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As a transsexual woman, I would like to respond to the letter The woman in transsexuals - or is it?

First of all there are many, many types of people who are transsexual. Some of these people, rightly or wrongly, do not act in an ethical or even sensible way. For example, going to the doctor. Any intelligent transsexual will fully disclose to her doctor that she was in fact born biologically male.

It just makes sense that the doctor has the full picture. The transsexual should also go to a doctor with experience in treating transsexuals. Just like you do not go to the foot doctor for a earache.

On the issue of relationships, you do yourself no favours by not telling your lover that you are a transsexual. You are only asking for problems if you are not truthful. This is not a difficult thing to see because it applies to everyone in every relationship - you must be honest with your lover or the relationship will not last and one or both will get hurt.

There is no reason whatsoever for a transsexual to be ashamed or embarrassed about being a transsexual. The only reason there is shame and embarrassment is because many societies do not understand us. Humanity, naturally, is afraid of what it does not understand.

The writer wrote: "Apart from this, there is also the even more difficult area trying to fathom what transsexuals mean when they say "I am a woman". Which aspect of a woman and her life do they feel part of? Is it only psychological or does it extend to the social, political and economic spheres?"

The answer to this from a transsexual would be yes, it is psychological, spiritual, social, political, economic, etc. Even physical despite the wrong genitals. A transsexual wishes to express herself as all women do, and be treated and related to as a woman. It is just that simple.

As stated above, there are times when it makes sense to disclose the nature of your birth from a biological point of view. But, other than that, we just want to be considered female by the rest of the world. And what does it matter what is (or used to be) between our legs? We do not walk around checking other people's genitals before we talk to them do we?

So why do we want to change our legal status? I do not want to have a male signifier on my legal documents (especially my driver's license) because in the event that I might be arrested or something, I do not want to be put in a cell with a bunch of men. Now, hopefully, I am smart enough to never do anything stupid enough to land me in jail.

But, what about showing my ID papers or cards while making a big purchase or going aboard a plane? If I am presenting myself as female and living my life as a female, then none of these people need to know I was born biologically a male. In fact, it could start to cause some serious problems if my legal status is different from my outward appearance.

Many transsexuals disagree with me about it being okay for the government to know that we were born biologically male. They feel it is an infringement of their privacy, but I feel it is necessary in these days. How would you feel if your legal papers differed from your gender? (this assuming you are comfortable with your biological gender.)

Transsexual women want nothing about themselves to be male, and this includes the paperwork that identifies who they are. I do not understand why this is such a big deal. I am not ashamed of being a transsexual, but I do not want to be known, viewed, or treated as a man.

I think if it this way, transsexuals are just a different kind of girl.

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