February 10, 2024

"I stopped my hormone regimen because I had doubts about the idea of marrying a straight man, since they’re generally less funny than gay men."

"However, I continued to have access to prescription estrogen, and would dabble for months at a time when I felt I wanted to mix things up. If this lifestyle sounds irresponsible or unsustainable, then this is because we operate within a conception of identity that forces us to conform to the same systems that privilege heterosexuality as the norm. Unfortunately, when it comes to gender-affirming care, it is indeed political, as long as we continue to treat people like they’re 'born this way' and therefore only valid insofar as they satisfy a standard of biological determinism. It’s political because politics should be able to account for lives that inevitably twist and turn and proceed, unbidden by convention or expectation. I never detransitioned, I just kept transitioning...."

From one of nine letters to the NYT — free link here — responding to the article "As Kids, They Thought They Were Trans. They No Longer Do," which I blogged here.

52 comments:

Owen said...

I have said it before. I will say it again. These people are (a) mentally ill (b) mentallly ill and malevolent (c) both (a) and (b). Do not engage with them, you will be sorry.

Old and slow said...

So very sad and delusional. This person still imagines that he has any likelihood of marrying a straight man. It's just never going to happen. He's not transitioning to anything, just distorting his body in unpredictable ways. Why not just be gay?

Christopher B said...

YOU had doubts about marrying a straight man?

SMH

TreeJoe said...

"However, I continued to have access to prescription estrogen, and would dabble for months at a time when I felt I wanted to mix things up. If this lifestyle sounds irresponsible or unsustainable, then this is because we operate within a conception of identity that forces us to conform to the same systems that privilege heterosexuality as the norm"

We accept that mild biological changes can have massive impacts to mood and decision making (i.e. teenagers, women going through their cycle or menopause, etc.)

And yet randomly consuming significant amounts of non-biological hormones outside of any specific testing done by medicine is considered by alot of people as 'dabbling" and "forc[ing] us to conform to the same systems that privilege hetereosexuality as the norm."

Dumb. Ass.

ga6 said...

Letters from the Reed Zone Center?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago-Read_Mental_Health_Center

Mason G said...

"as long as we continue to treat people like they’re 'born this way'"

If you won't accept yourself as you were born and prefer to insist on a different reality, others are going to relate to you as they insist, too. And it might not be the way you want. Get over it.

chickelit said...

Life, liberty and the pursuit of funniness are enshrined in the Constitution and should be funded by taxpayers.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Oh, golly. She (trans) doesn't want to marry a straight man b/c their sense of humor is defective. Therefore she changes back from a transwoman to a gay man, so she can have his/her pick of the witty gay men, rather than the fuddy-duddy straight guys who are, of course, totally keen on transwomen.

May I just point out that all of this makes zero sense?

Abdul Abulbul Amir said...


There is too much money made from transitioning kids. You have a patient for life. Incontinent, unable to achieve orgasm, psychological issues are all problems for the patient but financial opportunities for the so called "care giver."

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Mental illness, Trans-insanity and child abuse are perfect fit for the left.

Levi Starks said...

I’m going to assume that the “ systems that normalize heterosexuality” must be either/or the evolutionary process/the creator.
Neither system is particularly sympathetic to outliers which challenge the status quo. And it’s hard for me to understand why there should be a moral imperative that obligates them to any particular course of action.

n.n said...

Trans/sim perchance trans/homo... or maybe just a trans/social fetish. Some bands in the transgender spectrum are more stable than others.

Acknowledge the science and wait until after puberty, until the age of consent, to turn the lives of boys and girls literally inside out and dysfunctional.

Levine's dreams of Herr Mengele with pride, prejudice, and profit.

charis said...

In today's endless discussions of identity, systems, and privilege, I am often reminded of this line, my favorite, from Star Trek TNG. "Well if there's nothing wrong with me, maybe there's something wrong with the universe."

n.n said...

mentallly ill and malevolent

All's fair in lust, abortion, and profit.

PM said...

"I’m funny how, I mean funny like I’m a clown? I amuse you? How the fuck am I funny? What the fuck is so funny about me? Tell me. Tell me what’s funny."

rhhardin said...

Women are interested in hormone-problem stories especially tied in with relationships.

Iman said...

^What Owen said^

Aggie said...

Sad story, imagine realizing that your identity can only exist because modern science lets you play around electively with your body chemistry. Pitiful.

Big Mike said...

This individual seems to be straight, trans, and gay at the same time. Not worth paying any attention to ... it.

effinayright said...

Yeah, that's it: marriage is all about someone else making you laugh, for the rest of your life.

People who think this way aren't just mentally ill, they are mentally defective in a fundamental sense. Their contribution to the gene pool will be nil.

I suppose that's the up-side.




Robert Marshall said...

Audry Bash writes that s/he "had doubts about the idea of marrying a straight man, since they're generally less funny than gay men."

Reality check on Aisle 5, please!

Where in the world did a gay man (adopting the name Audry) get the idea that a straight man might be interested in marrying a person who was born male, and went "on hormone replacement therapy [estrogen] and presented as a woman for five years"?

I've been a straight man for 75 years, and known lots of other straight men, and I've never met one who I think would be in the slightest bit interested, sexually, in another man who "dabbled" in female hormone treatments. "Straight men" are sexually interested in women. Meaning actual women, not the Dylan Mulvaney or Rachel Levine ersatz sort of "woman."

Seriously, Audry, try to remember that marriage is a consensual matter, and you're not the sort of person straight men are likely to be sexually/maritally attracted to, despite your cute new name. You weren't born with the right equipment, and despite the miracles of modern medicine, I don't think you can buy it. You are very unlikely to be offered the opportunity that you think you'd like to take a pass on. Dabble on, dude.

