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Mormon Article


blackkatsen

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I recently read an article on this site: http://www.lauras-playground.com/trans_devil.htm. I realize this article documents a true event, but I also see that this article presents an untruthful position concerning The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints aka the Mormon Church or the LDS Church.

It is true that the Church opposes transsexuality. Passages from two of President Kimball's speeches in 1974 confirm this. In the first speech, which he gave at BYU, he said, "We're appalled to find an ever-increasing number of women who want to be sexually men and many young men who wish to be sexually women. I tell you that, as surely as they live, such people will regret having made overtures toward the changing of their sex." The second speech is from General Conference in October, "The high purposes of life are damaged and destroyed by the growing unisex theory. God made man in his own image, male and female made he them. With relatively few accidents of nature, we are born male or female. The Lord knew best. Certainly, men and women who would change their sex status will answer to their Maker."

The Church does not allow persons who are considering transsexual operations to be baptized into the Church. Persons who seek or receiver transsexual surgeries may be excommunicated. But after receiving surgeries a person can be re baptized into the Church, but cannot go to the Temple or receive the Priesthood.

While the Church has a somewhat negative approach to transsexuals, the Church is still friendly to them. Transsexuals can go to Church. In fact, they are invited to come. While the Church opposes transsexual activities, the Church reaches out with a loving hand to all people regardless of their gender, race, religion, nationality, or anything else including transsexual activities or any other thing that is considered a sin.

The Church treats transsexuals with love and respect. Some members may not treat transsexuals this way, but do no let this confuse you. We are all commanded that we must love our neighbors and serve them. We must forgive all men of their trespasses. Anyone who treats a transsexual with violence or malice is breaking the Commandments of God and disrespecting the Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church does not in any way, shape, or form encourage or allow any such behavior.

The Lord has commanded that we forgive all men, this also means that we, the transsexual community, must also forgive anyone who breaks the Commandments by using violence or hatred against us. The Church does not use this kind of behavior. This is not Christian.

The Family: A Proclamation to the World, was composed by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1995. Here is some of it, " We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshiped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize his or her divine destiny as an heir of eternal life. The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally."

The Church believes in loving one another as Christ commanded we do. The Church does not say that transsexuals come from the devil. No Prophet has ever said such a thing. Transsexuality is not a demon or curse sent from the devil. All people are beloved children of God. None of us have come from the devil. We are commanded to treat everyone with love and respect because we are all brothers and sisters.

The Church does not force you to do anything. Everything you must submit to. The Church does consider transsexuality a sin and therefore you may receive counseling from Church leaders. This is still voluntary. Some parents may try to force it on teens, it is still voluntary. The Church does not practice reparative therapy equivalent to therapies being performed by organizations such as Exodus. The Church's program is mostly performed by yourself, with the help of some counseling with your parents, Bishop, Young Mens or Womens President, Elder's Quorum President, High Priest Group Leader, Relief Society President, Stake President, or any of their counselors. The program goes through prayer, fasting, repentance, forgiveness, and guidance.

The Church does not preach suicide. A Bishop or any other leader would never tell you it is better for you to commit suicide. With so much focus on love, the Church cannot ever vouch for suicide.

Now, with all that being said, the purpose of this post was to inform the community here about the Church. I am here with loving respect towards you all. I am not here judging you or trying to preach that this is wrong. I am here to sort things out for myself. But at the same time, I cannot sit here and watch people read an article titled, "Mormon Prophets Claim Transsexuals are sent from the Devil". This title is completely false and I would ask that it be changed to something that is actually true.

I know some of my recent posts have offended and irritated some of you. I hope this will not happen this time. I am on your side and I am trying to show a more truthful side of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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Guest dolly

i know its been said before but you pretty much put the nail on it.... it is true that almost every (not saying all) unified religion in the world teaches of a philosophy in same way or another of peace and love and the only true flaw to this is that a unified religion falls short on its teachings quite often do to malicious misinterpretations of its doctrines. basically, the religion is not the problem, its those who use it as cause to persecute against others who are at fault.

but i honestly dont know why you couldnt have clarified this in that specific topic. thats all i hadda say.

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Guest StrandedOutThere

Ah, blackkatsen...always the crusader. I appreciate your willingness to clarify you church's views. In my experience, it's never been the "ideal" of organized religion that is a problem, it's the reality. Most church's follow the Biblical idea that you should love all people, even depraved sinners. Jesus didn't spend his time teaching the already faithful. He spent time with the sinners.

Here's the problem: The idea of trying to love all people just that, an idea. It doesn't translate well into practice. People at my family's church (not Mormon, but definitely quite anti-GLBT) will say that they love and accept all people. They'll smile at you and be nice when you are around. Then they'll say awful things about you or about gay or trans people in general when you aren't around. I'm sure everyone isn't like that, but a lot of people are. I'm not openly gay or trans or anything. I just look a little odd...you know, not too girly. I've overheard people talking about me just for that! All I could do was sneak off and cry in private. I was too young to understand why these nice ladies would say mean things about me, just because I didn't look right. It's hard to accept the "love" of people that you know don't respect you and think that they are somehow better than you.

I didn't choose to be the way I am. I have tried for my entire adult life to "choose" to not be trans...to not be a lesbian. All it's done is make me bitter. I could feel the self-deception killing me from the inside out. It's almost as if I could tangibly perceive the good, sensitive part of me slowly becoming callous and numb. Since I've started to come to terms with who I really am I have been much happier, more calm, and generally less of a cold jerk. What I don't understand is why the church can't just love me the way I am without condemning me or judging me. The Bible isn't 100% clear on a lot of things, especially some of the sexual orientation stuff. I wish churches...all churches...would just love everyone and let God sort it out later. Isn't judgment supposed to belong to The Lord? Regardless of how "nice" the Mormon church's policy regarding trans or homosexuals is, aren't they are still "judging" by excommunicating people or not letting them go the temple?

I admire you for being willing to speak up in defense of your church. I'm just another bitter old person who has been hurt by organized religion...don't pay too much attention to me. Still, I'd be interested to hear your take on what I've said.

Are you sure you are 16?

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I'm sure I'm 16. 16 and a quarter or so. Why is that so hard to understand? I love going to Church so maybe that's why I know so much there. I get straight A's at school. Not trying to brag or anything, but I am known to be a little more mature and have more leadership qualities than others my age.

Crusader... hmm kinda like it. I dunno. Guess it works.

First, we're not perfect. Everyone talks behind people's backs. You've done it. Admit it. You're guilty. I am too. So is the guy across the street. So while we're all trying to better ourselves, keep the Commandments, become more Christlike, and so on, we all make mistakes. We all make fun of the weird kid. So what I'm trying to say is just because someone makes jokes about you doesn't mean he thinks he's better than you. Or that he doesn't like you. People just do it.

