I know the anguish that can be caused by people being
negative on line to trans people. One of their favourite methods is to state
that trans people are just mentally sick or similar. Now, I am not going to advocate
that you engage with such people in an online debate. They generally know what
triggers you and will use their knowledge to cause you hurt.
However, I thought I would put here the response I use to reply
to such people. The example is a real example from a post I made about
additional laws to protect trans people from discrimination. The objective of
my method is to make me feel better within myself, and hopefully cause them to reflect
on their comment/ideas and choose to change. One rule though I use when using this
response – I never go back to view any comments to my original response.
Their Comment
That’s right let's
keep feeding this mental disorder, I'm sure that it'll end well for these
morons.
My Response
Mental disorder?
Really?
I am well educated and
I work full-time in a senior management role. Like non-trans women, as a
transwoman, I have to work hard and long hours to continually prove myself as
being of value to the organisation. I pay my fair share of taxes and manage my
personal budget, so I can buy groceries, pay bills, pay for my HRT, and save
some money. I managed to do all this in an environment where I face pervasive
discrimination on a daily basis in many areas of my life, including work,
health, housing, education, and socially.
Metal health issues.
You bet I must continuously look after my mental health.
It is a
well-researched and known fact that transgender people tend to experience
higher rates of mental health issues than the non-trans population. Although
this is well known in the general population, what is not so well known, or
deliberately ignored, is what underlies the astonishingly elevated rate of
mental health issues for transgender people. I’m going to assume that you are
not aware of the cause and explain to you the reasons.
First and foremost, it
is not because we are transgender.
Our mental health
suffers because of the discrimination, stigma, lack of acceptance, and abuse we
face on an unfortunately regular basis. Now that you know the reasons behind
our poorer mental health, you have an opportunity to change. You have a choice.
You can deliberately ignore the facts explained above, or you can advocate that
transgender people be protected from pervasive discrimination.
