MYTH: Becoming a transsexual (TS) is a matter of choice
FALSE
Transsexuals go through a lot of pain and trauma throughout life as their gender is basically a birth defect. It is not correct to call them homosexuals, as it is not as if one is choosing one’s genders or sexual preference. It is at the prenatal stage and during the first 18 months of life that the gender is programmed in the brain.

Given an option to ‘Choose’ their sex, most transsexual would opt for being “Normal” rather than any one. Surprisingly it is women who fantasize more than men do on the issue of being born to the opposite sex. It is very different and traumatic to imagine what it would have been to be born a woman and to live through a life of suffering in the ‘Wrong’ sex. Most of the people who have come out of the closet are of the male–to–female than female–to–male transsexuals. One must bear in mind that all fetuses start out female, therefore a TS is a female who failed to develop completely into a man. And only through medical intervention was given an external feminine appearance.

MYTH: A TS is a male homosexual.
FALSE.
Transsexualism is a function of gender–identification. A gay man has male gender–identification. A TS does not usually identify with gay men. Likewise, gay men do not usually like transsexuals.

MYTH: A transsexual is a transvestite.
FALSE.
Transvestites and transsexuals do wear feminine clothing, but for different reasons. A transvestite always retains or reverts back to his male gender–identity. The transsexual is NOT crossdressing when she wears feminine clothing instead she is crossdressing when wearing masculine clothing to conform with Society’s dress code for the physical male since her appearance is masculine.

MYTH: A transsexual is operated on by simply replacing the the male genitalia with a surgically created vagina.
FALSE.
The testicles and the spongy inner tissue of the penis are removed. All other tissue is reconstructed to form the female genitalia. The vagina is formed, but it is lined with the inverted penile tissue while the scrotal tissue is used to form the labia majora and minora. If Nature herself, would have had to correct her mistake, she would have used pretty much the same method. Surgery has advanced to such an extent that gynecologists are initially often, deceived by the reconstructed female genitalia as a hysterectomized genetic female.

MYTH: A transsexual is neither a woman nor female, but simply a feminized male.
FALSE.
Sex and gender is not as simple as some of us would like to believe. The degree to which a person is a woman or female should be judged on a several factors, not only by appearance. Transsexualism is a type of birth defect and gender reassignment is its remedy. A TS cannot be 100% female, due to the lack of internal sexual characteristics, but she can be 100% woman and certainly 100% feminine.

MYTH: A TS liking girls/women cannot be a TRUE transsexual.
FALSE
Here again, gender–identification is distinct from sexual preference. Most transsexuals are heterosexual (preferring males) while some are bi–sexual and a few are obligatory (exclusively) lesbian. To say they are lesbians is because it is considered that all fetus are female. Even though the person may look and act male.

MYTH: A TS with serious psychological and/or social problems cannot be a true TS or stable enough to attempt cross–living and/or surgery.
FALSE.
What worse problem could there be then living in the body of the wrong sex? Many of the problems, both psychological and social, are direct results of the individual’s transsexualism.