You're second point is, well, a little bit interesting. I'm getting what you're saying, but I'm gonna change it a little bit. Let's say the Church never ever judged you. Society never does it either. Or the government. Would you like it? Well, everyone will love you for being trans, but guess what. Everyone will love the serial killer who lives down the street. And the child molester who happens to be your neighbor. Basically, my point is the line has to be drawn somewhere. Furthermore, you're not really condemned for being trans. It's not like it will be announced of the pulpit. People will still help you out and serve you and that good stuff. This is a pretty hard one because the Church really hasn't said much about being transsexual.

Excommunication in the Church is designed so that people will want to make fixes in their lives and come back. It ultimately depends on the person though, because some will get excommunicated and never try to come back. Also, the Temple has so many gender oriented parts to it, transsexuals would be a little hard to fit in (is a mtf male or female? ftm male or female?).

One of my main reasons for this post was to clear up some things that were on the article laura posted. Particularly the title. I also want to add that the Church isn't a hate group. It isn't a trans support group, but it isn't a hate group. There may be some members that are more hateful than others like you were saying dolly, but most of the members are much more friendly. This is where the Church differs a lot from some others, that the whole atmosphere is a lot more peaceful.

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Guest StrandedOutThere

Blackkatsen, you make a couple of good, interesting points. Yeah, I do talk about people sometimes. The thing is that I don't judge people for their sexual orientation. I do judge people for having different views from me. Even though I don't want to, I tend to look down on people who are "conservative" or are particularly "wholesome". Of course, this isn't just me. It's part of the culture in academia. Most secular university professors are flaming liberals...keep that in mind as you consider colleges. Still, I think it would be fun to have you in a class. A lot of college kids won't stand up for their beliefs.

Your other good point was about judging serial killers, child molesters, and the like. Yeah, I do want those people judged. I guess the difference between them and me is that I am not hurting anyone. My choices aren't endangering anyone.

Most church going people probably are good, decent people that try to be more Christ-like. I think my mom falls into that category. She's always trying to be a better Christian. Still, when I talk to her about certain issues I can hear the hate in her voice...the judgment. It's almost grotesque to hear those sentiments coming from my mom who is such a paragon of humanity otherwise.

I'm not a hateful person, not really. I'm actually very sensitive. For example, sometimes I cry when that stupid commercial with the homeless animals and that Sarah McLaughlin song comes on. Unfounded hate and suffering hurts me to the core. I don't consider myself a Christian anymore, but I still try to unconditionally love all people. What I can't understand is why people, particularly religious people, are so put off by trans people. For most, it's no big deal if someone is gay anymore. Still, people really hate trans people. I've talked with some of my friends about trans people...not coming out to them, just talking. It is amazing just how much they are disgusted by the idea of transitioning. It makes no sense to me. I can't figure it out. ...I digress.

All in all, the Mormons I know are good people and I like them. There are two Mormons in my department (see, the academic types have already singled out the non-atheists). I'm tempted to tell the one guy in my lab that I'm trans and see how he treats me. He's the nicest guy in the world right now, always smiling and such. I wonder how things would change...

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Guest Mr. Fox

blackkatsen

I am glad that you have come and made the point that the actions of followers of a religion do not necessarily reflect the ideals of a church. My LDS friends are kinder than the people portrayed in the article. Also, I encounter the reverse of that belief a lot, people assuming that I am a certain way because of my religion.

I would like to point out your confusion of the terms "respect" and "tolerate." Refusing to baptize an individual is not respect. Excommunicating someone is not respect. Respect entails more than merely allowing someone to come to church.

Also, I second your bewilderment at people being amazed that you are 16. People apparently are confused about the meaning of the term, thinking that it means "stupid and only concerned with video games, fashion, and hooking up" rather than the general usage which is "the number or age which comes after 15 and before 17." Go forth and meet these young ones, my fellow countrymen, and you shall learn that only the ones low on the scale of human intelligence possess those unfortunate characteristics. High schoolers are generally foolish and immature, but flagrantly so.

Adrian

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I recently read an article on this site: http://www.lauras-playground.com/trans_devil.htm. I realize this article documents a true event, but I also see that this article presents an untruthful position concerning The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints aka the Mormon Church or the LDS Church. I cannot sit here and watch people read an article titled, "Mormon Prophets Claim Transsexuals are sent from the Devil". This title is completely false and I would ask that it be changed to something that is actually true.

The article is about two people not a whole church, A Mormon Prophet and "Joe". When I wrote it i had no idea what a church prophet was and knew nothing about Mormons, I still don't. Next you call me a liar, like I don't have enough to do besides sitting around making up stories. If you'll notice the article was written nearly 3 years ago. You seem to think that this happened once and it was over. The fact is that "Joe's" scenario played out every blessed day for nearly a year. We dried his tears a number of times. To him what happened was sheer torture and played itself out in our crsis rooms every single night for a year. In fact it is beacause of what happened to "Joe" that this site started accepting teens. It used to be over 18 only. "Joe was not only the first registered teen here he was our first major crisis. I was NOT the only one involved as there were numerous staff members helping joe and talking him out of suicide on a constant basis. If you were here then you as a user would have heard all this first hand yourslef. Most know the users real name and the city and state where this took place. You are ASSUMING that no Religious person would do such a thing as was done to "Joe". The fact is that there are thousands of stories from Transgender people we hear everyday that describe similar incidents. You don't even have any idea how many suicide attempts and cutting incidents "Joe" had after that article as he was in a hospital several times. Still this "PROPHET" insisted on deprogramming him with absolutely no medical or Psychology experience. He was a church "counselor" in church matters not a qualified therepist. Here he was literrally trying to destroy "Joe's" true self for something that is a medical condition not a moral one. He suddenly disappeared and we do not know if he is alive or not. Someone who attempts suicide should be treated by mental health professionals not a quack with a bible. To do any less is "Criminal" and irresposible. How do you know so much about the Mormon religion? I think your knowledge proves your true purpose here. How dare you call a proven medical condition sinful. What medical or therapeutic training have you had. Calling transgender people sinful is an undeniable insult. It is something we are born with.

What is interesting is your total lack of compassion towards Joe or any other Transgender person who has gone through hell. Suicides or the loss of life don't phase you at all which is a typical religious nut position from the public not a transgender one. It reminds me of what a gay fromer member of EXODus said that i described in the reparative therapy post that it is "better to commit suicide" then to go back to being gay. This was said by an evangelist director of Exodus and the weblink is posted there. Did he make that up too? Do you think that's the first time those words were said? In your view it is better for transsexuals to kill themselves isn't it" I find your approach cold and heartless towards Transgender people on this site. How can a "REAL" Transgender person have NO COMPASSION for the stories other transgender people tell here from their personal points of view. Most of these stories are heartbreaking to all except you. Indeed i think this is the key question here as only Transgender people and their families can post here. In many of your posts you make light of the Suicide attempts here. You have insulted many transgender people here who are just trying to survive an unkind world. THen you make a "Personal attack on me calling me a liar. As several staff members and users here witnessed it you are also calling them liars. Suicide plays it's hand out here with our users several times a day in our crisis rooms here. My staff of 89 has saved THOUSANDS of transgender lives here. Thes are facts you don't seem to believe. The article is a FACT with many witnesses. Do you have any idea how many horror stories we hear here? This doesn't phase you at all. Only a cruel person would be affected this way.

