I’m more concerned about his children, whom are going to have to live with the effects of their parent’s greed.

I have heard of transmen having kids before, but none of them make themselves a circus act. That’s bad for the entire trans community. If he came out and was like, I’m just doing this to educate. I don’t want press for $$ I wouldn’t have cared. I would prefer he’d done it because he wanted people to know about diversity.

I also am troubled because he was on testosterone, which is dangerous for any child. His child could have had severe problems, even his doctor said that. I don’t think he did this for his wife or to even have a child. He loved the sensationalism of it all, as seen by him going out and having a second right away.

Im really disappointed that some transpeople attack Beatie and anyone else that doesnt fit into their rigid gender ideas.
Its seems like people start out their transition with doctors telling them they must be and act a certain way to recieve their treatment. This upsets many at the start of their transition.
They go through transition and then start acting the exact way their doctors did!

and in another post [the letter to barbara walters] you said:
“I know that there is always room for diversity, so why not balance out the negativity of Thomas’ story with the positive spin on the life of someone like me, who has truly fought to be who they are and doesn’t want anything but equal treatment and compassion for who I have become.”

read what you wrote. the bold parts.

the middle part? what negativity? giving birth to a child for your wife because she cant, is a negative thing?

“He probably has something like Borderline Personality Disorder.”
do you know what borderline personality disorder is?

Maybe because FTMs are now facing excessive criticism in their every day lives due to Thomas and his “happiness”. Maybe because he’s a hypocrite?

He’s so secure in his role as a man that he once referred to himself as a “male mother”. No, not a father. A Mother. Then, in another interview he is steadfast in saying he’s the father not the mother. Just friggin pick a story man! Stop changing it every twelve seconds. I don’t see why people don’t see his exploitative nature and his constant hypocrisy?

As you notice, I have not much to say about the actual posters on this thread, so not sure why you’d thought I’d start with you. My main criticism is with Thomas and what he’s doing to the FTM community, to his kids, etc. If you’re FTM yourself, dating an FTM, etc. fine, but nothing is going to change my opinion that he’s an exploitative hypocrite.

Just because you say you’re something doesn’t mean you are. Actions speak louder than words and Thomas’ actions seem to show that he’s a woman who wanted to marry a woman so he tried to beat the system.

Liars often tell different stories (like Thomas first said he transitioned to marry his wife, Nancy – then he changed his story to “I’ve always felt like a man.” – check the UK Guardian Interview then Barbara Walters for differences). People who tell the truth only have one story/one truth. Thomas has many and that is why he’s bad for the FTM community. That is why many of us dislike him.

WHY ARE FTM PEOPLE SO MEAN ABOUT HIM?!?! Give it up already and be NICE to someone in your own community. And yes, before you have a go at me, my partner is FTM, so I do sort of know what Im talking about. Just because you would not personally have a baby, that doesnt mean you should judge another persons decision. Why not unite in the face of criticism? Why are people in Thomas’ own community turning against him?!

People say a lot of mean things about this when they don’t think transgendered people are around, or even when they do. The vast majority of us don’t believe Thomas is doing this with good intentions and the vast majority of us (that I know, at least) feel he makes transgendered people look like money-grubbing, exploitative people.

I am not self-loathing. In fact, I’m quite happy with who I am. I don’t need anyone to hold my hand and I don’t need to be paid to tell people about who I am. I’m comfortable in my own shoes. I would NEVER put my children out there for the public to abuse, make fun of, or pity. I don’t even use my son’s real name if I happen to mention him in a blog post, on my site (which isn’t that often). I feel, as a parent, it is my responsibility to protect my child no matter the cost.

My issue isn’t as much with who Thomas is or what he’s doing in his private life. It is this:

A. Check other interviews – Thomas flip flops on his positions…First he was upset he couldn’t breast feed, then he said he “never” ever wanted to breast feed in another interview. That’s not a job for a father (his thoughts not mine). In another interview, he called himself a male mother, then on 20/20 he insisted he is not Susan’s mother.He’s her father.

Then there was the interview that stated he “transitioned to be able to legally marry his wife”. That was the reason listed for the transition. On 20/20 he claimed it was because he always felt male. He also said he always intended to keep his womb to have biological kids himself, but on 20/20 it was changed to where he said that he only had the babies because Nancy couldn’t have children.

He changes his story from interview to interview. He needs to get his story straight. If you did some research on this, you’d see the inconsistencies in his stories. Check the UK Guardian story on him, for examples in contrast to the 20/20 interview to see how full of BS he is. Other stories about him are quite inconsistent, too.

B. Thomas shouldn’t have gone on television if his life and what he is doing is no business of anyone else. By going public, he opened himself and his family up to all of the attention he’s getting, negative or not. I’d much rather he HADN’T gone on television. By all means, live your life, but why expose it to the entire world?

It’s like I said to an FTM friend of mine, ‘if mid-parade an orgy broke out amongst gay or lesbian individuals and it was being aired on television, people would be disgusted. They’d believe all gay and lesbian people were out having orgies. The vast majority of GLB folks not out orgy-ing would feel this was majorly negative press towards the GLB community.’

What Thomas is doing is kind of like that orgy. He’s bringing vastly negative attention to transgenderism. Like the GLB orgy folk, if they’d kept it in the home and off the television, it’d be better for all in the GLB community. Who cares if people orgy in the privacy of their own home? Just don’t bring it into my world if it is going to affect my world (or those I care about’s world) negatively. So, why is it not logical that those of us in the trans community are feeling like this is bringing negative press on us?

