Well, it's true that sometimes I don't post because I disagree with you. But I'm not exactly a prolific poster anyway, so it's really nothing personal :P
As for the transgender/cis thing, I can totally see where you're coming from in regards to having added dangers in confiding things to people who may not see things from your viewpoint. But I also think that any minorities who intentionally ghettoize themselves by only sticking to people 'of their own type' aren't doing themselves any favours either. They tend to become extremists because they all agree with each other, they all bolster each others' angsts and opinions, and other points of view tend to get dismissed out of hand or, worse, never heard in the first place.
Personally, I consider myself depressingly normal. I have a single partner, I'm straight, I have no real gender issues or phobias, I don't have any disabling neuroses or personality disorders and, apart from being child free, I can pretty much get by in the 'normal' world. It doesn't make me of the opinion that being different is the same as being evil or dangerous. And yeah, I'm aware that, in some peoples' opinion, that puts me in one of the smallest minorities of all :P But still, it feels a little insulting to be clumped in with all people of the label 'cis', since, in my experience, no one group of people is all the same. Or even remotely similar.
I've known a lot of 'freaky' people throughout my life (their word, not mine, before anyone jumps on the bandwagon about it), and from what I've seen, the ones who get on best are those that strike a balance between A) announcing what/who they are to the entire world and B) being ashamed and silent about what/who they are. My most successful 'freak' friend had a way about him of announcing the truth calmly and without apology to those that needed to know. Somehow, it became their problem if they didn't understand, not his. I've never quite got the hang of that calmness-in-the-face-of-the-storm attitude of his, but I admired it a lot at the time. And it seemed to work. Then again, he was a very clever guy, he developed a lot of coping strategies to get him through life. Which, I think, if you're different, you need to do. Having said that, I think everybody's different in some way or another. Some people just hide it better than others, that's all.
Have I said what I want to say? I dunno really, I lost track a couple of paragraphs ago. But at least it's a reply, right? :P
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As for the transgender/cis thing, I can totally see where you're coming from in regards to having added dangers in confiding things to people who may not see things from your viewpoint. But I also think that any minorities who intentionally ghettoize themselves by only sticking to people 'of their own type' aren't doing themselves any favours either. They tend to become extremists because they all agree with each other, they all bolster each others' angsts and opinions, and other points of view tend to get dismissed out of hand or, worse, never heard in the first place.
Personally, I consider myself depressingly normal. I have a single partner, I'm straight, I have no real gender issues or phobias, I don't have any disabling neuroses or personality disorders and, apart from being child free, I can pretty much get by in the 'normal' world. It doesn't make me of the opinion that being different is the same as being evil or dangerous. And yeah, I'm aware that, in some peoples' opinion, that puts me in one of the smallest minorities of all :P But still, it feels a little insulting to be clumped in with all people of the label 'cis', since, in my experience, no one group of people is all the same. Or even remotely similar.
I've known a lot of 'freaky' people throughout my life (their word, not mine, before anyone jumps on the bandwagon about it), and from what I've seen, the ones who get on best are those that strike a balance between A) announcing what/who they are to the entire world and B) being ashamed and silent about what/who they are. My most successful 'freak' friend had a way about him of announcing the truth calmly and without apology to those that needed to know. Somehow, it became their problem if they didn't understand, not his. I've never quite got the hang of that calmness-in-the-face-of-the-storm attitude of his, but I admired it a lot at the time. And it seemed to work. Then again, he was a very clever guy, he developed a lot of coping strategies to get him through life. Which, I think, if you're different, you need to do. Having said that, I think everybody's different in some way or another. Some people just hide it better than others, that's all.
Have I said what I want to say? I dunno really, I lost track a couple of paragraphs ago. But at least it's a reply, right? :P