I told you there were 5 complaints here about you before both in PM's and my email here. They questioned whether you were Transgender person at all. They point out that you haven't talked about any of the same experiences that others have had here. They called for your dismissal. Did I ban you? No, i decided to give you the benefit of the doubt that you were a transgender teen. I did this besides my own doubts. Today though I received 359 emails of complaint on this post and others you have made asking for your banning. Most are registered members here and a few were from members of other sites who come here as guests. All felt you make light of their condition and their lives and are not transgender at all but a plant from a religious nut group. While I can absorb a handful of complaints as opinion I cannot ignore 359 members of this transgender community. We have had religious and rightwing groups try to post here before from some of the most famous of hate groups on the planet with the foulest language imaginable. Gay forums have the same problem. Members of these hate groups feel the same way you do that it is better for Transgender and gay people to commit suicide then to remain gay and transgender. This is why our crisis rooms remain full of suicidal transgender people. If people listen to you these rooms will never be empty. People hear what the public think of them everyday. It makes them feel bad enough. They don't need to hear it here from members who are not transgender in thier own house. That's called harrassment. Certainly personal attacks won't be allowed here. No member is going to be called a liar here especially me in my own house. Obviously you do not at all understand what takes place in our crisis rooms every single day or the amounts of hurting people we listen too that are at death's door. Only a real transgender person would. People who spew hate and insult Transgender people here are not welcome. While we will work with any real transgender person here we do not need to work with people who either hate us or can't understand us. THeir are plenty of right wing and religious and family sites where your coldness and lack of compassion are welcome. Go there. There are only a handful of Transgender forums where we can go talk in peace, free from religious persecution. I suggest you stay in your own backyard. You are hereby banned for personal attacks. One thing you have clearly demonstrated is that you are on NO ONES side here but your own. Obviously the plight of transgender people and the horrible suicide rate they experience has not touched your heart at all if you truely even have one. When the Veteran suicide rate went up a few points the public was alramed. Yet 50% of transsexuals on this site have had at least one suicide attempt by their 20th birthday and some have had mutiple attempts and no one gasps or blinks an eye. Why is that? It's because many in the public believe we are better off. It is reflected in their treatment of us. How would you like being treated as less than human. Well we are human and being transgendered or transsexual is not our fault. Our lives are worth every bit as much as yours is. At least we aren't hurting anyone but you and your bible thumpers are and viciously so. You call me a liar but what are you when you misrepresented what you are and why you were here? Go ahead cast your stone. Better yet though people here would show you something your thumping didn't teach you which is how to love your fellow man or woman. Or didn't you notice the support and love my users here show each other.

Laura

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I cannot sit here and watch people read an article titled, "Mormon Prophet Claims Transsexuals are sent from the Devil". This title is completely false and I would ask that it be changed to something that is actually true.

Blakksteen's post calling me a liar makes me truely regret that i renewed this site for another year. I have tried to explain the huge job that the staff does here saving lives. I have tried to explain the huge number of users we have had here and have tried to explain users true experiences. For what? It is often met with skepticism. Anyone who has been in chat knows what goes on. I shouldn't need to defend myself and as of today I no longer will. I think it's high time for someone else to do this thankless job. This site is officially up for sale.

I stand by every article i've written on this site 100% including this one. The title is precisely what the prophet said to "Joe" and several times. In addition the word "Devil" has been used to describe Transsexuals from other Religious persons to users here. It is hardly unique or a first or an only time occurence. This happens often to gays as well. if they're not calling them devils or evil they are calling them abominations. This is not harmless. The number one cause of suicide attempts here is non-acceptance by family and religous conflicts. Often families reject our members soley based on religious beliefs that Homosexuality and Transsexuality is evil and sinful. Worse is the wide held public belief that suicide is preferable to being gay or transgender. Our teens have the highest suicide attempt rate. In a survey here 50% of transsexuals have had at least one suicide attempt by their 20th birthday. Too often instead of being sent to professional gender therapists teens are sent to Religious "Counselors" or "Camps" instead. When they return they are MORE SUICIDAL not less. There are documented case of transgender kids as young as 7 attempting suicide. In the UK a 10 year old Transgender child committed suicide http://www.tsroadmap.com/notes/index.php/s...ommits_suicide/ . Do you have any idea how many like this we will never hear about? It is a tragedy that NO ONE besides the Transgender Community cares about. People who have no compassion for these victims are not transgendered. I have had many email conversations with religious people who wanted to "CURE" us. When I explained that we had many suicide attempts here as a result of their "CURE" They didn't deny it. The most interesting thing was that they had absolutely NO REACTION WHATSOEVER. NONE! There was no compassion, caring or feelings at all. To me that is monsterous and inhuman. It reflects that they feel we are better off commiting suicide than being gay or transgender. Sometimes what is said doesn't reflect the whole story. Often you can tell more about peoples true feelings by what is not said. Feelings are expected human traits. When none are shown when describing a terrible tragedy you are left wondering where they hid their humanity. Blaaksteen fits into this category.

Articles here are based on actual happenings in interacting with 5.4 million users and visitors here. They are from 1.4 million emails received and transcripts from our transgender suicide prevention crisis rooms. They are real incidents. While every one of them is provable I am bound by confidentiality not to reveal personal information. Laura's Playground is the only site to prevent Transgender suicides online. This site has saved thousands of lives. We have data here few have. Anyone starting a program similar to ours would get the same results and the same personal stories and experiences. This is not a science fiction site. It is based on real facts that actually happened. I don't have a tenth of the time i need to keep up with what i need to finish here. Certainly I do not have leisure time to devote to making stories up or writing false titles. There are enough "REAL" stories here to keep me busy for years to come.

Blaaksteen does not at all deny he is not Transgender. Using the words "Untruthful" and "FaLse" in relation to what I wrote is calling me a liar. Playing word games doesn't change that fact. I work way too long and too hard and spend too much money here to be called a liar in my own house. It's a personal attack. Blaaksteen was banned for this, for not being transgender on a transgender site and the hundreds of complaints i received from users here. He was also previously warned. Non-Transgender people who want to preach to us can go to any religious or right wing site where they can bash transgender and gay people all day long and be praised for it. They will not be allowed to do that here. To allow that is an insult to our community, to me and our many users here. I don't go to their sites to bash people for their beliefs. They shouldn't come here to bash us about ours. "There is a time and Place for everything".