I’m honest and you say my honestly is hateful and prejudicial? Why, because I don’t think Thomas should have the right to exploit his kids and the trans community? Suddenly, because I give reasons for what I think is wrong about what he is doing, you think it’s my being insecure or unsure about my own gender. Anyone can tell you, I’m about the most masculine person they know. I’m sure of my gender, and the fact you have no other argument but to bash me personally for my beliefs or feelings says quite a bit about you.

Notice I didn’t mention or say one bad thing about the other transgendered (FTM) men who have been known to give birth. They did it in the privacy of their own homes/lives. They didn’t come out to tell the world “look at me, I got knocked up.” That’s their business and though I would never have kids myself, it is not my place to say whether what they did is right or wrong. I have no issues with these people. They aren’t profiting off their children.

You insinuate I’m jealous of Thomas and his money, but I would rather be POOR and live a poor life then make money by profiting off my child. I could never take money for that, ever. I believe in more honest forms of hard work to support my family (which I do).

I think it is JUST as exploitative of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes for selling their daughter’s photo for excessive amounts of money. I don’t discriminate on this issue by the gender/sexual orientation of the couple. Wrong is wrong is wrong Beattie, Cruise, or otherwise.

It’s Tray here again. I can’t help but respond again. I find your posts so full of bullshit, privilege and hate. I hope you never have to suffer the kind of dark hatred you are putting out in the world about this.

If your concern was truly about the exploitation of the Beattie family, then that’s one thing. If you are envious or judgmental of the “hundreds of thousands of dollars” you seem to know he’s making off of his interview, that’s another thing. I would add that perhaps neither of these things are any of your business in the first place. And, by the way, Thomas Beattie’s responses in the interview was about everything but shock value. His words, his terms, his approach and delivery were all quite humble, honest, direct and intelligently about his understanding of gender that challenged the whole “natural gender” debate. (I, myself, don’t really believe in “nature” when it comes to gender). But what I’m hearing you say, over and over and over again is that your main issue with Thomas Beattie is, in fact, his gender.

You have a problem with his gender. You find it confusing. You think it’s holding you back. That it’s holding back the trans movement. That’s what you keep ranting about. You’ve become the new gender police. That’s fucking scarey, dude. And wrong.

I guess you’ve forgotten that gender is something we all make up as we go along. All of us. Remember how you grew up as not “naturally” male and realized that you were male and then shifted your life to become male? I’m pretty certain that society wasn’t holding your hand as you figured your way through that journey. I’m also pretty sure that most of the world still wouldn’t understand your gender choices as “natural”. You didn’t fit in so you made it your own. Way to go! Gender is the new fashion! That’s totally cool and right and amazing. Now lets allow Thomas Beattie and the rest of us do our thing. Gender is not always about oppositions (male vs. female). And, the less oppositional gender becomes, the room there will be for people like you and me. SO MAKE ROOM.

Again, you’re blog reeks of your power and your fear; of your small strides of privilege and power being threatened. You’re scared, Dominick. You’re really scared. Come on, be a “real man” and be honest about your real feelings. What’s underneath your need to hang desperately onto your anger about Thomas Beattie’s gender? Your need to hold others down to exercise your power reads loud and clear. You are exposing your own self-loathing, fear and prejudice. Your words, your attitude, your take on gender are all violent. Keep your violence off our bodies and do what makes you happy without harming the rest of us. I think that’s what you advised Thomas Beattie to do?

Stop policing gender. It’s really gross of you.

Tracy

ps- You’re right, you SHOULD put “judgmental prick” into you title.

He’s already claiming they have to hide inside, with the curtains drawn, but then he goes out and does more interviews for more money ($300,000 for his first child’s baby picture from People magazine is sickening).

What kind of life is this for his children? He has them all holed up with no place to go and he’s wondering why he has to hide.

Look, it’s one thing to pursue happiness. It’s another thing to exploit your supposed happiness for profit. I don’t pretend to understand “T.B.”. I also don’t believe that it’s cool to say you’re male when its obvious you’re not. Call yourself “gender queer” or “between genders” but don’t make life harder for those of us who are really trying to become (or have become) male.

YES, life has gotten harder for us truly transgendered guys. I know MANY guys who have had to hear hateful, cruel things said about transgendered people by those talking about the “T.B.” situation. People have said to me personally, “Why bother transitioning? Aren’t all trans guys like Thomas? You’re just wanna keep your baby making parts, anyway.”

No, we are NOT all like Thomas. In fact, guys who identify as trans and take hormones should want to be the opposite gender not keep parts of their old gender. There is NOTHING confusing about that. Throw in Thomas and everyone gets confused and we pay the price for him confusing everyone.

If Thomas wants to be happy, he needs to get his story straight. Is he a mom or dad? He’s called himself both in interviews. Does he want male or female parts? If he has both then by all means, be between genders, but don’t claims ot be “male” if you don’t want to fully be male.

I can understand not fully transitioning for health reasons of surgery risks, but just so you can still get knocked up? You want your cake and to eat it, too. You wanna be a male and a female. That’s fine, but don’t try to pass yourself off as male then. Men don’t have/want baby makers unless they are MTFs or between genders.

My point is Thomas is doing this for money, publicity, probably even to be “shocking”. I found him to be incredibly fake, perhaps even loopy in his interview with Barbara Walters. I also wouldn’t be surprised if he and his wife don’t make it through this. She’s exploiting the situation, too. If he just did this to be happy then TURN OFF THE CAMERAS, and WORRY ABOUT the KIDS. Be happy, but not at the expense of others.