Look What Landed

[Guest Joanna Phipps]

This missive landed in my personal mail box from someone on another list:

"Just between you and me, I'm not a fan of the whole "trans" thing. Now this is just me speaking for myself, Why on earth would you change from being a man to a woman? God doesn't make mistakes. Yes, I am a catholic lesbian. I believe in God. I'm not trying to push what I believe on anybody. It is just my opinion. Like they say,"Opinions are like a**holes, everyone has one."

and finally my reply

I will take you comments in the spirit of one who seeks knowledge not one who seeks to condemn, and dam someone because of a condition they cannot help they have. I would doubt that there is a single transgendered person who doesn't wish that things had turned out differently. You see this as something I WANT to do, however it is something I NEED to do, you see current research into my condition is pointing out two possible causes one is a possible hormone mess up in early pregnancy, the other is a possible genetic link. It has been shown that in some MTF transsexuals the gene which encodes as a Testosterone receptor is actually defective. That being said, we know so little about prenatal hormones and how they interact with the human genome that what we see now is likely only a small piece of the puzzle.Given what we know now, Transsexualism is a birth defect like any other. If we had been born with any other kind of birth defect we wouldn't hear this argument from the Christian community. After all you don't say that about people born with club foot, congenital heart defects, 47XXY or any of those variants. The logic you use is reserved exclusively for transsexuals, it indicates that we have a choice in this matter, we have no more choice than you did about the color of your eyes, how tall you were or the color of your hair. This excerpt from an article I wrote sums up the imperative nicely

"Since many of us transition later in life we know that to do so will fix our psychological and medical issues but it will also put us in a group that society doesn't know what to do with; so society denigrates us, despises us, and discriminates against us. For many of us it comes down to a simple paradigm that is cold in its simplicity and brutal in its reality "transition or die". The suicide rate among pre-op transsexuals exceeds 30% and many have had at least one attempt before age 20. I have said, to many of my transsexual brothers and sisters, that for me it came down to a case of transition or suffer one of two less desirable alternatives those being death or confinement to a mental hospital." (Woman on the sidewalk, ©2009 Joanna Phipps)

Frankly it really doesn't matter whether you and others like you are "fans" of Transsexualism, it is the way we are and we have to live with that. Since there is no way (yet) to realign the feminized mind with the masculine body management of the condition involves slowly bringing the body in line with the mind. This is done through the use of valid and tested psychotherapeutic techniques, the medically supervised administration of cross sex hormones, later (should the patient desire) the final step is reconstructive surgery to finally align the genitals with the rest of the body. This condition is not curable the way we cure a cold or the flu and the timeline for management is not days or weeks but years.

Maybe God doesn't make mistakes, the creator does set trials to test the faithful. Not only that but mankind has made such a mess out of this planet that we are causing untold havoc with the genetic code; the consequences of this for the future of all species on this planet are unknown. If you truly wish to understand us (note I didn't say accept and agree with us) then doing some research outside of the bible might pay off. In the library section of my site are several scholarly works written by doctors with decades of experience dealing with the transgendered. I make no comment about the works I simply let them stand on their own.

Whether or not this letter helps you see who we are is up to you, I was going to leave it unanswered but decided to pass on some information. Transsexuals have a condition that we didn't ask for, and many of us don't want. We have it and there is almost no way to live without transitioning; there are Male to Female transsexuals(like me) also Female to Male Transsexuals.

[Guest nymphblossom]

Excellent reply, Joanna. This kind of level-headed response is the only was to educate those who are ignorant about our condition.

Blossom

[Guest again]

Joanna, you gave a wonderful reply to someone who was looking to kick you in the teeth! You were respectful, informative and non-judgemental---all of the things that they were not---great answer; I loved it!

[Carolyn Marie]

Very well said, Joanna. I probably would not have been so calm about it, but that's just me.

I find it hard to understand the sentiments expressed by that person in light of the fact that she is an admitted Lesbian. Unless I am mistaken,

the Catholic church forbids homosexual relationships and considers them sinful. If God, through the church, feels that homosexuals are

sinners, then Lesbians and Gays are as much a "mistake" as we are, unless of course she is willing to admit that being a Lesbian is

a lifestyle choice.