Dave Begley said...

These people are mentally ill.

Jupiter said...

"From one of nine letters to the NYT ...".

I'm guessing Penthouse Letters rejected it. For good reason.

Ambrose said...

A straight man like Zeppo Marx or Tommy Smthers? There not supposed to be funny, they're straightmen

Jake said...

This is a philosophy of extinction.

Jamie said...

This person is substituting feelings for data. "Dabbling for months at a time" with hormones? And the only reason anyone objects is structures of power and oppression?

You wish, cupcake.

Howard said...

Doubling with hormones for months at a time sounds like half the professional athletes out there

MadTownGuy said...

"If this lifestyle sounds irresponsible or unsustainable, then this is because we operate within a conception of identity that forces us to conform to the same systems that privilege heterosexuality as the norm."

Sounds like all that other systemic stuff - systemic racism, systemic patriarchism, etc. Boils down to class struggle.

Jim at said...

Again, I'll be so, so glad when this stupid fad is over.

But I can't help but wonder what comes next is even worse.

Mason G said...

"This individual seems to be straight, trans, and gay at the same time. Not worth paying any attention to ... it."

There's a "Schrödinger's" joke in there somewhere, should anybody have the interest to do the excavating.

rhhardin said...

The best you could get out of an old Gilbert chemistry set was a small explosion.

Jamie said...

I mean, in days of old according to novels of today, and possibly even in some people's real lives, a (not too long-married) woman would wait until after sex (implied sex on television and movies) and her husband's falling asleep to take off her makeup, put on her cold cream, and do up her hair in rollers, then get up before he did to do herself up again so he never saw her at less than the best she could be. And in my own long marriage, I try not to expose my husband to too much of the nitty gritty of my post-menopause personal care regime.

But what on earth would that husband say if he woke up while his transwoman wife was inserting or removing her nightly vaginal dilator?

Assistant Village Idiot said...

"I want everyone to be aware at all times that I am different, and keep track of who I am today."

gilbar said...

Remember!
The Basic Tenet of ALL Modern Thinking Is: Just Pop Some Pills!
Not Particularly Happy? Just Pop Some anti-depressants !
Moody try popping some SSRI!
Lazy? Adderal is the drug for YOU to pop!
Going Clubbing? X marks the spot!
Get lucky? Don't forget your Viagra!
Bored? Try these THC gummies!!
Want to be a girl? estrogen is for you maam!
Macho man? Big T coming up!!

Do NOT Try, to exist on your own.. Let Big Pharm make Big Bucks off YOU!!

gilbar said...

but NO Nicotine! Not smoking/Not Vaping/Not oral
NO Nicotine at ALL! EVER!!!!


Y'all ever think about that? EVERY DRUG on earth is now A-Okay!
Including Acid AND Opiates!

But NOT Nicotine!! Why is That? WHY IS THAT?

ALP said...

"...forces us to conform..."

Want to scream every time I come across this kind of language. Where is the skepticism? Where are the original thinkers willing to be unique individuals? Who the fuck is 'forcing' anything on anybody? These people are too chickenshit NOT to conform. It is their own fear, not any 'force' coming from society.

B. said...

One writer is obviously looking for his entrance to an Ivy. Another is running for office. THR NYT should charge for these ads.

retail lawyer said...

"It’s political because politics should be able to account for lives that inevitably twist and turn and proceed, unbidden by convention or expectation."

What does that even mean?

LakeLevel said...

Believe me, straight men can and will turn on the funny to their friends, or to women they love, or to women that they are trying to impress, not so much to ...

effinayright said...

rhhardin said...
The best you could get out of an old Gilbert chemistry set was a small explosion
***********

I dunno. I seen me some purty color changes by adding stuff to phenolphthalein.

Ambrose said...

I was sure I had written "they're" in my earlier comment.

effinayright said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
n.n said...

New Year's, gay. Birthdays, a gay annual celebration with family and friends. Labor day, a gay weekend. Easter, gay egg hunt for boys and girls. July 4, a gay memory of national conception. St. Patrick's day, gay and green. Christmas, merry and gay.

Jamie said...

"I want everyone to be aware at all times that I am different, and keep track of who I am today."

Bingo, it would seem in this case.

I have great sympathy for those who struggle and agonize over their identity, body image, self-image. I don't think transing ought to be the first line of treatment - I think only the last because of how extreme it is - but I do sympathize with their unease. This person, however, doesn't sound distraught, just smug and self-satisfied and entitled. Certainly this person's got a right to feel this way, but I don't concede that it places any obligations on me.

Goldenpause said...

The prescribing doctors should lose their licenses.

Rusty said...

Funny how?
I find gay .....folk who go around telling everyone they're gay more tedious than funny.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Gays Against Groomers.

Data Schlepper said...

Straight men everywhere are grateful.

RigelDog said...

So for this letter-writer, the use of hormones is not to treat severe mental distress called "gender dysphoria;" instead, the "treatment" is being used as just a means to express personal identity in a similar way to fashion, tattooing, piercing, and other means of body modification.

OK, now we are simply in the realm of a person's right to full bodily autonomy. Like implanting bumps in your body to resemble a dragon, or being free to use any and all recreational drugs. Fine, we can have that conversation---but then the entire justification for treating these mere personal desires as a medical condition REQUIRING full participation and support by the medical system, the legal system, and all societal institutions will collapse.

Butkus51 said...

theres a word for it

crazy

~ Gordon Pasha said...

Intermittent estrogen is one of the best ways to end up with a pulmonary embolism.

PM said...

Generally, gays have a wicked humor unless it's about them.