Walt Heyer says that no one can really change their gender.
He should know, too, because he's tried. When he was only about five years old,
Heyer's grandmother began to dress him as if he were a girl and even made a
dress just for him. The result was a very confused little boy.
"I look at it today as being pretty abusive. While it
seemed very benign at the time, and maybe even playful, I can see today...that
it was really abusive to my psyche,” he told The Christian Post on Wednesday.
He is the author of the books Trading My Sorrows and, most recently, Paper Genders,
While I respect Walt's story, hear his regret, and I am happy
that he has found his own happiness, his statement that "You're not born
transgender, something happens in your childhood that causes you to not want to
be who you are...And today the only thing that is...socially acceptable is
calling yourself a transgender,” should be noted as opinion;
especially because science everyday is finding more evidence to refute such a
statement. Which doesn’t mean it’s untrue in his case, or some others. but it
shouldn't be stated as fact for everyone.
Walt, in my opinion, suffers from the same problem that many trans-people do: reciting Myth and Misinformation as fact; they falsely believe that having a trans-experience somehow makes them an expert on the topic. Yet, because someone has a transgender
experience doesn't make them an expert in anything except HOW IT AFFECTS THEM,
no more, no less.
