From the Guardian article. WTF has happened in the last 16 years to get from this totally reasonable article to the utter insanity of today?
"Their language is illusory. You fundamentally can't change sex," he says. "The surgery doesn't alter you genetically. It's genital mutilation. My 'vagina' was just the bag of my scrotum. It's like a pouch, like a kangaroo. What's scary is you still feel like you have a penis when you're sexually aroused. It's like phantom limb syndrome. It's all been a terrible misadventure. I've never been a woman, just Alan."
Finch, formerly known as Helen, wants to know why people who want a sex change are treated differently from other psychiatric patients who hate their bodies. He says: "The fact that someone's suicidal and wanting something isn't a reason to provide it. The analogy I use about giving surgery to someone desperate to change sex is it's a bit like offering liposuction to an anorexic."
After a long struggle with her gender identity, Dainton believes she is now wiser. She says: "It's taken eight years finally to get to grips with myself and the reality of my situation. I know I will never be anything other than a transsexual. As long as I live, I will never be a real woman - no matter how well I pass. Unless you really come to terms with this, the transsexual lifestyle can be unbearably hard. If we throw away our support by burying ourselves in 'normal society', it can also become unbearably lonely. So my message is, proceed with caution."