I don't do what I do here expecting anything from anyone. Certainly I'm not going to get rich here unless i want to start charging exhorbitant fees. That I'll never do. I've always been taught to get involved and if I see something i can fix to try to fix it. I've been on the Internet since it's inception in 1990. I noticed the Transgender suicide rate had not gone down it's gone up. I vowed to do something about it and I did. 89 staff members all work on the same goal of preventing suicide. Death here seriously affects the staff as it's as if we lost a close family member becuase we are family here. In four years two users have been lost to suicide. The fact that neither user was in crisis here at the time matters little as every life is precious to us. That's why when people attack our veracity it is extremely hurtfull. Burnouts are not uncommon here, mine included. Closing down without a replacement won't likely happen but if i find someone who wants the liabilty i would be seriously tempted to turn it over right now. It's tiring doing this day after day. Those who did make kind comments, thank you. They are appreciated.

Laura

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Guest Storm Angel
Blakksteen's post calling me a liar makes me truely regret that i renewed this site for another year. I have tried to explain the huge job that the staff does here saving lives. I have tried to explain the huge number of users we have had here and have tried to explain users true experiences. For what? It is often met with skepticism. Anyone who has been in chat knows what goes on. I shouldn't need to defend myself and as of today I no longer will. I think it's high time for someone else to do this thankless job. This site is officially up for sale.

Laura

Laura,

What yourself and other staff members have done for the love of others is beyond words.

You are real proof that their are miracles in this complicated world. :)

Much Love and respect,

Jacci

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Guest karen_h

Once again we come under attack. The staff and I spend many hours, regrettably with users in the crisis rooms, many of these crisis are bred from intolerance from the users religion. My dealings with the LDS has shown me that they are more intolerant than most.

In the 3 years I have been active on site, and the last 18 months as chat director, I have seen many lives saved, watched sad people with no hope other than suicide, overcome adversity, financial ruin, loss of family and friends, and yes their religious beliefs due to intolerance.

I will not denounce the membership of LDS, but I cannot and will not condone their attitudes toward the GLBT community and the teachings that the church provides towards that.

It's stated that I was made in God's image, who is here to say, that who and what i am is wrong then, perhaps God just made the rough draft and left it up to me to finish.

Karen_H

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Guest SharleahLynn
Blakksteen's post calling me a liar makes me truely regret that i renewed this site for another year. I have tried to explain the huge job that the staff does here saving lives. I have tried to explain the huge number of users we have had here and have tried to explain users true experiences. For what? It is often met with skepticism. Anyone who has been in chat knows what goes on. I shouldn't need to defend myself and as of today I no longer will. I think it's high time for someone else to do this thankless job. This site is officially up for sale.

Laura

Laura,

Whether others think , know , or care about the work you do here , or the rest of us as far as that goes, that is no reason to let some idiot win . True , we all do a thamkless job here , but we do not let it get in our way of being a human being. Granted , people step on us from all directions for any tiny molecular reason they can find. It has not stopped us before and should not stop us now. Laura , it is not your nature to give in to some idiots form of destruction. As long as I have known you , you have never buckled , so please refrain from selling the site and lets walk on some of those who try walking on us.

With all my Love , Respect , and Admiration.. SharleahLynn

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Guest Drew

Laura,

You and your staff really are amazing. The fact that you devote your time, effort, and money to helping others, most of whom you've never even met, never ceases to amaze me. You are truly selfless people and I don't know what I would do without your site and the amount of support it gives me and others like me. I'm positive that a very large number of forum users here are grateful for everything you have done and all the work you have put into this site. I'd like to say Thank You for all your effort to help save lives and offer support to those who truly need it. You have my respect and gratitude.

Drew

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Guest RoxieMN
Members of these hate groups feel the same way you do that it is better for Transgender and gay people to commit suicide then to remain gay and transgender. This is why our crisis rooms remain full of suicidal transgender people. If people listen to you these rooms will never be empty. People hear what the public think of them everyday. It makes them feel bad enough. They don't need to hear it here from members who are not transgender in thier own house. That's called harrassment. Certainly personal attacks won't be allowed here. No member is going to be called a liar here especially me in my own house. Obviously you do not at all understand what takes place in our crisis rooms every single day or the amounts of hurting people we listen too that are at death's door. Only a real transgender person would. People who spew hate and insult Transgender people here are not welcome. While we will work with any real transgender person here we do not need to work with people who either hate us or can't understand us. THeir are plenty of right wing and religious and family sites where your coldness and lack of compassion are welcome. Go there. There are only a handful of Transgender forums where we can go talk in peace, free from religious persecution. I suggest you stay in your own backyard. You are hereby banned for personal attacks. One thing you have clearly demonstrated is that you are on NO ONES side here but your own. Obviously the plight of transgender people and the horrible suicide rate they experience has not touched your heart at all if you truely even have one.

Laura

As someone whom religious zealots tried to cast out non-existent deamons I applaud Laura's calling abuse, abuse. I am ever so thankful for you post Laura.

So many of grew up abused and even battered. There is nothing more tragic than battered and hurting transgender people who turn to church members for help, love and support and face abuse. It further damages hurting people. It is a tragedy that many religious people have never grasped the real "good news" of the new testament. Sadly some church members chose to reject the good news and cling to old news.

I am proud to be a Christian Transsexual and proud to stand up against abuse, be it abuse in the name of god or abuse in the name of prejudice. I join Laura in condemnation of this member's behavior for it is clear this member came among hurting people to harm, and not heal.

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Guest SharleahLynn

As far as blackkatsen goes , . I was taught that the good lord does not make mistakes , and made us ALL in His/Her image. If God does not do mistakes, then why is it that we are shunned for being who we are? It says in the good book that we are to love one another as brothers and sisters, that is a given , I will not deny that point.

But why is it that people get their jollies by trying to destroy the works done here by attacking us as individual people and as a whole? What do these religious fanatics hope to gain with their ungodly actions toward a fellow human? Why are we attacked for saving countless lives? I was taught that if one carries out a suicide , they did the unforgivable in Gods eyes. Laura started this site with the hopes of reducing suicide rates and supporting all areas of the transgener umbrella. Since I have been on staff (3 years), I can account for 428 lives myself , no telling about the other staff members.

There are some of us on staff that devote around the clock time covering the chatroom ,I am one of those that do just that. I just knowing that at any minute my phone will ring and a staff member will tell me we gor 2 or more level 1 crisis's going on . it has happened in the past and will happen again in the future.

For those who do not know what level 1 is , I will explain. A Level 1 crisis is the worst there is, you can only pray that you are there and talk the person out of the act before they pull the trigger or pull the knife accross their veins , or jump off the stool , Picture your worst nightmare and times it by about a million.(that does not even come close to our job).

Before anyone tries criticizing, try doing our job and keep our win/loss where it is right now. YOU CANNOT DO IT!!!