Hypocrites...I just love 'em!

Carolyn Marie

[Guest rachael1]

Well done Joanna.

If we can educate one person and give them a better understanding of our condition than we can educate two and so on.

One day medical science will prove that transgenderism stems for a physical cause and is not a life style choice.

I mean who would willingly turn their whole life upside down over a whim?

Rachael

[Bulldog1948]

Very well said, Joanna. I probably would not have been so calm about it, but that's just me.

I find it hard to understand the sentiments expressed by that person in light of the fact that she is an admitted Lesbian. Unless I am mistaken,

the Catholic church forbids homosexual relationships and considers them sinful. If God, through the church, feels that homosexuals are

sinners, then Lesbians and Gays are as much a "mistake" as we are, unless of course she is willing to admit that being a Lesbian is

a lifestyle choice.

Hypocrites...I just love 'em!

Carolyn Marie

Carolyn Marie,

You are right in your statement, the Chuch does forbide any type of homosexual activity;male or female. But, admittedly, there's a lot of lesbians and gays within the Church.

Bulldog

[Guest Jean Davis]

Very well written Joanna

I like that you gave very little room for controversy.

LUV

Jean

[Guest qRachelp]

This missive landed in my personal mail box from someone on another list:

"Just between you and me, I'm not a fan of the whole "trans" thing. Now this is just me speaking for myself, Why on earth would you change from being a man to a woman? God doesn't make mistakes. Yes, I am a catholic lesbian. I believe in God. I'm not trying to push what I believe on anybody. It is just my opinion. Like they say,"Opinions are like a**holes, everyone has one."

and finally my reply

I will take you comments in the spirit of one who seeks knowledge not one who seeks to condemn, and dam someone because of a condition they cannot help they have. I would doubt that there is a single transgendered person who doesn't wish that things had turned out differently. You see this as something I WANT to do, however it is something I NEED to do, you see current research into my condition is pointing out two possible causes one is a possible hormone mess up in early pregnancy, the other is a possible genetic link. It has been shown that in some MTF transsexuals the gene which encodes as a Testosterone receptor is actually defective. That being said, we know so little about prenatal hormones and how they interact with the human genome that what we see now is likely only a small piece of the puzzle.Given what we know now, Transsexualism is a birth defect like any other. If we had been born with any other kind of birth defect we wouldn't hear this argument from the Christian community. After all you don't say that about people born with club foot, congenital heart defects, 47XXY or any of those variants. The logic you use is reserved exclusively for transsexuals, it indicates that we have a choice in this matter, we have no more choice than you did about the color of your eyes, how tall you were or the color of your hair. This excerpt from an article I wrote sums up the imperative nicely

"Since many of us transition later in life we know that to do so will fix our psychological and medical issues but it will also put us in a group that society doesn't know what to do with; so society denigrates us, despises us, and discriminates against us. For many of us it comes down to a simple paradigm that is cold in its simplicity and brutal in its reality "transition or die". The suicide rate among pre-op transsexuals exceeds 30% and many have had at least one attempt before age 20. I have said, to many of my transsexual brothers and sisters, that for me it came down to a case of transition or suffer one of two less desirable alternatives those being death or confinement to a mental hospital." (Woman on the sidewalk, ©2009 Joanna Phipps)

Frankly it really doesn't matter whether you and others like you are "fans" of Transsexualism, it is the way we are and we have to live with that. Since there is no way (yet) to realign the feminized mind with the masculine body management of the condition involves slowly bringing the body in line with the mind. This is done through the use of valid and tested psychotherapeutic techniques, the medically supervised administration of cross sex hormones, later (should the patient desire) the final step is reconstructive surgery to finally align the genitals with the rest of the body. This condition is not curable the way we cure a cold or the flu and the timeline for management is not days or weeks but years.

Maybe God doesn't make mistakes, the creator does set trials to test the faithful. Not only that but mankind has made such a mess out of this planet that we are causing untold havoc with the genetic code; the consequences of this for the future of all species on this planet are unknown. If you truly wish to understand us (note I didn't say accept and agree with us) then doing some research outside of the bible might pay off. In the library section of my site are several scholarly works written by doctors with decades of experience dealing with the transgendered. I make no comment about the works I simply let them stand on their own.

