Rapparee says: Seems to me that if you identify so closely with a certain sex you'd go all the way and get your plumbing rearranged.

True, but what does a transgender person do in the meantime? Or in betweentime? The process of an actual, physical sex change takes more than one operation, hormone treatments, and whatnot. And doctors are reluctant to do it on school-age children. And then, of course, will the Great State of North Carolina issue a person a changed birth certificate after the surgery is completed?

By the way, I went to the Catholic Religious Education Congress in Los Angeles this spring. One of the workshops was about being transgender in the Catholic Church. Two transgender young people spoke. So many people wanted to hear the presentation, that it was standing room only. And the audience was amazingly supportive. The two young people gave very moving presentations. They also told us of the prejudice they had encountered within the Catholic Church - and also the support they have received from their church. So, attitudes are changing, at least in some places. This congress wasn't a gathering of Catholic radicals - it was sponsored by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

-Joe-