[DemolitionRed]

Nobody chooses to be transgender. People who do go through the transition do so to feel more like their true self. How can we say they aren’t real women or real men when gender is more complicated than being man or woman.

As for stereotyping, everyone is put in boxes by their families, their religion, by society even by our own bodies. Gender has always been considered a fact, immutable, but we now know its more fluid, complex and mysterious and not just about the genitalia we were born with.

Why should a male who has transitioned to become a female accept she should be known as transgender? This wasn’t some flippant decision; it’s a huge life changing decision and its such a public thing it has to be terrifying. When my male friend started uni, on his signing in day a woman called out his name and then loudly declared that she’d made a mistake because they thought he was a boy, not a girl. The truth is, he couldn’t go anywhere or do anything without someone noticing and so during the transitioning process his life was full of stares, sniggers and whispers. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been, can you?

As far as I'm concerned he's all 'man' and he's a ****ing hero.