This job takes a special person to do it, not just anyone is able to take the stress that comes with our position.

All staff here on this site goes through severe training , not every trainee makes it. I know this to be fact , because I train the staff. I have failed several because they could not take the stress and could not see trouble spots. And no staff member here needs to be cutdown for doing their job, they need to be respected for keeping the users safe and free from bad people. It is said in the rules that our job is a thankless one . Our job does not come nowhere near that of Laura's. Although she has not been able to be in the chatroom much, she has a supriorly harder job. There is not any of us that have an easy item to do here , so when some idiot comes trying to make light of us , we take it offensively and try to continue to do as we were trained to do .

SharleahLynn

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Guest Keiichi-kun

Every staff member here on Laura's deserves a big hug and a cookie :) You guys have done an amazing thing for the transgender community and for everyone here. Don't let someone's comments get you down because out of one bad comment there are hundreds of us out there that appreciate everything you are doing for us and our transgender brothers and sisters.

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Blakksteen's post calling me a liar makes me truely regret that i renewed this site for another year. I have tried to explain the huge job that the staff does here saving lives. I have tried to explain the huge number of users we have had here and have tried to explain users true experiences. For what? It is often met with skepticism. Anyone who has been in chat knows what goes on. I shouldn't need to defend myself and as of today I no longer will. I think it's high time for someone else to do this thankless job. This site is officially up for sale.

Laura

Personally I believe that you were correct in what you stated in your article. I further believe that the 16 year old (if they really are only 16) never really saw any of what many of us go through. If he had he would not have spouted the fountain of church inspired rhetoric. While yes there are some from the LDS faith that are decent (I personally know a family who are, and who told me trhat they fear excommunication for simply associating with me but will not let it stop them from being my friends.) .. there are some who are just the opposite and believe that we are just a sinful mark on the world. Those are the ones whom do the damage. They look to negative side of scripture to use it against those who need love not hate. Of course this is true in many faiths not just the LDS. I am a Christian myself who went from Roman Rite Catholic to the UCC Congregationalist faith. I left the Catholic Church 11 years ago when threatened by a Priest to be excommunicated for attending his church when I told him I would soon be starting transition to Female. He did not care that I started life in the Intersexxed gender. He was only concerned with the fact that after my Dad had me assigned to Male a week after birth .. that I was supposed to stay in that role.. despite the fact that at 4 years old I already knew I was supposed to be a girl. He was more concerned with how the rest of the church parish would see me coming in dressed as a woman than he was about compassion or love. When asked about how he could pass on following the directives of Christ to "Love one another as you would love Him".. he said that did not cover a sinning person who wished to remove their genetalia to assume the appearance of the opposite gender. I asked him where that came from and he said he could not say. So I went on to tell him that Christ said that we are all to be as children .. and then that he had also said "suffer not the little children to come unto Me." To this the Priest replied that he had no response and I needed to leave. So I responded fine then I shall never return to your church and as a Priest you have failed in your mision as a Shepherd of Christ's Church for you have forced away one of Christ's Sheep ... and that Sheep refuses to return to your church now.

As to the statements of the person known as Blackkatsen, in regard to beliefs following scripture , and how the church is supposed to treat those who are viewed as different .. I have the following to say for benefit of future readers here :

The fact that one would use religion to say that it is wrong to be transgendered shows how archaic that many of the world's church's viewpoints are. What needs be considered here is that in he days that the Bible was written there were rules/laws already set in the land where the authors of the Bible came from .. much of what was copied into the writings of the prophets was simply copied from the laws of those days. I do not refute that some of the scripture quoted God directly but I do place forward the fact that itt was written by man not by God ... the only part copied from tablets written by God directly was the ten commandments. But even still not looking at that .. there are yet more factors to be looked on as to how the many church's views are wrong regarding transgendered folks ...

If it is true that God made man in His own image .. and then if one must assume God maketh not mistakes... then one must consider that those born with genetalia of both genders (intersexxed) are not mistakes by God. So, if there is no mistake therein made by God ... then I say it is plausible that God in His not making a mistake gave a choice to those so born intersexxed .. that they should choose which Gender they wish to live in. Furthermore, as it has been discovered by science that the Brain controls gender orientation then it must as well be said that God maketh not mistakes there either when He assigns a outer body of one gender but a brain with the sex of the opposite gender. So as such the transsexual person is not wrong to wish .. nay .. NEED .. to bring the body in line with the mind. For here again it can be viewed that God gave the person a choice of living in the opposite gender to that which the outer body was born as. A study of brains was made by doctors and some interesting finding were made ... the volume of the central subdivision of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, a brain area that is essential for sexual behaviour, is larger in Men than in Women. A Female-sized BST was found to be the norm in Male-to-Female transsexuals. The size of the BST was not influenced by sex hormones in adulthood and was independent of sexual orientation. Their study was the first to show a Female brain structure in genetically Male Transsexuals and supports the hypothesis that gender identity develops as a result of an interaction between the developing brain and sex hormones. This states basically that the transsexuals brain sex is caused to differ from the body in the womb, while it is developing. As such this prooves that God made no mistake in causing the millions of transsexual persons to come into this world with brains not matching their body. If it is true that the brain is where the persons intelligence and sexual orrientation and gender identity are located then that prooves that God created the transgendered person with two genders just as an intersexxed person created by God has two genders. That being proven .. the many churches of the world whom view transsexuals as being immoral .. need to take a new look at how they interpret doctrine and belief about the transsexual person in general. If God made the transsexual person with two genders just as the Intersexxed person .. then it prooves that the transsexual person is not immoral, or sinning, to NEED to correct the physical body to match the mind.

If a person wishes to read about the brain study that was made they may read the article by clicking Here

Monica_Jennifer

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i dont see why youre all so hard on him. it looks like hes just copy and pasting everything from church. and hes saying nice things about being open or at least friendly to transsexuals. i know i dont have any real experience yet, but my 2 cents: dont shoot the messenger. he hasnt really condemned anyone yet

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Guest StrandedOutThere

Laura, I truly appreciate your site. Before I found it, I thought I was all alone - hence the user ID "StrandedOutThere". I am really thankful that you and your staff put in so much time and give so much to the transgendered community. Please accept my sincere, heartfelt thanks.

