This post originally had a home on the popular "idea sharing" site on Quora. After it being taken down twice, I have decided to give it it's own home here, and in return, give a place to call home for all opinions that would otherwise be unfairly banned or deleted.

This Quora answer appears in it's original form as it did on the website when it got banned. Enjoy.

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There are Only Two Genders.

It’s very, very concerning to me that I’m already physically cowering at the angry comments that will come my way if this answer gets popular.

But I’m seriously disgusted with feminists and others using the rare occurrence of physically intersex people as proof that there are multiple genders and that gender and sex are different things.

Gender and sex are not different things. If you insist they are, you are going against science.

That’s right, Bill Nye, I’m watching you.

There is Gender Dysphoria, which is a legitimate mental illness. Why is it a mental illness? Because it makes your brain think you are something that you physically are not.

If I said I was mentally a tiger, you would most likely say I am insane. But there are people who literally believe they are tigers.

Gender Dysphoria is a sad thing, nobody should have to go through it. Nobody should feel out of place in their own body, nobody should think “I have been born the wrong sex.”

You know what people also shouldn’t have to go through?

People shouldn’t have to feel like they are useless, that the world is against them.

People shouldn’t feel like they want to die.

And yet millions do, every single day.

What did I just describe? Depression. A mental illness that makes you feel a way you shouldn’t.

Now let me say this, while I do not coddle the idea that Gender Dysphoria is normal and should be accepted, I do not look down upon people who decide to transition into the sex they feel they should be.

Why? If I’m such a misunderstanding bigot, why would I not be 100% against the idea of transitioning?

Well 1. It’s not my body, and not my place to tell you what to do with it.

2. I’m not a bigot.

3. It may be that person’s only chance at relieving their displeasure with their body.

There is no significant research being done into helping those with Gender Dysphoria, and therefore saving lives, due to the fact that it has become a widely accepted feeling.

If you feel unhappy as a boy, become a girl.

If you feel unhappy as a girl, become a boy.

If you feel unhappy as either, become genderless.

Yes, for some people. the above does work. Even if only a little bit, it is their best bet at having a normal life.

But what about people who:

A. Can’t transition due to financial issues?

B. Will face extreme oppression, possibly even death, if they transition?

C. Don’t want to go through the trouble of transitioning?

There is no widely available, inexpensive pill to effectively reduce the symptoms of Gender Dysphoria. There is not effort to even try making such an “oppressive item.”

So yes, currently, I support a human’s right to be happy, no matter who they are.

I simply do not accept the idea that Gender Dysphoria is just something we should accept as a third gender or proof that gender and sex are not the same thing.

One more thing I do not agree with, however is the idea of children transitioning.

It is child abuse, plain and simple.

You cannot leave it up to a child to decide that they want to be a boy or a girl if they were not born that way. Giving a boy barbie dolls? Fine. Giving a girl hotwheels? Fine. Giving a boy estrogen? Are you out of your mind?

I speak up on this especially because I experienced it as a child. Yes, sweet little bigot as I am once thought I was a boy trapped in a girl’s body.

I was raised a tomboy, if I wanted cars I got cars, if I wanted barbies, it was to run them over with the cars. I hated dresses and skirts and pink.

When I became 12, and puberty hit, I felt extremely uncomfortable in my own skin. I felt “No, this isn’t right. I’m not supposed to have a vagina or boobs, I should have boy parts.”

I even asked my mom, several times, if there was a pill or something I could take that would flatten my boobs and make me a boy. She said it’s a phase and I’ll get over it and to just hang on until these feelings fade away.

Thank heaven she did.

It took maybe five years, but I got over it. One day I just decided “I’m not going to bind my chest, I’m not going to wear a shirt in the bath to keep myself from looking at my chest, I’m not going to pee standing up anymore or wear baggy clothing and boy pants.”

Many people are not as fortunate as I was to have my uncomfortable, nagging feelings of misplacement in my identity drop as quickly as they did. If I had gone through hormone therapy at 12 years old, the age many children are getting hormone therapy at now, my life would be ruined.

Soon as those feelings dropped, I would look at myself and think, “this is wrong, I’m not a boy.” It would be the same thing all over again.

Anyhow, this is something I feel needed to be said. You may call my personal experience anecdotal, but it is a personal experience that I believe supports my stance on this argument.

I know many, many disagree. But isn’t it okay to disagree?