Topic: Dallas Denny

Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #98, Summer 2002.

by Dallas Denny

It was not transsexual people themselves but the system which arose for their treatment which resulted in so much human tragedy: bitter and unfulfilled transsexual men and women, disillusioned and disgusted physicians and psychologists, and a literature which unfairly stigmatizes persons with gender dysphoria. We must all of us, service providers and consumers alike, strive to understand what has happened and what continues to happen in too many instances today, for only by acknowledging the problems of the past and the present can we hope to move into the future.

Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #096, Winter 2001.

As I write this, it?s September 12th. Workers in New York are searching for survivors amidst the rubble of what was until yesterday the twin towers of the World Trade Center. In Washington, at the Pentagon, fires are hampering rescue efforts. The nation is reeling as estimates of fatalities begin to come in. We know the final toll will certainly surpass the 3800 Americans who perished in the 1941 sneak attack on Pearl Harbor; how much so is unknown. Many of us haven?t been able to get in touch with friends and family members and don?t know if they are alive or dead.

To our readers who have lost loved ones, our deepest sympathies.

Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #097, Spring 2002.

I?ve long been a supporter of the Standards of Care of the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association. I felt they made great sense in a time when transsexual and other transgendered people were typically confused, frightened, and ignorant of their life options. In this postmodern age in which more and more of us are strong and sure of ourselves, I?m no longer certain about the appropriateness of the Standards of Care, and I?m becoming more and more convinced that it?s unethical to apply constraints to a class of people without solid evidence that they are needed.

Just as I?m an opponent of seat belt and motorcycle helmet laws which eliminate freedom in the name of the greater good, I?ve decided to come down in opposition to Standards of Care which give therapists gatekeeping powers over other human beings. I routinely use my seat belt, and I wouldn?t ride a motorcycle without a helmet, and I didn?t have sex reassignment surgery without having lived 24/7 for more than a year, but I assert my right and the rights of others to live free without such constraints.