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Guest Chrissie
Personally I believe that you were correct in what you stated in your article. I further believe that the 16 year old (if they really are only 16) never really saw any of what many of us go through. If he had he would not have spouted the fountain of church inspired rhetoric. While yes there are some from the LDS faith that are decent (I personally know a family who are, and who told me trhat they fear excommunication for simply associating with me but will not let it stop them from being my friends.) .. there are some who are just the opposite and believe that we are just a sinful mark on the world. Those are the ones whom do the damage. They look to negative side of scripture to use it against those who need love not hate. Of course this is true in many faiths not just the LDS. I am a Christian myself who went from Roman Rite Catholic to the UCC Congregationalist faith. I left the Catholic Church 11 years ago when threatened by a Priest to be excommunicated for attending his church when I told him I would soon be starting transition to Female. He did not care that I started life in the Intersexxed gender. He was only concerned with the fact that after my Dad had me assigned to Male a week after birth .. that I was supposed to stay in that role.. despite the fact that at 4 years old I already knew I was supposed to be a girl. He was more concerned with how the rest of the church parish would see me coming in dressed as a woman than he was about compassion or love. When asked about how he could pass on following the directives of Christ to "Love one another as you would love Him".. he said that did not cover a sinning person who wished to remove their genetalia to assume the appearance of the opposite gender. I asked him where that came from and he said he could not say. So I went on to tell him that Christ said that we are all to be as children .. and then that he had also said "suffer not the little children to come unto Me." To this the Priest replied that he had no response and I needed to leave. So I responded fine then I shall never return to your church and as a Priest you have failed in your mision as a Shepherd of Christ's Church for you have forced away one of Christ's Sheep ... and that Sheep refuses to return to your church now.

As to the statements of the person known as Blackkatsen, in regard to beliefs following scripture , and how the church is supposed to treat those who are viewed as different .. I have the following to say for benefit of future readers here :

The fact that one would use religion to say that it is wrong to be transgendered shows how archaic that many of the world's church's viewpoints are. What needs be considered here is that in he days that the Bible was written there were rules/laws already set in the land where the authors of the Bible came from .. much of what was copied into the writings of the prophets was simply copied from the laws of those days. I do not refute that some of the scripture quoted God directly but I do place forward the fact that itt was written by man not by God ... the only part copied from tablets written by God directly was the ten commandments. But even still not looking at that .. there are yet more factors to be looked on as to how the many church's views are wrong regarding transgendered folks ...

If it is true that God made man in His own image .. and then if one must assume God maketh not mistakes... then one must consider that those born with genetalia of both genders (intersexxed) are not mistakes by God. So, if there is no mistake therein made by God ... then I say it is plausible that God in His not making a mistake gave a choice to those so born intersexxed .. that they should choose which Gender they wish to live in. Furthermore, as it has been discovered by science that the Brain controls gender orientation then it must as well be said that God maketh not mistakes there either when He assigns a outer body of one gender but a brain with the sex of the opposite gender. So as such the transsexual person is not wrong to wish .. nay .. NEED .. to bring the body in line with the mind. For here again it can be viewed that God gave the person a choice of living in the opposite gender to that which the outer body was born as. A study of brains was made by doctors and some interesting finding were made ... the volume of the central subdivision of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, a brain area that is essential for sexual behaviour, is larger in Men than in Women. A Female-sized BST was found to be the norm in Male-to-Female transsexuals. The size of the BST was not influenced by sex hormones in adulthood and was independent of sexual orientation. Their study was the first to show a Female brain structure in genetically Male Transsexuals and supports the hypothesis that gender identity develops as a result of an interaction between the developing brain and sex hormones. This states basically that the transsexuals brain sex is caused to differ from the body in the womb, while it is developing. As such this prooves that God made no mistake in causing the millions of transsexual persons to come into this world with brains not matching their body. If it is true that the brain is where the persons intelligence and sexual orrientation and gender identity are located then that prooves that God created the transgendered person with two genders just as an intersexxed person created by God has two genders. That being proven .. the many churches of the world whom view transsexuals as being immoral .. need to take a new look at how they interpret doctrine and belief about the transsexual person in general. If God made the transsexual person with two genders just as the Intersexxed person .. then it prooves that the transsexual person is not immoral, or sinning, to NEED to correct the physical body to match the mind.

If a person wishes to read about the brain study that was made they may read the article by clicking Here

Monica_Jennifer

Once upon a time I was a loyal christian ... I started from a family that had mormon and other backgrounds went to Lutheran and United Pentacostal ... through confirmation in the Lutheran church before things started to change for me... I started feeling different. I didn't yet realize that I was transgendered I thought I was gay or bi... and when I tried talking to pastors about I got rebuffed told that I was I was an abomination, I was sinning and the usual garbage...

I stopped going to church because I didnt feel that any religion that would say I was abomination I didnt want to be a part of.... took me a few years... after I had left high school and college, to start my search for faith...

I examined Satanism and several flavors of Christianity as many other eastern religions just briefly.

I couldn't be christian because of People that used the bible to call what I was wrong... and use it to be hypocrites...

If I think about what has transpired and if Jesus Christ has seen what His followers have done in his name he'd be appalled. I doubt he'd be surprised but ...I'd think he ask what the ... ? these actions are not in what I taught... How could you claim you did them in my name when they go against everything I taught.

If he was as saintly, a pure and loving person as the bible makes him to be... I doubt he'd be using the bible to Attack groups of people, Validate Atrocities committed, or oppress others. ... Chrissie

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Guest dolly

i was wondering myself why they didnt just reply to the original topic. it seems kinda moot to post a new topic to complain about another one unless that was their intentions to stir up the hornets nest. havent read a ton of bk's other topics aside form their little "pity party" topic and this one but from what ive heard, it sounds like thats just what they were doing and kudos to you laura for calling em out on it and banning them.

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Guest Amanda

Just another whom denigrates the work we do here. Laura hon, I too remember the days when Joe was in crisis everyday but hon, you right and wrong!!! You right that you dont have to and should never have to defend urself or us staff as our success is proof by such rapid growth. Ur wrong tho sis as this site and all of us need you hon.. this site has not groen by itself hon, it is because of all ur tireless work behind the scenes and others like our esteemed chat director and too many others to name.

Laura without your direction and leadership, we wouldnt be where we are today. You are an inspiration sis.

Hugs Amanda

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Guest ashley4262

Laura, your response is one that needed to be said , i agree with it and commend you on it. We are here to complete the jourbey god gave us to follow.We are in his image as he seen himself at th time we were made, What ever happened to just being Godly instead of religous. I attended a church that helped me get off drugs, they support my transgenderism and welcomed me in, Why cant all of Gods creatures live this way. To use a faith to put us down is wrong, We work hard here to save lives, al though I have only been a mod for a short time I have already saved quite a few and this follows us through the nites at times waiting to see if we did good when the next day comes and they are back..But we keep the fight going, and we do our best in all situations. Do not let one destroy what you have started and accomplished. For there any many who need us.

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i dont see why youre all so hard on him. it looks like hes just copy and pasting everything from church. and hes saying nice things about being open or at least friendly to transsexuals. i know i dont have any real experience yet, but my 2 cents: dont shoot the messenger. he hasnt really condemned anyone yet

Actually he has. Read his posts on Gay marriage and reparative therapy. When you tell someone that users here had actual suicide attempts and deaths from a dangerous conversion therapy and they persist on telling vulnerable users and teens to "try it anyway" ask yourself what their true motives are. it was said to intentionally harm transgender people and disuade them from seeking treatment from qualified doctors and therapists. Despite complaints against him and his spreading dangerous information i didn't ban him because dissenting opinions are ok within the rules. I suspected he was not transgender which means he can't post here. Nevertheless he was warned and given a second chance.

