Elasticity

I continue to have a bit of an issue with the elasticity of the term trans specifically because it is applied so sloppily and varies depending on who you talk to and which website you visit. It has become so expansive that you would think someone who enjoys wearing women's underwear on occasion is on the same footing as your average transitioner. For this reason I have tended to stick to the term gender variance to cover the entire scope of behaviour we see in the world.

This is not a contest, a hierarchy or a purity test and never was although many have tried to impose one. Nevertheless I like to at least make a key distinction between gender variance by choice versus those who have no choice which  ostensibly draws a line at the presence or absence of gender dysphoria. 

Even some young people today are getting confused because they think they might be trans and start a process they later regret. Many transitions are necessary but not all.

What we all want is people to lead lives as they choose and for us to be able to help those who may be struggling. However by making the term transgender so elastic, we are risking losing those in the shuffle who genuinely need assistance due to their crisis of identity.

I have over the years admonished gender purists for attacking those who they deemed "less than" which includes the likes of Blaire White. At the same time I acknowledge that some definition boundaries need to be kept so we can properly diagnose and help people who need it.

All that being said, this will take time to sort out because the full breadth of what it means to be human is increasingly on display which is confusing many in the public and even some gender variant people themselves. It is the price of adjusting our definitions as rapidly as the cultural shift happens.