I’m perfectly okay with you thinking I’m a self-important blowhard. I have a healthy sense of self and don’t need the approval of strangers on the Internet.

I didn’t say that I think surgery wouldn’t help. I said that it seems that a less invasive avenue might be prudent. Most of all, I’m not sure that it’s the approach that makes the most sense. Treating psychological issues with surgery on healthy bodies does not make sense to me. Either way, I am not the ruler of all…

Why are any of our opinions important on this or any issue? I’m just one person with an opinion. I didn’t ask anyone to make it their opinion. I haven’t written my Congressman to make my opinion the law of the land. Am I supposed to only comment if my opinion is “important”? Every single post on Jezebel gets hundreds…

Only idiots would ask why someone is “allowed” to express their opinions or say that we don’t have a “right” to do so, whether in a governmental context or not. Who does that? I am allowed to say what I want and I have a right to do so; you are allowed and have a right to ignore, agree with, dislike, or refute what I…

The First Amendment limits the government’s ability to censor you, just FYI. It has no bearing here.

But I said that. I said “I don’t dislike trans people but...” And your response was some vague complaint about how I’m trying to tell you your feelings.

I don’t think I have pretended to be an expert on gender identity issues, but one shouldn’t have to be to comment on a Jezebel message board. I have actually done research to get a better understanding (and will continue to), but my questions have not yet been satisfied. I’m also not the one upset here— you’ve…

Ok, then. Which part of my interpretation of your words was incorrect? Do you actually dislike trans people? Are you not questioning our treatment? Because those are the only “assumptions” I’ve made here.

I realized that you lack the sufficient understanding of the issue to make a continued conversation worthwhile.

I can say that your “I don’t dislike trans people but I do question whether their treatments are a good thing” holds about as much water as the Christians’ line of “love the sinner, hate the sin”.

I wasn’t characterizing gender dysphoria that way; I was giving an example of situations in which people’s physical bodies are in conflict with their mental health. It is easier for you though, I guess, not to discuss these issues, so carry on with your day.

So what you’re saying is that you don’t believe surgery is a part of a solution for trans people?

It’s rare that people undergo surgery for depression, though. I’m not saying that there should be no treatment, just that the most invasive and expensive treatments should be for physical maladies without other options. For example, gastric bypass surgery has been demonstrated as a possible cure for diabetes, but it…

By saying that you don’t believe trans folks’ plight to be “real” enough to merit treatment, you’re dismissing not just the issues of trans prisoners, but also those faced by folks out in the general population.

As I mentioned above: Surgery is a huge medical risk for any individual or a government to take on. Every surgery carries with it a risk of death or other serious complications from the anesthesia, infection, the idiosyncrasies of an individual’s physiology, or underlying or unknown medical conditions. It is also…

There should at least be a physical malady. Incarcerated people are already given only limited medical care. They aren’t always able to choose which treatment options are available to them (hell, non-incarcerated people with health coverage aren’t even able to do that), so I can’t really fathom taxpayers footing the…

I’m not a doctor, but I’m sure there are plenty.

No, mental health coverage is appropriate for all prisoners, trans or not.

In prison, though? I highly doubt that many states are paying for prisoners to have elective surgeries, and if they are, I’d have to question that choice.

I didn’t say anything about prescription medicines, and I doubt the prison system is paying for dental services that don’t involve diseased teeth (cavities, periodontal disease, root canals, etc.). If taxpayers are footing the bill for teeth whitening, then yeah, I have a problem with that.