Whether or not this letter helps you see who we are is up to you, I was going to leave it unanswered but decided to pass on some information. Transsexuals have a condition that we didn't ask for, and many of us don't want. We have it and there is almost no way to live without transitioning; there are Male to Female transsexuals(like me) also Female to Male Transsexuals.

Joanna Phipps, I Love You. I cry everyday now (and I haven't even started taking hormones yet, which is in two weeks *fingers crossed*), and you're making me cry again. But it's a good cry; just knowing that other people know, understand and feel what I've felt for the whole of my life brings me tears of joy. Thank you so much, Joanna.

Wiping Away The Tears,

Rachel

[Guest Joanna Phipps]

I recieved another message from that person today. I will leave it unanswered, since it is so filled with hypocrisy that I do not wish to try and go any further with breaing through that shell. She is set in her ways, hypocritcal (calls herself a catholic lesbian and says she hasn't read the bible in 30 years ) yet has the gall and audacity to try and use "Christian" dogma to accuse me of doing something wrong.

Like so many who would condemn us, she seems to expect us all to respond at a grade 2 level, and it is my feeling that she doesnt know what to do when some one like me gives her a well thought out, logical, and cohesive argument. She is not ready to have someone rock her blind faith to its core, nor to run into a "sinner" who debates well.

Hey Ho, her loss; I gave her the opportunity to learn and she tossed it away

[Guest Donna Jean]

Nice job, Joanna!

Geez...

The 'ole pot calling the kettle black syndrome..

"Just between you and me, I'm not a fan of the whole "trans" thing. Now this is just me speaking for myself, Why on earth would you change from being a man to a woman? God doesn't make mistakes. Yes, I am a catholic lesbian. I believe in God. I'm not trying to push what I believe on anybody. It is just my opinion. Like they say,"Opinions are like a**holes, everyone has one."

The red part just kills me...

They say that "God doesn't make mistakes.." therefore lesbian behavior is ok, yet ours is wrong...

Makes me grate my teeth...

Nice one, Hon....

Donna Jean

[Sally]

Hey JoJo,

I just got here and read this - wow what a typical response to a presentation of factual information - so sad.

You did an excellent job of calmly explaining it to the best of your knowledge and you have done a lot of research, we all have - this is not done on a whim.

Remember the old saying, "There is none so blind as he who will not see."

It was a nice try, maybe ignorance won't win everytime - keep trying.

Love ya,

Sally

[Guest Joanna Phipps]

her response was

"First of all, I haven't read the bible in over 30 years. I am so not a bible thumper. I never said I didn't accept trans either. I don't agree with it, but I accept it. It's like me being a lesbian, a lot of people don't like it. They just have to accept it. You believe what you do, and I believe what I do. I never said don't do it, it's your choice. Do you really think I believe in the whole bible? If I did, I would be with a man.

All that science stuff is all good and well, but like I said before, you believe"

I fee like laying into her but I will keep the highground and let her wallow in her pseudochristian mire. I have tried once and been told to bugga off so she will have to learn, should she desire, by herself. HOnestly, catholic, lesbian and not reading the bible. I guess that means she is going by what the preist tells her, well we know how fallible humans can be

Ive kind of made it my mission to meet that kind of diatribe head on and try to show the logic and truth of our position. If we get the right message to enough people we will eventually garner support and move forward the way the LGB crowd has. Oddly enough that I first "met" that person on a lesbian list... hypocrit muy grande if you as me

[Guest Sakura_Stingray]

I think it is funny that earlier Christians say gay's are morally wrong... yet now a christian lesbian claims your morally wrong... what is next... dogs flying like birds and pigs swimming like fish?

[Guest qRachelp]

what is next... dogs flying like birds and pigs swimming like fish?

I'd like to see THAT!

XX,

Rachel

[Guest ricka]

Joanna--you write so eloquently and clearly and without malice. My Dear Sister, you do me proud as a spokeswoman for the gender-gifted. Good writing/speaking is such a powerful tool in any battle for justice, equality and acceptance.

