Countries with Transgender Recognition

As I've said multiple times here, the term "transgender" can be confusing and doesn't have a set definition. Generally though, I think the definition that is becoming most commonly accepted is people who identify based on a different gender identity than what they had at birth, since biological sex can only change with surgery and gender expression isn't about identity.

Second, to address your question, yes it seems that India only allows gender change with surgery. It looks like it wasn't required according to the initial Court decision from 2014, but a more recent 2019 law mandates surgery for gender change. Thanks for pointing it out!

And while I see why you would think that, I think getting care to transgender children is really important. Rates of depression are incredibly high among transgender kids who have gender dysphoria (which is essentially a condition where someone feels they are trapped in the wrong body). Unfortunately, this leads to really high rates of suicide among transgender kids. Hormonal therapy and psychiatric care alike have been shown to help save lives, which is why most major medical organizations in the US agree it's crucial for kids to be treated as much as adults.

Just yesterday, Arkansas made headlines here for passing a law that would completely restrict medical care for transgender kids. The bill was so extreme that even the Republican governor vetoed it (although then the state legislature overrode the veto so it became law).

And, of course, legal recognition doesn't always translate to acceptance. I read an article recently about a transgender person who became a news anchor in Bangladesh, but only after facing tons of abuse and rejection for her identity. In contrast, while Samoa (and possibly other Pacific Island countries) doesn't legally recognize transgender people, it's common for people to identify as non-binary there, and there's widespread social acceptance.

While I think making more people, especially religious people, accept LGBT rights is important, attacking people will only entrench them further into their views. I think listening to the arguments of others and using their own values (and I'd argue that some religious values can be used to support LGBT rights) to convince them LGBT rights are worth supporting is much more valuable than just saying they're wrong and ignorant. And, as with me, I think a lot of people become more accepting when they realize they have friends or family members who are LGBT.

One of the things I appreciate about JetPunk is that people are willing to learn from each other and hear other opinions. Everyone on this comment thread has been pretty civil. We probably wouldn't be able to have a conversation like this on Twitter or most social media platforms.

One thing about this debate that is fact-based though: transgender people (especially kids) suffer from really high rates of mental illness and suicide. I think most decent people regardless of their values can agree that this is something that should be addressed.