It was hardly cut and paste do a search for the text elsewhere on the web. It's not there. My Articles here are written with input from 5.3 million users, 1.4 million emails, thousands of suicide crsis's we handled here and daily chat transcripts. I stand by each and every one of them. Blakksteen called me a liar for an article i wrote despite the fact that it was witnessed nightly by several staff and users here starting in our chat rooms over 4 years ago. The subject of the article was a young FTM teen severely cut himself daily and had several suicide attempts due to treatment from a Prophet in his church. We advised therapy what he got was a Church "Counselor" schooled in bible study not therapy. As a result he got worse not better. It also isn't the only incident either. When treatment causes suicide attempts here i will not stay silent and i will warn people about it. We have gotten lots of mail on similar incidents from our users. Three were Mormon and the rest from other denominations. When the article was written i received thousands of letters from Transgender people who had sympathy and compassion for Joe. Where was Blaaksteen's compassion? He wrote about the truthfullness of the article but didn't even ask about "Joe". He had no feelings for him at all like a transgender person would. Why? While not all religious people believe it a large number do believe that suicide is better than being Homosexual or transgender. While they are enraged by a 2% rise in Veterans suicides they are not at all enraged by the 50% of Transsexuals attempting suicde by their 20th birthday. They feel they are better off. That is an Inhumane and heartless response. Here transgender suicide outrages us and it should.

For over 4 years i have dedicated myself to this site, the community and my users. I have spent considerable amounts of my money and my time averaging 18 hour days seven days a week. We do soemthing here no one else does with online support group meetings and suicide prevention. We long ago lost count of the thousands of lives here. If something goes wrong I am the one who has to take responsibility for it including peoples lives. I do all this with several disabilities so severe that most are confined to bed. There are days i forget to eat especially when i'm handling peoples crisis's, meals sit uneaten. When I sleep my mind is always on my users problems and how to solve them. That is a lot of weight to put on a person and the stress directly affects my health. When I put my heart and soul into something writing about my users pain only to be told that it's a lie by a non-trangender (or sometimes a transgender person) who has no idea what really goes on here it is hurtful. It makes me wonder why put in the effort at all. Is the personal price and responsibility and liability i pay worth it? While helping others is noble and satisfying it leaves no time for me. I can't remember the last time i did one thing for myself. I feel if people aren't going to believe me what's the point in writing at all. Should i have to go back 4 years to old transcipts to prove my point to a religious nut? The time involved is ridiculous. Besides it would reveal private confidential conversations snd real identities. That will never happen here transcripts are confidential. The words Blakksteen writes seem supportive on the surface and almost harmless. The reality of our users here tells an entirely different story. They do not practice what they preach. If it were as he says i wouldn't have suicidal users being treated with church doctrine instead of real therapy by psychologists. I would'nt have teens being sent to religious bible thumping brainwashing camps for reparative therapy. Blaaksteen says it doesn't happen and never did. Tell that to the many horrified users here sent to them who are now suicidal. You don't have to take my word for it take theirs. Blakksteen would call them liars too. Him and millions like him have made it hell on earth for transgender and gay people world wide. The number of deaths and suicides caused from their unscientific crap are of no consequence to them. Obviously a schizophrenic who sees visions and writes bible stories is much more believable then a therapist. I don't have to quote thousands gays who have been told they are better off to commit suicide then to be gay or transgendered. Ask Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church and former owner of "God hates Fags web site" what he thinks. You won't be disappointed. He'll provide a quote for you. He registered here for chat once and has correponded with staff members here. Should I have let him post? Some here would think so. Would you?

It is hard to balance the desire to allow dissenting opinions with the rules. People who are not transgendered or haters of transgendered have no business here. Making flowery speeches about acceptance of trangenders when the reality lived by users here is quite the opposite is an insult to the community. They do not at all practice what they preach. "Exodus" and the suicidal victims they create is proof of that. Religious nuts have been tearing us apart since i can remember. I'm talking about individuals and religions who creat haters like Fred Phelps's. They are hardly "Christlike" in their treatment of us. Sure there are churches that accept us as we are (UNiversalist). Others say they do but in practice do not. As Transgendered we have dealt with guilt, being told it's a lifestyle and that we are abominations and sinners for just being born as we are. Certainly we don't go on their sites and attack and denigrate them. Why then did Blakksteen come here to do it to us? He isn't transgendered and is likely not a teen. You are free to think whatever you want about me. Believe me or don't believe me, I don't care. I will tell you that as long as I am owner of this site Transgender people aren't going to be insulted or called liars or sinners here. While the next owner can do what they wish Religious or any kind of hatred isn't going to be tolerated here. Transgender people shouldn't have too hear that in our own house and my users have said so. As of this morning my mail has had 521 supportive letters asking for Blaksteens dismissal. Believe it or not you are the sole voice in favor of keeping him. While i respect your opinion I am listening to my users wishes.

Laura

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  • Admin

blackkatsen:

'http://www.lauras-playground.com/trans_devil.htm. I realize this article documents a true event, but I also see that this article presents an untruthful position concerning The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints aka the Mormon Church or the LDS Church.'

And yet it is true,it happened. You say you realise it 'documents a true event' it seems because you have not been treated this way, you imagine you never will. I sincerely hope this sort of thing never happens to you. Something similar did happen to a very good friend of mine, one of the greens in the chat site. She was .. tortured by church elders to drive out the devil. Tortured is the only word for it, but they called it counselling. I wonder why we don't see this guy Laura called Joe, in chat these days. I wonder if that innocent boy has survived. A guy I met online last year adopted me as his dad because his whole family had rejected him. All he wanted was to be the good son he knows himself to be and to look after his family. All he offered was love. His LDS family turned him away, his father calling him foul names, saying he was demon possessed. Luckily my kid was a member of this site and the strangers here were more like family to him than his own flesh and blood. He received good advice, friendship and love. These days he is well into transition, happy, and hopes to marry this autumn.

Without Laura's site... I don't want to think what could have happened to him.

'we all make mistakes. We all make fun of the weird kid.'

No I didn't, I was the 'weird' kid. I stuck up for the other 'weirdos'.

'The Church does not allow persons who are considering transsexual operations to be baptized into the Church. Persons who seek or receiver transsexual surgeries may be excommunicated. But after receiving surgeries a person can be re baptized into the Church, but cannot go to the Temple or receive the Priesthood. While the Church has a somewhat negative approach to transsexuals, the Church is still friendly to them.'

That doesn't sound all that friendly to me. It reminds me of Animal Farm. 'All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.' We don't attack any church or religion here, just defend ourselves against intolerance bordering on lunacy.

