled. Though it isn't settled because we don't fully understand the causes, and most would prefer that there was a better treatment than some extremely serious surgery.
The facts are we have a good idea of why people are born transsexual -- and to a lesser extent transgender. Not only that, we have found that we can reproduce it in various animal species and could likely reproduce it in humans -- though that won't be tried for ethical reasons. It is worth pointing out that we have found that children of mothers who took hormones during pregnancy (which was frequently done in the 50s for problem pregnancies) are much more likely than average to have gender dysphoria.
We've also now seen studies that verify that transsexual brains have the appearance and structure of a brain of the gender the person claims to be, not the gender between their legs, and it has been found this brain structure exists prior to a person taking hormones.
But there is work to be done, in particular, what are the causes of transsexualism; and more broadly, transgendered feelings. We seem to have discovered with some people it is issues in the womb, such as the mothers who took hormones. Some believe the mother being under great stress at the wrong time, which causes an abnormal amount of hormones to be produced, could also be a factor. There is even some early research that shows genetics may be a part -- that many behaviors that appear to be gender specific may actually be caused by genetics. That many transsexuals may have the minor genetic markers making the one gender, but the "sex chromosomes" that make them the other. This could particularly be true in people with XXY and XXXY chromosome "pairs," who are typically at a minimum transgendered and frequently transsexual.
Last, Dr. McHugh is hardly a neutral source. While he does not say it in his writings, he puts his Catholic beliefs above his science, not to mention he appears to have not studied the science since about 1980. If you read his writings, his claims are out of date and discredited by the scientific work that has been done in the last two decades.
You don't want to understand where I am coming from. For the record, however, I realize in the fight for the survival of American culture lines must be drawn somewhere, and when advancing the destruction of that culture the liberal/progressive left will never cease and never be satisfied. This year it is trangendered rights. Twenty years from now the same people will be arguing for the rights of pedophiles. The groundwork is already being laid:
http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/14/local/la-me-pedophiles-20130115
And I see little in that article that supports your slippery slope. In fact, the only real person complaining, if you will, is the mother towards the end who complains about how her poor son will never have anyone to love. The rest of the article deals with it as a matter of understanding the cause of pedophilia, so that we can help people better control it. For example, the person the article mentions with urges which he has never acted on being sent to a support group so that he can continue to resist his urges.
The fact remains, even with gay marriage becoming legal in various countries, age of consent keeps rising in the Western world, including the US.
Those who look at themselves and believe they were meant to be the sex opposite of what they were born are no different than those who look at themselves and believe they were meant to be blind, or shouldn't have a right arm, or are anorexic but believe themselves obese, or believe they are hideously ugly regardless of the truth. They are in need of mental help, not an airbrushed and doctored image on the cover of Vanity Fair or an enabling doctor willing to assist pouring drano into a woman's eyes in order to help achieve her lifelong goal of being blind.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/a...s-fulfil-lifelong-wish-says-happier-ever.html
But as has been pointed out, there is no better treatment for transsexuals. If you wish to really study the science behind it and find a better treatment, sincere work in this area will be appreciated -- I think most everyone agrees there needs to be better treatments. Unfortunately, particularly now that transsexuals are found to have brains of the sex they claim to be, therapy alone will not help.
Mental illness such as this should be addressed, not glorified. Jenner was born male and still is. Regardless of how much surgery he may subject himself to he will die with the same genetic construct he was born with.
And I understand you believe this but, then again, many people deny the facts that science has discovered and believe the Earth is flat. Again, there is a decent amount of science here, with more being discovered every year.
Another appeal to authority. If you had the slightest interest in researching the mental health aspects of transgenderism, you wouldn't need me to post anything.
In case you need a primer. No guy who wants to be a woman will ever look like this.
Men can be effeminate. That doesn't make them women.
And this is also untrue, transsexuals can look like that. For example:
These are just two examples of transsexuals that look as good as Elisha Cuthbert. The second one was a famous model, a "Bond girl", and appeared in Playboy; jobs that are only given to women who "look like this."
