One of the thought experiments that has occurred to me occasionally when discussing transgender issues is to imagine that I, a regular (dare I say cisgender), heterosexual, male, am actually a female, homosexual, transvestite.
In other words, I look like a man, and I am attracted to women. However, I insist that I am actually a woman, who is attracted to women, but who enjoys dressing up and pretending to be a man. So off I go, out and about in stereotypically male attire, like a suit and tie. But, now, the day is done, and it's time to be done with the suit and tie, so I'm going to head to the gym. Naturally, since I'm a woman, I go to the women's locker room. I take off my suit and tie, and walk around in my underwear, while women around me are similarly, or perhaps completely, disrobed.
What does anyone think? Any cause for anxiety there? Might some of the women not believe that I am "really" a woman, who happens to dress like a man?
Ok. So, that would be a bit extreme, I suppose. Let's modify the situation a bit. Mindful of the anxiety of the ordinary, not transgender, females around me seeing a male bodied- woman, dressed as a male near them in the locker room, I have decided to put their minds at ease. Underneath my male outer clothing, I'll wear women's underwear.
That should put their minds at ease, shouldn't it?
Well if it doesn't, they're obviously just bigots.