It is interesting when a person self-appoints him/herself to speak for the church and in turn when the church "anoints" itself to speak for God. I think it is a lot like that game of "gossip" where one person starts a rumor and whispers it into the ear of the next person and it goes round the room until the last person reports what was said.

Ricka

[Guest Joanna Phipps]

I knew that the more out I put myself the more likely this kind of attack was to happen, I meet them as I always do with truth, information, love and education. Some accept it and move on enlightened others reject it prefering to stay in the wallow of ignorance and dogma. The mission continues

There is something almost Buddhist in the way that is phrased

[Guest AshleyRF]

Did you inform her that there is at least some evidence that transsexualism is caused by a biological factor whereas there isn't any evidence that lesbianism is caused by biological factors.

Also... transsexuals are not condemned by the Bible like homosexuals so really, where is she coming up with this? Sounds to me like a disgruntled bull a small levee who is upset because she's seen so many of us transwomen that are far far prettier than she could ever hope to be.

Just tell her to listen to her K D Lang CD and STFU.

[Guest qRachelp]

Did you inform her that there is at least some evidence that transsexualism is caused by a biological factor whereas there isn't any evidence that lesbianism is caused by biological factors.

Also... transsexuals are not condemned by the Bible like homosexuals so really, where is she coming up with this? Sounds to me like a disgruntled bull a small levee who is upset because she's seen so many of us transwomen that are far far prettier than she could ever hope to be.

Just tell her to listen to her K D Lang CD and STFU.

I TOTALLY agree with you, Ashley, so it's a dang good thing that neither you or I answered the crazy b-... um... loon. he he

XX,

Rachel

[Guest AlexanderG]

Joanna, my respect!

I'm not going to say anything else cuz I'll be nasty and that helps no one.

[Guest Joanna Phipps]

Like i said my first goal is to educate, I try to stay out of the Christian rhetoric since that path is too full of dogma and hard feellings.

I meet idiocy with intelligence, blind rhetoric with fact and hate with love. If that doesnt work then, like I said I will keep the high ground and let them wallow in the mire of pig headed ignorance

[Guest Joanna Phipps]

Did you inform her that there is at least some evidence that transsexualism is caused by a biological factor whereas there isn't any evidence that lesbianism is caused by biological factors.

Also... transsexuals are not condemned by the Bible like homosexuals so really, where is she coming up with this? Sounds to me like a disgruntled bull a small levee who is upset because she's seen so many of us transwomen that are far far prettier than she could ever hope to be.

Just tell her to listen to her K D Lang CD and STFU.

Ash for me to have brought up the issue that there is no biological basis for lesbianism would have opened the door to all kinds of hate and vitriol. She is messed up enough already thinking that God and the church support her; I really dont want to give her anyother avenue to try and attack me

[Guest Donna Jean]

Like i said my first goal is to educate, I try to stay out of the Christian rhetoric since that path is too full of dogma and hard feellings.

I meet idiocy with intelligence, blind rhetoric with fact and hate with love. If that doesn't work then, like I said I will keep the high ground and let them wallow in the mire of pig headed ignorance

No, that is useless....

It's like trying to teach a pig to sing....

It annoys the pig....

And wastes your time...

Again...nice job, even if you got nowhere ...Your letter was spot on!

Nice!

Donna Jean

[Guest qRachelp]

No, that is useless....

It's like trying to teach a pig to sing....

It annoys the pig....

And wastes your time...

Again...nice job, even if you got nowhere ...Your letter was spot on!

Nice!

Donna Jean

"YEEAAAHHHH! Never annoy pigs!!!"

LOL

XX,

Rachel

[Guest Anna_Banana]

I think it is funny that earlier Christians say gay's are morally wrong... yet now a christian lesbian claims your morally wrong... what is next... dogs flying like birds and pigs swimming like fish?

You haven't seen the Amazing Swimming Pig at the state fair like I have. Conclusion: the world is over.

.Anna

[Guest AshleyRF]

My philosophy... You don't have to like or agree with me, but you WILL stay out of my way.