Transexualism, freedom & liberty

User offline. Last seen 15 years 14 weeks ago.
sophie_encaoua
Number 534
Conspirator for: 15 years 15 weeks
Posted on: January 26, 2009 - 7:49pm

Transsexualism & freedom; it might seem an offbeat subject which is personal to me but not particularly relevant to anybody else. In fact this would be a gross error of a conclusion because at the heart of the issue of transsexualism & freedom is the matter of what I’d term as property rights 1:01, one of the core beliefs of individual liberty & a relevant to us all. For me the most basic property right of & what I term as property rights 1:01, is the belief that one owns their own body & therefore what does with their own body is their own business, so long as they don’t harm or infringe upon the rights of others. So the conclusion with regards to the issue of transsexualism is that if a guy wants to be a girl what business is it of government to tell them they can’t.

 

In general if an individual wants to be surgically altered what business is of society & government to tell them they can’t? It’s simply no one’s business other then that individual which wants parts altered, chopped off or added for they own themselves. Its no ones business so long as they take responsibility for the consequences of their actions & so long as those consequences don’t impede upon the rights of others etc. In fact generally in the UK & US as far as I know to get a facelift or a boob job down you don’t need to seek the government’s permission but to get an arm or penis chopped off you do. The particular protocol for a guy seeking to get their penis removed in the UK, US & the rest of the westernised world is for that guy has too seek permission from two consultant psychiatrists. In the case of transsexual they’ve also have had to of lived as a woman for two years, which makes me question how any psychiatrist can objectively assess what is feminine or not feminine what being womanly really means, such things are of a subjective nature.

 

You ever noticed how there are far more mental disorders today then there were twenty or thirty years ago, some would say that I’m cynical for saying psychiatry is just an industry & like all other industry its always needing too seek new custom, however I think there’s some truth to that statement. Its psychiatrists who mainly had an big influence upon drawing up the standards of care for transsexuals (often referred to as the Benjamin Standards) & funnily enough much of what’s contained in the Benjamin Standards has been adopted into the governance of how transsexuals must proceed to acquire gender reassignment. Plus if a psychiatrist doesn’t religiously keep to the standards in care they can find themselves being lynched by the psychiatric establishment as happened with Dr Russell Reid.

 

Russell is one of the nicest men I’ve ever met & was the psychiatrist who officially diagnosed me with gender dysphoria (technical term for transsexual). But unlike other psychiatrists Russell was going to tell you how it was going to be…how it was going to be was down you. Russell took a backseat & felt it was the patient who knew best & that for a psychiatrist is very rare. Russell was really the only viable means for a transsexual to get treatment outside the universal healthcare system in the UK & because he was more flexible then the universal healthcare system more people were paying to get treatment from Russell then asking for treatment via universal healthcare. Russell being ‘flexible’ is kind of important explaining this because whilst the psychiatrists working in the universal healthcare system might of bitch about Russell not adhering strictly to the standards in care they were exactly adhering to the spectrum which defines gender dysphoria. You see if you’re a transsexual seeking treatment via universal healthcare you will only get treatment if you’ll only get treatment if you want to go all the way & have the chop. But as the Benjamin scale explains not every individual who is gender dysphoric wants to go all the way & Russell understood this & until the advent of the internet Russell was the only practical means to get proscribed hormones if you wanted to be a chick with a dick etc.

 

Unfortunately for Russell his laid back kindness was slapped in face by one individual who had gone all the way & then regretted it & accused him of malpractice. They said Russell had pushed them into having surgery after only a couple of sessions & that Russell wasn’t aware of mental health problems they had. Firstly it was down to that individual to of informed Russell of any other mental or physical health problems they happen to be suffering from & secondly its utter garbage that Russell would of pushed them into of having surgery being as it just wasn’t the way Russell operated. I’m pretty certain that the accusation that Russell pushed this individual into having surgery is bogus, this was individual who made the accusations was an individual who bought a yacht yet knew nothing about sailing, this was an individual who had more money then sense & they’d be lying if they said they were looking for a nanny, no they were looking for a facilitator but they mistakenly thought that money could buy them happiness.

 

Though this individual failed to prove Russell was guilty of malpractice it encouraged others with the backing of the psychiatric establishment to bring further allegations of malpractice from individuals who were regretting having gender reassignment surgery. As I said Russell did not operate on the basis that he knew what was best & so the onus as far as I’m concerned was not on Russell but on the individual. I mean if you go into a barber shop tell them to shave all your hair off & then sue them because you regret having all your hair shaved off. But my opinion counts for squat & the General Medical Council sanctioned Russell & no longer could he help people. As far as I’m concerned those who were accusing would of got nowhere if it weren’t they had the backing of psychiatrists working in the universal healthcare system & as far as I’m concerned it wasn’t about malpractice but a matter of envy. The first transsexual I encountered who regretted having surgery had actually received treatment thorough the universal healthcare system. So the universal healthcare isn’t infallible & I have to point that out because some still think private healthcare bad & universal healthcare good, the reality is that neither is full proof but private healthcare is more tilted to treating the patient as a customer & giving the customer what they because the customer is always right! But the problem is people don’t realise such things & I feel I’m pissing in the wind so to speak. Russell operated in the private sector responding to what the market wanted & those accusing them operated in the universal healthcare which is largely dictated by what government thinks the people need. People vote with their feet & more transsexuals were generally seeking treatment from Russell then via universal healthcare, oh that’s got to rankle with the egos of those psychiatrists working in the universal healthcare system. Yep that’s right folks the bottom line was professional envy & maybe that government doesn’t like it when give them the finger etc.

 

I don’t know for sure whether the psychiatric industry lobbied government to enact the standards of care into the law on how transsexuals are governed. I’m sure if that if that is the case a psychiatrist might defend that action by saying the government was never going to take the treatment & the sobriquet campaign for civil liberties seriously. Hmm maybe but that kind of action has led to the situation that if any man wants to be a girl they have to get permission from government which raises the question does government own our bodies? Is it the case that we are really merely but the property of government because if that’s the case we are merely but slaves in my opinion. Of course there are some folk who’d say that somebody undertaking such a major change in their life then there is a need for checks. One criticism of Russell from transsexuals was that you paid money he gave you what you wanted no questions asked, well that isn’t true but even if that were the case my response is yes & so what! Worth noting that typically those transsexuals who have raised such criticisms have typically not been able too afford to get treatment from Russell & so have gone via universal healthcare.

 

I’m sure government realises as I realise that under the present system that even with the present regulations backed by government concerning the treatment of transsexuals, a transsexual could quite easily find a psychiatrist in the private sector who’ll sign whatever permission slip required for the right price & no one else would know. So the question is that do those people who think there’s a need for tighter regulations & who think it should be solely government healthcare which treats transsexuals believe that government should own our persons? Because what they advocate might be well meaning but what they advocate would also give ownership of one’s person to the government & that very thought makes me want to heave.

 

I’m not saying there shouldn’t be any regulations in the treatment of transsexuals but needs to be a recognition that what one does with their own damn business!!! What I’m saying is by government shouldn’t be telling me what I should & shouldn’t be doing with my body even if it does not encroach upon the liberty of others. If anybody disagrees with that statement I’d ask this why do you want to control me or why do think you have the right to get government to control me when I’m not doing you any harm?