Is it possible to be transgender?

First round is acceptance. Whoever takes the challenge first gets to debate, and there are no restrictions as to who can accept. The winner will be determined by open voting. Good luck to whoever accepts!

I'd like to thank my opponent for creating this debate.

Debate Resolution:

As we are debating if it's possible to be transgender, it's important that we define what the word "transgender" means. My opponent had his chance to reasonably define the word, but chose not to. Since my opponent didn't provide any definition, I will be the one to do so. This will be the one and only definition we use. As I said, my opponent already had a chance, so I reject any future offering he may make...

From Google:

trans"gen"der
transG2;jendər,tranzG2;jendər/
adjective
denoting or relating to a person whose self-identity does not conform unambiguously to conventional notions of male or female gender.
"a transgender activist and author"

Notice how whether one is transgender rests solely on one's self-identity. Sexual organs, chromosomes, DNA, etc. are not a factor in determining if a person is transgender or not. Because of this, any argument my opponent raises concerning these issues should be ignored because they would be irrelevant.

So, the only question is, are there any people who self identify as a transgender?
The answer is yes, as the following quote illustrates:

"I know I'm transgender because my brain knows it's female, and my body disagrees.
Lana, 26" [1]

With all due respect, I assert this debate is basically over, as I have just settled the issue.

Sources:

1. http://www.advocatesforyouth.org...

Before I begin, I would just like to thank dsjpk5 for accepting my debate, and for displayiing such courtesy and respect so far, both in the acceptance round and in the comments section. May the best debater win!

So, I would like to start this off by clarifying how defining the word "transgender" when I didn't define it in my acceptance argument does not automatically mean that my opponent wins this debate. The whole point of the debate is not to see what the definition of "transgender" really is, of if people ever say that they are; it's to see if it is possible to be transgender, or to question the validity of the word. Besides, even if my opponent gave a definition in the first argument, I defined it in the comments while he was presumably writing his argument, but that gets into semantics a bit too much.

Now that we've gotten past the definition of the word "transgender," I would like to get into the meat of my argument, which is this; the belief that one is a gender that does not corespond with their biological sex is a mental illness, and that the medical community as well as society in general should work harder to help the individual overcome the illness, rather than encourage them to indulge in it. We have seen this attitude reflected in the medical community, most famously by a lead psychologist at Johns Hopkins Univeristy, but this is miniscule compared to the mass amount of medical and media support on the topic of transgenderism. [1]

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (commonly abbreviated to BDD) is a disorder in which an individual constantly focuses on one or more specific parts about their body that they view as overwhelmingly negative. It could be anything, from the individual's nose to their stomach, even their genitals. Common symptoms include (but are not limited to) constantly dressing in different ways than normal, changing their clothing, hairstyle, or makeup to look like people who don't have their trait, or seeking surgery to "fix" what they see as negative. People with BDD are also much more likely to suffer from anxiety disorders, depression disorders, and eating disorders. [2]

Does this not sound like people who identify themselves as "transgender?"

After all, transgender people hate a certain part of themselves (their biological sex), and are always trying to "fix" the gender they were born into, whether it be in the form of cross-dressing or sexual reassignment surgery. They are even more likely to suffer from eating disorders, which is another type of disorder involving unhappiness with one's self and the strong desire to change it. [3]

And if this evidence isn't enough, transgenders are the most likely, out of all groups of people alive today, to commit suicide. A study by UCLA showed that 45% of people between the ages of 18 and 44 who identify as transgender have attempted suicide. Now, can't it be argued that societal oppression is the main cause of tran ended suicide? Well, it turns out that sexual reassignment surgery doesn't much help. Individuals who do not want MTF (male-to-female) surgery have a 31% attempted suicide rate and people who don't want FTM (female-to-male) surgery have a 40% attempted suicide rate, and both those who want gender reassignment surgery and have had gender reassignment surgery have a 43% attempted suicide rate for MTF and a 49% attempted suicide rate for FTM. And finally, to cap it all off, transgenders who have said that everybody can look at them and tell that they're biologically different than what they say they are have a 42% attempted suicide rate, and transgenders who have never had anybody think that they're trans, never in their lifetime, still have a 36% attempted suicide rate. The only other group of people in recorded history who have had levels of attempted suicide remotley similar to transgenders were Jews living under Nazi Germany. If that doesn't clarify that transgenderism is a mental illness, I don't know what does. [4]

Well, that just about sums up my first argument. I look forward to my opponent's main points.

Sources:
[1] http://www.cnsnews.com...
[2] https://www.adaa.org...
[3] https://broadly.vice.com...
[4] http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu...

My response is quite simple. Everything my opponent brought up is irrelevant to the question "Is it possible to be transgender?" We're not debating if transgenderism is a mental illness. We're not debating if being transgender is bad for you. I could grant everything my opponent said this round, and it wouldn't matter. As a matter of fact, the only way being transgender can be unhealthy is if it's possible to be transgender. The only way transgender people can be more likely to commit suicide is if it's possible to be transgender. The only way transgender people can hate a certain part of their body is if it's possible to be one. And that's the only thing we're supposed to be debating... is it possible to be transgender. My opponent seems to have just conceded that is possible to be transgender. With that being the case, once AGAIN, it seems as if I've already won this debate.

As for what my opponent said in the comments section, that's irrelevant. Voters are only allowed to consider what's found in the debate rounds.

I think my opponent is correct in what he said, and I think I was looking for the wrong argument. If he would like to accept a new debate, in which I will argue that it is a mental illness, he is free to tell me in the comments section whether or not he is interested. If he is, then I will make the debate in which only he is allowed; if not, I will make it an open challenge. After some reflection, I was picking the wrong fight, and I also needed to make sure to get my definitions out in the first round. If my opponent does not forfeit the next round, I'll forfeit instead. Thanks to my opponent for showing me the errors I made and helping me learn on how to better debate in the future!

My opponent seems to be on the verge of conceding this debate. Since he hasn't made any arguments or rebuttals this round, I extend all arguments.