'Crusader... hmm kinda like it. I dunno. Guess it works.'

Crusader? Laura is a crusader for simple human decency. Blackkattsen, you seem to enjoy that title, you seem to be in it for your ego.

Laura built this site and chatroom to lower the suicide rate among Transgender and Transsexual people. I know this site saves lives, I've seen people in the crisis rooms pulled back from the brink. I've seen them come back into chat days later and thank God for Laura and her site for saving their lives. I've experienced about 2% of the amount of stress Laura goes through, and I can only admire her resilience, kindness and humanity. Yep, it's often a thankless task. I carry other people's problems around with me all the time, I scarcely think of anything else. I spend about 6 - 7 hours day here until about 2 - 3 am UK time, feeling like I'm slacking off and leaving other people in the lurch because I'm going to bed. I know the other mods feel the same and we can get worn out and shell shocked by it all, but every now and then when someone comes back to say thanks.... that they are happy for the first time in their life... just being themselves.. what joy!, what a reward for us all. It really does make it all worthwhile. I can sleep, and wake up happy knowing we have made a difference.

Laura I would like to thank you, on behalf of all the mods and members here for the opportunity to make that difference. Don't give up now, love Stu

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Guest SharleahLynn
Actually he has. Read his posts on Gay marriage and reparative therapy. When you tell someone that users here had actual suicide attempts and deaths from a dangerous conversion therapy and they persist on telling vulnerable users and teens to try it anyway ask yourself what their true motives are. it was said to intentionally harm transgender people and disuade them from seeking treatment from qualified doctors and therapists. Despite complaints against him and his spreading dangerous information i didn't ban him because dissenting opinions are ok within the rules. I suspected he was not transgender which means he can't post here.

It was hardly cut and paste do a search for the text elsewhere on the web. It's not there. My Articles here are written with input from 5.3 million users, 1.4 million emails, thousands of suicide crsis's we handled here and daily chat transcripts. I stand by each and every one of them. Blakksteen called me a liar for an article i wrote despite the fact that it was witnessed nightly by several staff and users here starting in our chat rooms over 4 years ago. The subject of the article was a young FTM teen severely cut himself daily and had several suicide attempts due to treatment from a Prophet in his church. We advised therapy what he got was a Church "Counselor" schooled in bible study not therapy. As a result he got worse not better. It also isn't the only incident either. When treatment causes suicide attempts here i will not stay silent and i will warn people about it. We have gotten lots of mail on similar incidents from. Three were Mormon and the rest from other denominations.

For over 4 years i have dedicated myself to this site, the community and my users. I have spent considerable amounts of my money and my time averaging 18 hour days seven days a week. We do soemthing here no one else does with online support group meetings and suicide prevention. We long ago lost count of the thousands of lives here. If something goes wrong I am the one who has to take responsibility for it including peoples lives. I do all this with several disabilities so severe that most are confined to bed. There are days i forget to eat especially when i'm handling peoples crisis's, meals sit uneaten. When I sleep my mind is always on my users problems and how to solve them. That is a lot of weight to put on a person and the stress directly affects my health. When I put my heart and soul into something writing about my users pain only to be told that it's a lie by a non-trangender (or sometimes a transgender person) who has no idea what really goes on here it is hurtful. It makes me wonder why put in the effort at all. Is the personal price and responsibility and liability i pay worth it? While helping others is noble and satisfying it leaves no time for me. I can't remember the last time i did one thing for myself. I feel if people aren't going to believe me what's the point in writing at all. Should i have to go back 4 years to old transcipts to prove my point to a religious nut? The time involved is ridiculous. Besides it would reveal private confidential conversations snd real identities. That will never happen here transcripts are confidential. The words Blakksteen writes seem supportive on the surface and almost harmless. The reality of our users here tells an entirely different story. They do not practice what they preach. If it were as he says i wouldn't have suicidal users being treated with church doctrine instead of real therapy by psychologists. I would'nt have teens being sent to religious bible thumping brainwashing camps for reparative therapy. Blaaksteen says it doesn't happen and never did. Tell that to the many horrified users here sent to them who are now suicidal. You don't have to take my word for it take theirs. Blakksteen would call them liars too. Him and millions like him have made it hell on earth for transgender and gay people world wide. The number of deaths and suicides caused from their unscientific crap are of no consequence to them. Obviously a schizophrenic who sees visions and writes bible stories is much more believable then a therapist. I don't have to quote thousands gays who have been told they are better off to commit suicide then to be gay or transgendered. Ask Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church and former owner of "God hates Fags web site" what he thinks. You won't be disappointed. He'll provide a quote for you. He registered here for chat once and has correponded with staff members here. Should I have let him post? Some here would think so. Would you?

It is hard to balance the desire to allow dissenting opinions with the rules. People who are not transgendered or haters of transgendered have no business here. Making flowery speeches about acceptance of trangenders when the reality lived by users here is quite the opposite is an insult to the community. They do not at all practice what they preach. "Exodus" and the suicidal victims they create is proof of that. Religious nuts have been tearing us apart since i can remember. I'm talking about individuals and religions who creat haters like Fred Phelps's. They are hardly "Christlike" in their treatment of us. Sure there are churches that accept us as we are (UNiversalist). Others say they do but in practice do not. As Transgendered we have dealt with guilt, being told it's a lifestyle and that we are abominations and sinners for just being born as we are. Certainly we don't go on their sites and attack and denigrate them. Why then did Blakksteen come here to do it to us? He isn't transgendered and is likely not a teen. You are free to think whatever you want about me. Believe me or don't believe me, I don't care. I will tell you that as long as I am owner of this site Transgender people aren't going to be insulted or called liars or sinners here. While the next owner can do what they wish Religious or any kind of hatred isn't going to be tolerated here. Transgender people shouldn't have too hear that in our own house and my users have said so. As of this morning my mail has had 521 supportive letters asking for Blaksteens dismissal. Believe it or not you are the sole voice in favor of keeping him. While i respect your opinion I am listening to my users wishes.

Laura

AMEN BOSS . I am at your side wherever it leads. But in my honest opinion , we do not need to let hatred and dissenters ruin the best place in the world . It is your self neglect and devotion that has got us to this point , and if it was up to me , I would fight these arrogant , nasty idiot types with truth and honor that we stand for . We bust our asses to keep our people safe and guide them to what they need to do to be their real true selves. Please do not give in to the moronic doings of the few trying to drive us to ruin . Surrendering and selling the site makes them the winners and us the losers. You know me very well, I will fight tooth and nail to keep us alive and remain strong. Yeah I know , I'm a loose cannon, but I have not failed you yet, nor will I ever knowingly fail you. I have been right here ready to do the lead on defending our safe haven.

The colors on the flag and I got one thing in common, they don't run and neither do I. SharleahLynn

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