This question is mainly for those who are transitioning or want to transition. Everyone can answer, though- I'm curious what everyone thinks. You must choose between making technology available for trans people to match their bodies up with their genders or complete acceptance of all trans, but having medicine remain the same. Which one would you pick? Note that this "cure" would render you indistinguishable from non-trans unless you told them, in which case many of them would react negatively. We'll start with my choice. I chose the cure because I wouldn't have to take hormones or get surgery.
I'm a little confused at the question... I think I would pick cure? So we could have better transitioning for people who need and/or want it since it isn't currently perfect. We could get to acceptance later, this way they can be at least comfortable with their bodies. Maybe that is wrong of me, I am still a bit confused. I assume you mean perfect and easy transition into their preferred/natural sex, not changing the brain to match the current body.
Acceptance first. Because once we accept people, then as a race, we can be motivated more to do better on the cure. Trans* people are still pretty much bottom-of-the-barrel, and people are either clueless or willfully ignorant. There are even jokes about non-trans* people that use post-op people as the punchline. Once people can accept that gender =/= sex without saying "It's all in your head" or even just flat-out denying someone's identity, we might be closer to better operations and techniques and such.
Yeah i went with the cure body one cause I would love to be able to just automatically produce enough testosterone. I don't care about genitals all that much. I'm fine with what I have now, but since the hypothetical body cure thing would mean having a dick (unless I could customize) I'd be fine with it as long as it's small. See when I was first looking at the two options it was kinda hmmm...but as much as i want acceptance of trans peeps, if it came down to it, I'm gonna choose what's gonna make me happy, and I want to be able to produce my own T and that takes a higher thing over gaining the acceptance of stupid people who are worthless to me.
I'd still pick cure if people called me an it or even a tree. My own perception of myself is worse than the most transphobic people in the world. I can see the value in acceptance. I'm only taking about myself when I say this but I'm pretty sure I'm selfish. I'd walk through a minefield and drag myself over broken glass if it meant I could be free from this nightmare. Every time I go into town a few people question my gender and I'm like I dunno, do you wanna find out? I was thrashed in high school and I didn't learn to defend myself until college. People will always find a way to separate others.
As someone who is not trans*, I hope my comment or analogy will not be seen as if I'm trying to disparage or insult anyone. Here's an analogy. Today, lung cancer is stigmatized as one of the worse cancers to have, socially. Even though many of the people who get lung cancer today have never smoked in their lives, lung cancer is still seen as a plague brought upon by the patient. If you say, "I have lung cancer," the first thing someone will ask (even if in their heads) is, "Did you smoke?" It's painful for them because it seems as if they brought if upon themselves. If you have breast cancer, you're showered with love, seeing pink on football games, compassion, disproportionate private and public funding for your "cure," etc. The question of cure vs. acceptance in the trans* community could be seen as: would you rather have lung cancer and be accepted, or be able to cure it and not get any of the stigma attached. Now, in a way, it is a false analogy, but you could see how the two can be linked. For many in the trans* community, being trans* is more a medical issue than a psychological issue. As a result, you could say that it'd be best to deal with the issue and "cure" it than try to fix the social issues behind it. The only way choosing technological advancement over acceptance can be seen as not the best choice would be for those who seek to not transition and/or maybe identify as genderqueer and for those who are questioning their gender assignment from the moment they begin to be cognizant of their gender dysphoria issues to the point where they can seek out the treatment that would forevermore "cure" them. For years, those trans* kids/folks who have to accept who they are and begin their quest to reach the halls of medicine to "cure" them will go through hell in a world that doesn't understand what they're going through and may very well call them "freaks" and assault their psyche (and, perhaps, their body). After all of these considerations, I choose "cure."
Obviously my opinion has no weight in this subject, but I'll give it anyway. For trans people, a cure would probably be more helpful in making someone feel more comfortable and happy. I'm assuming your hypothetical cure would be easier than surgery and hormones, so that'd be an added bonus. It'd be really good to ensure the emotional and physical safety of trans people, but I do have qualms about it: As a larger social issue, such a cure would mean that cis people could ignore the issue rather than actually accept trans people. A cure wouldn't mean we'd be kind to trans people out of respect for them; we'd just believe that they're also cis and treat them as such, which I don't see as a solution. Overall, I think acceptance very important, and I voted for it on principle, but the well-being of trans people is what matters, which would mean a cure would be better. In an ideal world, people would universally accept trans people and medical costs of transitioning would be free. In the real world, it'd be better to have a method that means trans people are safe and as happy and comfortable as possible, so I'm leaning on the side of this hypothetical physical cure. Acceptance would be ideal, but a cure for the body would be more practical.
