Happy Autogynephilia (AGP) Awareness Day! @AGPAwarenessDay I fully support the goal of raising awareness. I want to raise several issues that if addressed would make the world better for persons with AGP and those in their lives:
@AGPAwarenessDay First, I want to make it clear that AGP per se should not be stigmatized, used as an insult, etc. It’s not AGP that is the problem. It’s AGP denial.
@AGPAwarenessDay AGP persons who accept the concept are invariably upstanding folks. I do not know of an exception. Some AGPs I know and admire include Anne Lawrence, Maxine Petersen, Alice Novic (who dislikes the term autogynephilia), “M. Taylor Saotome-Westlake,” and “Tailcalled” among others.
@AGPAwarenessDay Those who deny AGP often not only deny it for themselves but attack anyone who endorses the theory, from scientists to transpersons. They are especially cruel to the latter.
@AGPAwarenessDay I would especially like it if feminist natal women would take it easy on AGPs who are not in denial and not intruding on natal female space. (And I don’t know AGPs not in denial who try to do this.)
@AGPAwarenessDay Second, AGP does not disqualify someone from being appropriate for transition. AGP isn’t classic trans, but it does lead to gender dysphoria that sometimes needs transition to resolve.
@AGPAwarenessDay What we should all want is to maximize the happiness of persons with AGP, subject of course to legitimate constraints (e.g., the effects of exercising AGP-related freedoms on others)
@AGPAwarenessDay Suppose you are the parent of a 14 year old boy who tells you he is trans. He was never a feminine boy. Your best bet is that he is AGP.
@AGPAwarenessDay (To be sure, there is no blood test for AGP, and if someone denies its signs, especially crossdressing for sexual purposes, we cannot presently know with certainty.)
@AGPAwarenessDay The question for parents with a likely AGP son should be: "How do I help him to live a happy life?"
@AGPAwarenessDay The first step, I think, should be to make him aware of AGP.
@AGPAwarenessDay I have advised parents to do this, and sometimes their sons respond "Yes that's me."
@AGPAwarenessDay Sometimes this diminishes their gender dysphoria. The son might say "I'm not really trans. I have this fetish. I no longer want to be female."
@AGPAwarenessDay Other times, though, the son may wish to transition despite understanding AGP. In these cases, it seems to me that transition may well be the correct decision.
@AGPAwarenessDay A mother I hugely admire bought her AGP son lingerie and other things to help him explore his feelings. She has been honest to him about her feelings, but she has also not been coercive. I believe that currently, he does not want to transition.
@AGPAwarenessDay Yesterday's McCloskey-related thread was not meant to shame her for AGP (but I'm not saying she's AGP because I don't want to be sued!). Rather it was to shame her for the effects of her bullying behavior on the life prospects of persons with AGP.
@AGPAwarenessDay Many (most? we don't know!) persons with AGP benefit tremendously from learning about their condition. McCloskey et al. want AGP in the closet, which increases misery for these persons and others.
@AGPAwarenessDay I would like, by next @AGPAwarenessDay to have begun a long term study to collect data that persons with AGP need to have to make the best long term decisions.
@AGPAwarenessDay To that end, it would be helpful if persons with AGP who are following this thread would speak.
@AGPAwarenessDay Thus, I close. Happy @AGPAwarenessDay !
