If transsexuals are about gender orientation, and homosexuals are about sexual orientation, why...?

Question

does the GLBT community put the two groups together?

Honestly, I'm a FTM transsexual and there's many times that I don't feel that sense of "belonging" with gays and lesbians. I mean I have acclimated to the "straight world" so to speak. I live as a male and I like girls (a LOT). Don't get me wrong, I lived much of my life under the label of "butch lesbian" by others and I'm a huge GLBT activist. But I don't understand why we're grouped into a community where a lot of gays and lesbians don't really accept us, even, when you think about it, it was the transvestites, and transsexuals that helped pave the way during the Stonewall Rebellion to bring about the advancements in the acceptance of gays and lesbians.

Answer 1

The one thing that unites us all is the same struggle for civil rights.

As far as I'm concerned, it's the same thing that unites us with everyone who is not a straight white Christian man, even though not all non-white, non-male and non-Christian people accept us non-straight folks, or accept each other.

The problem is bigotry is not limited to just one group. Heck, I've had conversations with gay men who believed that bisexuals don't exist, that they are all just gays in denial.

You will never find a community of any kind with 100% acceptance. We all like to talk about unconditional love, but it doesn't really exist.

The best we can do is accept everyone in our lives as they are as much as we can, and help them learn to accept us as we are as much as they can.

Answer 2

You know, I have heard this question before from transgendered people. It does make one pause. I think some gays view transgendered as "not really gay." Granted, its a small group of gays, but it is out there to be sure. I know a gal, who is a male to female transexual. She gets some static in the DC gay community. I guess in some's view they were always straight to begin with. They just changed, some are resentful for some odd reason. I never understood it myself. Somehow they aren't down with overcoming the obstacles that one must when one is gay. I think its crap, changing your gender is time consuming and extremely expensive. I have nothing but respect for the transgendered. It must be hard to live a large part of your life being the wrong gender. Overcoming that takes guts. You basically have to reinvent everything in your life, right down to walking and talking. While still maintaining a home and a job! You may get some gays who don't want you in the community. I for one, am glad you are here!

Answer 3

Really I think this is all part of the larger split in the frist place that makes a line between homosexuality and hetersexuality. Truth be told, once we actually began to understand human sexuality a little more well began to see how these are truly one in the same thing. Yea the application of the sexuality is different but it is still sexuality. Transeuxals on the other hand is a horse of a different color entirely. Which makes me feel good to know now that they were the ones to start to spear head the fact that society now accepts (in miniscule amounts) that sexuality from one person to another can be different, and thats almost ok, never could understand how we can declare each individual to have a different perception of this world, but they're suppose to have the same sexual orentation? Wouldn't homosexuality just be a product of individualism? Ether way I think that once we develop a better understanding of sexuality as a whole instead of this black and white stuff, well began to see that transexuals are the ones who are dealing with a real issue. And that it isn't a perversion as much as how sexual identy is inprinted in us at an early age, still thou well have troubles determining if it does have genetic factors are not, darn geno-code... getting off subject again, sorry, but I feel that gays and lesbians being people too and having to view their own sexuality in this some what ignorant way or forced on top of that to also view transsexuals in the same way, even thou they just don't fit the catorgory really, well not all of them but again that individual sexuality and not as you said gender orientation. You made a great point thou! Just sorry that prudice and ignorance are contagous thanks to our societies inablility to accept how powerful sexuality is, and instead of looking at in a light made of many colors were force to view one shade as the right way and everything else is a perversion.... but what do you expect of a society that seperates sex and love?