I haven’t advocated denying surgery for anyone other than prisoners. People who aren’t in prison can and will do what they want.

Also you started a comment thread - why are you surprised people are responding to your ill-informed beliefs?

Nope, I just have a problem with someone who is uniformed about an issue making themselves into the inquisitor.

It seems very important to you to make me into a bad guy. Asking questions is not dismissive.

Where have I dismissed the experience of trans individuals?

I could also be right. Or a better answer might be something that hasn’t been yet fathomed. Shouldn’t we continue to ask these questions because issues of sexual and gender identity are complicated by social mores, biology, and mental health? I’m not mad at people doing what they and their doctors think best in the…

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.